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Friday, July 27, 2007

Ups Outweigh Downs For Ex-Ray Lugo

I know Julio Lugo is only hitting .225/.288/.331. Nevertheless, I still like him as the Sox shortstop. It’s not that he truly shines in any one area of the game. It’s that he does everything above average. He plays a pretty good shortstop; his bat has a little pop; he knows enough to take a pitch here and there; he hustles on every play; and he runs like the wind. I look forward to watching him play the remainder of his contract.

“I think the preparation of this baseball team [the Red Sox] … it doesn’t compare [in Tampa Bay],” Lugo said by phone from Cleveland. “When I was over there [with the Rays], some of our guys were just happy to be in the big leagues. Here, the guys are ready to play and ready to win.”

Jim Furtado Posted: July 27, 2007 at 06:30 PM | 11 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: red sox

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1. DCA Posted: July 27, 2007 at 06:41 PM (#2457848)

It’s that he does everything above average.

Well, except hit.

2. scareduck Posted: July 27, 2007 at 07:37 PM (#2457906)

I know Julio Lugo is only hitting .225/.288/.331. ... he does everything above average.

Oxymoron alert.

3. Cowboy Popup Posted: July 27, 2007 at 07:46 PM (#2457920)

He's got a lot of SBs for a guy who has only been on first 90-100 times this year.

4. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: July 27, 2007 at 07:47 PM (#2457922)

Hmmm...so are DCA and scareduck's sarcasm dectectors on thr fritz or has Jim lost touch with reality? I'm picking the former.

5. ValueArbitrageur Posted: July 27, 2007 at 08:11 PM (#2457944)

So I guess this means Jim is a Yankee fan???

6. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: July 27, 2007 at 08:22 PM (#2457952)

Hmmm...so are DCA and scareduck's sarcasm dectectors on thr fritz or has Jim lost touch with reality? I'm picking the former.

No, they're just being literalistic statnerds. Obviously, over the course of this season, Lugo has not produced numbers that correspond to doing everything well. However, over the course of, say, the rest of his career, he had. And Jim is saying that on watching Lugo, he does those things well, even if it isn't reflected in his stats over the last few hundred PA. This isn't particularly complicated.

By PrOPS, for instance, Lugo is hitting 40 points below expectations. That doesn't quite get him all the way to above average (though it's about right for a SS), but it does most of it.

7. Roy Hobbs of WIFFLE Ball Posted: July 27, 2007 at 08:52 PM (#2457978)

No, they're just being literalistic statnerds. Obviously, over the course of this season, Lugo has not produced numbers that correspond to doing everything well. However, over the course of, say, the rest of his career, he had.

I realize he's a shortstop and the standards for production at that position are lower than some other positions, but an 89 career OPS+ with one season out of eight with an OPS+ of at least 100 strikes me as average at best.

8. John DiFool2 Posted: July 27, 2007 at 09:11 PM (#2457992)

He's got a lot of SBs for a guy who has only been on first 90-100 times this year.

And a lot of pickoffs, which alas aren't counted in the official stats like a CS is...

9. PJ Martinez Posted: July 27, 2007 at 10:08 PM (#2458035)

It seems more accurate to say that, over his career, he's an average or so hitter who can defend his position well and steal bases. Obviously, his offense for Boston was disappointing in April, troublesome in May, terrifying in June-- and has been terrific in July. Hopefully he corrected or got over some problem he was having earlier in the year. Thanks to his dreadful start, if he can put up his usual .335/.400-type numbers for the next couple of years, it will seem (at least for a little while) like the second coming of Nomar in his prime. The Sox don't have any SS's knocking on the door (especially if Lowrie doesn't stick at the position), so that'd be awful nice.

10. Dock Ellis on Acid

Posted: July 28, 2007 at 01:48 AM (#2458437)

And a lot of pickoffs, which alas aren't counted in the official stats like a CS is...

Where can we find pickoffs?

11. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: July 28, 2007 at 02:02 AM (#2458458)

I know Julio Lugo is only hitting .225/.288/.331. ... he does everything above average.

Even domestic abuse

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Friday, July 27, 2007

Ups Outweigh Downs For Ex-Ray Lugo

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