Hey, Bruce? Bruce Miles? It's me, Tom Gerndleman, your editor at the
Daily Herald. Listen -- I don't have a lot of time. I need an article about Ryan Theriot, but I have Bulls tickets tonight, and I have to leave in eight minutes. Do me a favor, and just write down every cliché you can think of about sub-par, sort-of fast, white baseball players, and just link them all together so you can file before I head out?
Thanks.
...the scrappy Theriot would just as soon tells those statistics to shut up. Theriot doesn't hate baseball, but the stats-oriented crew probably can't find much love for him.
Theriot is one of those throwback players who'd rather get his uniform dirty than impress the pencil pushers at Baseball Prospectus.
Good start. Now we need something that helps justify why we're writing this article.
The Cubs cite Theriot as a big reason they won the National League Central last year, even though you might be telling a fish story to say his numbers were outstanding.
Great. Now let's show that he's aware of his own limitations.
Even though Theriot may not put all his stock in numbers, he knows what they are and that people are going to analyze them.
"It's getting a lot more numbers oriented, which in some cases is good," he said. "In some cases, it's not. It's easy to get wrapped up in that, too, because it's fact. It's truth. It's right there for you. You can see the numbers. It's easy to explain to somebody.
Nice. Now hit me with something about, you know, the "I" word.
"What's hard to explain, what's hard to show is what you guys see every day: the intangibles. You guys come into the locker room and see how the players interact with each other and interact with others. That's stuff hard to explain to somebody who really doesn't understand."
Perfect. I'm going to assume you made that quote up, because no one in the world -- not even a major league ballplayer -- could be that predictable. But keep going -- this is great. Maybe add something about, you know, how maybe even if he goes 0-4, he still helps his team win by getting his uniform dirty and playing tough D, and how those things don't show up in the stats.
For example, getting one's uniform dirty and saving a run from scoring even though you might have gone 0-for-4 that day?
"You don't put that down in the stats," he said.
...Okay, a little on the head, but fine, it'll do. Now we need an authority figure to weigh in -- something about catching someone's eye with his hard-nosed play.
Lou Piniella had little to go on a year ago, when Theriot caught his eye in spring training. The new Cubs manager liked what he saw and told Theriot to relax, that he had made the team.
Again, you're not changing the clichés at all, really, but I don't care. I'm out the door in T-minus 2 minutes. So let's really cruise, here. Give me a nice thick juicy run of the most trite pablum you can find.
"We always thought the guy was a gamer," Fleita said Saturday. "Mentally tough. He's always been an 'intangibles' guy with great makeup. Those guys, if given an opportunity, usually seize it.
Holy shit, man, that's awesome. "Gamer," "mentally tough," "intangibles," "great makeup," and "seizing the opportunity?" You packed all five into one graph. That's just great work. Give me another one.
"He came to camp last spring with an outfield glove. 'Just put me in, Coach,' and I'll play.' I think that attitude and his character had a lot to do with the success he had. He just wants to be part of the team. He'll drive the bus, if necessary."
This -- this is poetry. "Just put me in, coach?!" Are you kidding me? I haven't seen anyone use that one in years. "Attitude," "character," "part of the team," and "he'd drive the bus?!" This is great. Great stuff. We're almost done. Hit me with his diminutive stature:
Theriot batted .348 in July, but the Cubs say the grind of a long season took its toll. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Theriot played in 148 regular-season games, by far the most of his professional career.
Great. Now a quote from Theriot about how he knows he's not about numbers.
"I'm not about numbers. I'm not a numbers guy at all. You look through my career, and nothing's ever going to jump out at you. I've been lucky to have coaches and management who don't buy into that stuff.
"There's lots you can say about a guy who hits .300 or .320 for that matter. How many runs did he score, how many hits did he get when it was important?"
Okay. Give lip service to the nerds who think this is all a lot of crap, written about a guy who's projected to have a .237 EqA next year.
The analysts have weighed in on Theriot, with Baseball Prospectus projecting a .330 OBP.
Okay, you went OBP. That's fine. Hurry -- I have to leave in 30 seconds. Wrap it up.
