Scott Cousins 2011: He's Got Mike's Back

[MiamiHomer]

Glass houses, Mr. Angrypants.

For what?

[Bobbob1313]

You used to be like the angriest most irrationalest fan ever.

You hated every player.

[MiamiHomer]

You used to be like the angriest most irrationalest fan ever.

Those being the key words my friend.
--------------------

You hated every player.

That is not true.

[Bobbob1313]

Festa doesn't hate Maybin anymore, presumably.

[MiamiHomer]

I believe he does.

[Party]

I do. He robbed a three run home run but allowed a run to score on the throw. So really he saved two runs.

And I had every right to hate Maybin. He sucked.

[Bobbob1313]

He's not nearly the worst player we've had over the last 3 years.

[Party]

They didn't give me blue balls.

[lou]

It shouldn't be overall win expectancy, it should be run expectancy. In what situation do you statistically get out of the inning without giving up 1 run. Maybe that's what it is and just titled wrong, but the issue is preventing 1 run in that situation.

Runners 1st and 3rd, 1 out (I feel Cousins prevents runner from moving to 2B, but it's rather a non-issue as you just walk them loaded and go for the double play ball regardless if Pagan moves to 2nd. The only run that matters is the one on 3B, as that's the loser, so loading them for the 1 pitch double play is the smart strategy as you 'lose' on a flyball regardless who is or isn't on 2nd or 1st).

or

Runners on 1st and 2nd, 0 out, ...2 strikes?

Don't have time to find the run expectancy outcome, but I bet it's a relative push. Which means, taking into account the "David Wright is way better than everyone else on the Mets factor," you got to make that out and make some shlub beat you instead. With one out, one ground ball in the infield ends the inning, even if our defense is circus like at best. You have to play those odds where you can get out of it in 1 pitch. And as the guy correctly points out, big time groundball pitcher. I don't fault Cousins as it's probably a toss up, but he likely made the wrong decision. Get the out, set up the double play groundball, don't like Wright beat you, and maybe get out of the inning. I don't really care about hindsight bias here. It just is what it is. Put pressure on them to do something. Don't react, force them to make a play.

But I do like, and this is maybe the most understated thing, that Cousins has the baseball IQ and composure to think about this while in the middle of the play. Awesome instincts. It's intangible delicious, but it does matter to an extent and might even get reflected in defensive/runners moving up statistics by the end of the year. I sure hope he can hit because he's going to be valuable in the field all year.

[Beef]

Yep. I do think the runner would have moved to second because his momentum would have taken him into/over the wall. But either way, you get that out and walk the next guy. If there was a runner on third, obviously he would have scored, so you take your chances there and let it drop. But I think that's an out you want to get there

[Mainge]

Give me bases loaded and one out with Thole and Duda up, everyday over first and second and no outs with Wright and Beltran up.

[Namaste]

I'll never get the utter disdain for Maybin considering he was here for such a short time at such a young age.

Thanks for posting that, Ramp. I look at Cousins in a whole new light now.

[lou]

I'll never get the utter disdain for Maybin considering he was here for such a short time at such a young age.

Because he was the primary piece in a trade for a guy named Miguel Cabrera. Who is pretty fucking good hungover.