In 2008, Pedroia hit .326 with a .376 OBP, .493 slugging mark, .869 OPS, 17 homers, 54 doubles, 20 steals and 118 runs. In 2011, Pedroia hit .307/.387/.474/.861 with 21 homers, 37 doubles, 36 steals and 102 runs. The 28-year-old suggested that he had a more mature approach to hitting and a better understanding of how he could help his lineup, a development best evidenced by his career-high 86 walks.
“To be honest with you, last year, I thought I had a better year than 2008. I walked a lot more. I stole more bases. I didn’t get there with the runs scored, but I think as an offensive player, I remember in ’08, I think I walked 50 times,” Pedroia said. “I was more of a hacker. I was up there trying to create instead of letting the game come to me. I was successful doing it. I found some holes. Let’s not kid ourselves, some balls fell in. It was good. I’m not saying it was a lucky .326 or whatever I hit, but now I’m smarter. I take my walks, which helps [Adrian Gonzalez], which helps [Kevin Youkilis]. If I’m on base more, our team is going to be that much better.
“I was able to do that last year. It helped me out. It helped put our team in a better position to score runs. I thought last year was probably my best offensive year.”
...“For an offensive approach, for me, I never look at numbers for evaluating how I was that year offensively. There’s only so many things I can change. You can hit the ball on a line five times, they catch all of them and you have nothing to show for it. You can hit five bleeders and they all fall in and you’re the greatest player ever,” said Pedroia. “For me, I only want to get better every year. I want to get smarter every year. I want to know how pitchers are going to pitch to me, if I need to take more walks, steal more bases, score more runs.”
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
1. Robinson Cano Plate Like Home Posted: January 05, 2012 at 11:17 AM (#4029427)I'd love to know what he actually called them.
I take my walks, which helps SB1070, which helps Grape Ape.
Probably just something like Gonzo and Youk and the writer figured his readers were too stupid to figure out who Petunia was talking about.
In 2008 a .869 OPS was good for a 122 OPS+.
in 2011 a .861 OPS was good for a 131 OPS+.
So without looking at base-running, yes.
Just generally this seems like good writing (or editing). While the reader likely will know "Gonzo" and "Youk" it seems that when a writer is referencing someone for the first time in an article he should reference them properly.
Of course this is Pedroia so he may have referred to them as "Salty McLefty" and "Ol' Leatherhead" or something like that. I mean we're talking about a guy who was called "Muddy Chicken" for reasons no one claims to know this year.
Reddick has a career minor league OPS of .832, while being slightly older than Pedroia at those stops.
At AAA, Reddick has a career .748 OPS, Pedroia .783.
By eye the Red Sox farm team leagues/stadiums don't appear to be very hitter friendly, esp. Pawtucket.
The only proper nickname for Kevin Youkilis is Hobobeard McCranium.
True, but Gonzalez needs an equivalent.
Lefty von Leadfoot?
The Unibrowed Saint?
But Reddick plays RF (rather than 2B) and far more of his OPS comes from slugging than Pedroia's. Add to that the fact that Pedroia's put up those numbers for 5 years now while Reddick did it for 278 PA and has never come close to that in any other season and there's no comparison between these two.
The fact that Reddick was a bit older and plays a corner outfield position and has a slugging heavy OPS are all valid points. I'm just trying to get a feel for what he might be capable of.
But he also only has 408 ML Pas total. It's doesn't mean much to say he "hasn't gotten close to that in any other season" when his other two seasons were ages 22 & 23, and comprised a total of 125 PAs.
And based on his minor league performance, and Pedroia's relative minor/major league performance, you'd have to say the .784 OPS (109 OPS+) of those 278 PAs is roughly what you'd expect from Reddick. Given the low OBP it's still subpar for a corner outfielder, but combined with plus defense makes him a passable starter.
He does have a good, if not great, arm though.
I don't know, other than the occasional rookie brain fart, he looked great in RF to me. UZR seems to think he's some sort of god.
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main