So how does Theriot analyze himself?
"I'm going to play hard," he said. "I'm going to give everything I've got. And I'm not afraid to fail. I think I'll do what it takes to do something great and help the team win. I take pride in my defense. Either you've got to drive them in or you've got to save a run.
...
There's no fucking way he said all that, in that order, is there? Really? Wow. That's...that's genius. This thing is writing itself. Let me just look over that graph one more time.
I'm going to play hard
I'm going to give everything I've got.
I'm not afraid to fail.
I think I'll do what it takes to do something great and help the team win.
I take pride in my defense.
Amazing.
Thanks, buddy. I'm out of here. You earned your paycheck today.
Labels: bruce miles, ryan theriot, scrappy, statistics
...do articles like
this continue to be written?
Baseball is a contact sport with shortstop Ryan Theriot. The 28-year-old Cub, coming off his first full season in the majors, seldom strikes out (50 in 537 at-bats). That makes him an ideal No. 2 hitter, but he's versatile enough to lead off, having batted .300 in that role last season.
What is so hard about identifying the thing that makes a good lead-off hitter? OBP, man. OBP. That's it, really. That's the #1 thing. Speed is great. Speed is definitely #2. But if you're Juan Pierre, and you're super speedy, but you make more outs than anyone else in the entire game of baseball, you are not an ideal lead-off man. (As now several different teams have realized.) You may be an occasionally awesome lead-off man, when you bunt for a hit and steal second and move to third on a 4-3 and come home on a sac fly. But the 500 times you pop up, ground out, or are easily thrown out trying to bunt your way on make you an unideal lead-off man.
(#3 most important quality is guts, followed by grit, then fearlessness at #5, then IsoP.)
High-energy, low-key ... that describes Theriot, who carried the Cubs in July with a .348 average. His ability to manufacture runs endears him to manager Lou Piniella, who understands the importance of speed when the winds are blowing in at Wrigley Field.
I am going to do a Michael Moore kind of documentary where I talk about how the run manufacturing plant in my hometown was shut down, and all of these hard-working run manufacturers have been put out of work, and I'm going to take a camera crew and march into Billy Beane's office and demand to know why instituting his newfangled cost-saving measures means that the run manufacturing plant had to get shut down, putting all these salt of the earth run manufacturers out on the street. And he'll say, "There is no such thing as a 'run manufacturing plant.' And the phrase 'manufacture runs' is meaningless." Then we'll both turn to the camera and stare at it for like 45 excruciating minutes without moving. Then the screen will flash a giant bleeding skull for 1/8th of a second. Then men in hazmat suits will storm the theater and spray people down with an iridescent gas, while you hear a robotic voice yell "DISPERSE. DISPERSE." It will be like a cross between "Roger and Me" and "The Joke."
Also, while "High-energy, low-key" may be perfectly good ways to describe Ryan Theriot, I would also suggest describing him as "owning a 72 OPS+ last year" and "a guy who hit .266/.326/.346 in his first full season" and "a guy who could only manage .271/.355/.337 in his entire minor league career" and thus "probably not an ideal top-of-the-order guy."
"With more speed we could have scored four or five runs in our last game in Chicago," he said, referring to the final loss to Arizona in last year's playoff.
With more hits you could have won too. Or with better pitching. And P.S., after losing the first two games, you were down 2-0 in game 3 before anyone could blink. (And after a lead-off walk to Soriano in the bottom of the first, Mr. Ideal #2 Hitter here went 4-6-3. [Yes, it's a small sample size. He started it.])
Power is the missing link in Theriot's hitting approach. His .266 report card was spruced up with just three home runs. So pencil him in as a table-setter.
Make sure the eraser is in good shape, though, because a guy with a .326 OBP will be setting fewer tables than a guy who hates setting tables at a table-setting convention. Ohhhhhhhhhh! What a burn!
"It's what I've always done," Theriot says. "My numbers aren't going to jump out at you."
Your .326 OBP jumped out at me, faster than an awesome jumping frog hopped up on jumping beans on a trampoline at a frog-jumping convention. Noooo he didn't!!!!!!!
