Giants ranked #2 in NL in Goofus' favorite team stat: OPS+ plus ERA+

OPS plus plus ERA plus plus anything else is a plus stat.

All I need is the air that I breathe…

They still have made the fewest errors in the league.

The infield probably has the least range in the NL. The lack of errors is not surprising.

But winning is good. I like when the Giants do that.

I should sell high?

Post lacks negativity.

Great, now we’re going to get shut out tomorrow.

What I like about this, is that it uses relatives as opposed to absolutes. And they are team stats as opposed to individual stats. Team stats seem to correlate more readily with where one’s team stands on the "Good, Rancid, Mediocre ranking system, or more commonly referred to as the standings

Simple straight forward numbers, are good for the average guy like myeself who is more interested in the context of ‘where is my team compared to everybody else, where have they been, and where are they likely to be at the end of the season’. A simple set of relative numbers like this can give a person some insight into how a team is playing, in addition to relative movement in the standings. Especially when playing outside of the division and particularly during the Interleague Spring Training Redux every June. So it gives us something else to compare and contrast.

One small thing. It is that the common perception is that ERA , and its ancestor ERA, do not take into consideration defense. I might add while runs scored as result of errors do not count against ERA in the particular inning that the error(s) were committed, errors usually result in higher pitch counts, and more importantly higher stress innings and pitching from the stretch instead of the windup. Not a big thing in the big picture, generally speaking I believe that teams with good ERA’s and ERA will also have good team defense as expressed in both team fielding percentage and in team UZR (for all of its deficiencies which are well noted here) which are the only two measurements with which I am somewhat familiar, and as rudimetry as the metrics of defense are.

One of my favorite computations taken from a baseball card is the Average Runs Created. Runs + RBIs divided by 2. The rationale being that a team run generally requires two things. A runner has to score. A hitter has to drive the runner in. ( I am somewhat familiar with the more traditional Runs Produced of Runs + RBIs – Homeruns and the resultant debates)

I like the baseball card stat because it equates directly to team runs scored when the totals for all the players are added up and does not minimize the impact of the homerun which gets credit for 1/2 run for an RBI as well as 1/2

I was glancing at the standings the other day and noticed that the Dodgers might be the flukiest team in the league. Not only is their Plus-Plus tied for 9th (thanks Goofus), but their run differential is plus-2. You read that right: plus two. Yet they the third-best record in the league. Unsustainable much?

Sure Burrell, Sanchez and Posey are hitting at unsustainable paces

The pitching is looking pretty unsustainable too (see Zito, Sanchez, Cain).

/back in shell

The Natinals are pretty okay. Good for them. They deserve some success, if only as payback for the strike shortened season. Strasburg rules.

Also, the Giants rule. Suck it Dodgers, Padres, Rockies, D-Backs and Cardinals just for good measure.

    * Jerry: I don’t know how you can eat that spicy chicken.
    * George: George likes spicy chicken.
    * Jerry: What’s that?
    * George: I like spicy chicken.
    * Jerry: No, no. You said “GEORGE likes spicy chicken.”
    * George: No, I didn’t!
    * Elaine: Yes, you did. You said “George likes spicy chicken.”
    * Jerry: You’re turning into Jimmy!
    * George: (irritated) George is getting upset!