It’s late on a Friday. I’m tired, you’re tired, and nobody’s in the mood to put much effort into anything. But you may still have some time to kill before you can do whatever it is that you want to be doing, and so for your convenience and enjoyment, I present the following five fun facts in bite-size form. Each of these could probably be written about at length, but Friday evening isn’t a time for writing and reading at length. Friday evening is a time for snippets. Let’s have some snippets!
An Assortment Of Friday Fun Facts
The Red Sox have been hitting the crap out of the ball. Brandon Morrow and Zack Greinke are weird. The Nationals have had an absurdly good infield defense. And more!
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The Boston Red Sox's offense has been flipping out
Perhaps you've noticed. Since May 20th, the Red Sox have scored 214 runs in 31 games, for an average of 6.9 per. Over the same span of time, the Angels have scored 109 runs, the Braves and Marlins have scored 107 runs, the Giants have scored 104 runs, and the Padres have scored 94 runs. Boston's triple-slash line has been .307/.376/.510 as their entire lineup has, on average, hit like nine Justin Uptons. The neat thing about this is that it was so totally unexpected! Who ever thought that Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz might be good hitters?
Jorge Posada has bounced back
Remember when Jorge Posada essentially benched himself that one day, and lots of people were talking about how he was finished? On that day, Posada had the following batting line:
.165/.272/.349
Since that day, Posada has the following batting line:
.315/.393/.452
Posada's recent numbers have been inflated due to more balls in play finding holes, but Posada's early numbers were deflated by balls in play not finding holes, and it looks like the 39-year-old still has some life left in his bat after all. So at least one of the Yankees' elder statemen may not be crap at the plate.
Brandon Morrow and Zack Greinke have been weird
As of this writing, Morrow has a K/9 of 10.6 and an ERA+ of 80, while Greinke has a K/9 of 11.9 and an ERA+ of 82. The following is a comprehensive, complete list of every starting pitcher who has ever finished a season with a K/9 over 10 and an ERA+ under 85:
Oliver Perez, 2003
That’s it. And that’s it, because this is an unsustainable pace. Morrow and Greinke are going to have their respective ERAs improve by leaps and bounds over the rest of the season, because they strike out too many hitters to struggle. Or they’ll have their respective K/9s drop over the rest of the season, because they allow too many runs to keep striking so many people out. What am I, a scientist?
The Nationals' infield defense has been amazing
The Nationals are a weird team to have a decent record, especially given their pitching staff. But while a number of players and components have contributed to their success, one must not overlook their infield defense. The league-wide batting average allowed on groundballs is .233. The Nationals' batting average allowed on groundballs, though, is .197, which is the best in the game. It's particularly interesting given that noted all-around superstar Ryan Zimmerman missed so much time. Danny Espinosa is probably one of those players you're gonna wanna get to know, if you don't.
The Royals and Twins have played unbalanced schedules
To date, the Royals have played 44 games at home and 31 on the road. The Twins, meanwhile, have played 30 games at home and 43 on the road. The Royals hardly matter since they're basically irrelevant as far as 2011 is concerned, but the Twins are developing something of a bandwagon as they try to pull themselves back into the race, and their frequency of upcoming home games during the summer will give them a little advantage. An itty-bitty little advantage, perhaps, but it's something to cling to, and everybody needs something to cling to, else we just soar around uncontrollably, driven by the wind.
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