Shortstops who lack power are vulnerable. Knowing that, Theriot must be wary of infield predators.
"You have to keep that sense of urgency about you," he says. "There's always somebody behind you, trying to take away your job."
His competition will come from Ron Cedeno, a talented athlete who was a bust in 2007 but helped the Aragua Tigres win their second straight Venezuelan Winter League title with 11 RBI in the playoffs.
Ronny Cedeno is 25 and has a career .329 OBP in the minor leagues (and a .277 in his limited MLB time). He ain't taking anybody's anything away from anyone.*
If Theriot can hang on he would be the fifth different shortstop starting on opening day for the Cubs since 2004. Alex Gonzalez, Nomar Garciaparra, Cedeno and Cesar Itzuris preceded him.
Seems like Ryan should fit right in.
Labels: cubs, infinite jest, lead-off hitters, michael moore, ryan theriot
It's been a while, old friend. Rick Sutcliffe has done us the kindness of putting something down on paper for
the Diamond Daily section of ESPN.com. And boy, is it wrong.
CUBS "X-FACTOR"Bear in mind that about seven times out of time, when an analyst calls a player an "X-Factor" it's because that player is normally not very good, so an above-average performance gives you a significant advantage over what the guy typically does. I guess "X" means mediocre.
The Chicago Cubs have that type of player you want in the postseason: Ryan Theriot.No. Nope. Not really. I think you'd want more Aramis Ramirezes or Derrek Lees or Alfonso Sorianos. Theriots grow on baseball player trees.
Lou Piniella saw Theriot busting his butt in spring training, but he was pressing for a couple of weeks. Piniella told Theriot he was on the team and he needed to just let the game come to him. Piniella talks about having certain types of players who are winners, and Theriot is that kind of player.This winner wins to the tune of a .245 EqA. That is awful. And if you believe in BP's FRAA, he's at -4.
Piniella told me that Theriot will have a World Series ring before his career is over; furthermore, he compared his shortstop to Craig Counsell and David Eckstein -- players similar in style to Theriot, and both have two World Series rings.Remember when David Eckstein played all nine positions and beat the Tigers in the World Series all by himself? And Piniella's being modest about Counsell -- he won a dozen straight rings pitching, fielding, hitting, managing, general managing and owning the Carolina Counsells, whose team picture consisted of Craig Counsell posing in front of a mirror. (He was also team photographer.)
Ryan Theriot has as good a chance of getting a ring as literally any other player in this year's playoffs. Probably less than most, actually.
When the Cubs need someone on base or to ake a play made in the field, Theriot usually makes something happen. The Cubs have a front-line starter in Carlos Zambrano, a solid No. 2 in Ted Lilly and offensively they have power hitters Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.Yes, those are their good players. Those are the players Theriot should get on his knees and thank if the Cubs are so fortunate as to win the championship this year. Theriot should get marginal credit unless he carries them over the next fifteen or so games.
But players like Theriot usually are difference makers in the postseason -- someone who steps up and steals the attention from the big boys. Just look at David Eckstein last year being named the World Series MVP."Usually"? I'm looking back at David Eckstein's World Series MVP...okay, now I'm looking a little further back, and I'm seeing
Jermaine Dye
Manny Ramirez
Josh Beckett
Troy Glaus
Schilling/Johnson
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera
These guys look more like Theriot or more like "big boys" to you? You have to go all the way back to Atrocious Scott Brosius in 1998 to find another shitty player. And at least that year was actually his best regular season, when he posted a .297 EqA.
Anyway, Sut, I'll make you an offer. Construct your team, your Tennessee Theriots, and enter them into the playoffs. Keep in mind this team will slug .346, score 4.1 runs per game, and hit 27 home runs all year. As a team. That's right. Ryan Theriot hit 3 home runs all season. The Theriots will be a team full of winners. Guys who bust their butts. X-Factors. They won't play baseball well, but that's secondary. It's the motherfucking playoffs now.
Labels: rick sutcliffe, ryan theriot
