No Longer the Least Valuable
June 1st, 2009 | Published in Daniel Gettinger, baseball | 3 Comments
by Daniel Gettinger
Good news. For the first time in a long time, Brian Giles is no longer 2009’s most destructive player (at least when measured by WAR). Yesterday, Giles was “passed” by both Garrett Atkins and David Ortiz. The struggles of all three of these players is baffling, but that is also the reason they lead the league in “negative WAR.” If they had been expected to play poorly, and then played like they have in 2009, these guys would be replaced in the lineup, and not allowed to rack up the number of outs necessary to lead the league in destructiveness. Giles has been hitting a bit better lately, so lets hope he quickly moves down the leader-board.
June 1st, 2009 at 3:46 pm (#)
[...] No Longer the Least Valuable :: Friar ForecastBrian Giles is no longer the suckiest of the suckers. [...]
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:48 am (#)
The first line on my blog earlier were:
Brian Giles has gone 9/29 with 5 bb, 3 doubles and a triple in his last 10 games for a .310 BA and a .412 OBP. He has done that against 3 teams, the Diamondbacks, Cubs and Giants, who have good pitching staffs.
I went on to ask the key question, will he keep it up the rest of the way. If he does, he is a bargain. If he doesn’t and keeps hitting close to the Mendoza Line he will be among the biggest busts of the season.
As a Padres fan I am hoping he does and his past would indicate he more than likely will.
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:30 am (#)
Very small sample size of course, but as you said, it’s nice to see him hitting well again.