Rooker

[msstate7]

What an amazing year so far.

Leads SEC in
BA -- .429
Slugging -- .933
OBP -- .524
Hits -- 51
RBIs -- 50
Doubles -- 18
HRs -- 12
Total bases -- 111
SBs -- 14

Here's his stats vs Seth beer...
Beer -- .255/.488/.582, ops -- 1.070, ISO -- .327
Rooker -- .429/.524/.933, ops -- 1.457, ISO -- .513

The only problem I see is .476 BABIP, which suggests there will be some regression

[ShotgunDawg]

A few things:

- Yes, the .476 BABIP will cause regression, but his 28% extra base hit rate is outrageously awesome & will enable him to support an extremely high BABIP. Considering, that extra base hits typically mean hard hit balls & hard hit balls are less often outs than softly hit balls.

- Beer is having a lesser year, but he's got 8 strike outs to 22 walks, which means he's basically seeing all breaking balls & getting pitched like Babe Ruth. My guess is that in an effort to contribute, he has been expanding his zone & swinging at pitches he normally wouldn't swing at.

[msstate7]

A few things:

- Yes, the .476 BABIP will cause regression, but his 28% extra base hit rate is outrageously awesome & will enable him to support an extremely high BABIP. Considering, that extra base hits typically mean hard hit balls & hard hit balls are less often outs than softly hit balls.

- Beer is having a lesser year, but he's got 8 strike outs to 22 walks, which means he's basically seeing all breaking balls & getting pitched like Babe Ruth. My guess is that in an effort to contribute, he has been expanding his zone & swinging at pitches he normally wouldn't swing at.

Beer has .209 BABIP. I expect his numbers to go up. I think beer and rooker's numbers will be similar by the end of the year which is a huge compliment to rooker

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=seth-beer

How is a lower BABIP than BA even possible?

[msstate7]

Updated:

Leads SEC in
BA -- .448
Slugging -- 1.008
OBP -- .548
Hits -- 56
RBIs -- 56
Doubles -- 19
HRs -- 15
Total bases -- 126
SBs -- 14

He raised every stat but SB. It's crazy that he raised BA, slugging, and OBP from numbers that already appeared to be made up.

[smootness]

Beer has .209 BABIP. I expect his numbers to go up. I think beer and rooker's numbers will be similar by the end of the year which is a huge compliment to rooker

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?P=seth-beer

How is a lower BABIP than BA even possible?

HR don't count as balls in play, and neither do K's obviously; but SF's do; so generally players who have a BABIP close to, or below, their BA are guys who hit a lot of HR and don't strike out much, because Ks are adding empty ABs to your BA and HR are taking away hits from your BABIP. So Beer's .255 BA is his 14 hits (including the 5 HR) in 55 AB (including the 8 Ks). His .209 BABIP is 9 non-HR hits in the 43 times he has put the ball in play.

But again, it's basically hitting HR with few Ks. Check out Ted Williams and Barry Bonds in their prime as examples. When Williams hit .407, his BABIP was just .353.

[msstate7]

HR don't count as balls in play, and neither do K's obviously; but SF's do; so generally players who have a BABIP close to, or below, their BA are guys who hit a lot of HR and don't strike out much, because Ks are adding empty ABs to your BA and HR are taking away hits from your BABIP. So Beer's .255 BA is his 14 hits (including the 5 HR) in 55 AB (including the 8 Ks). His .209 BABIP is 9 non-HR hits in the 43 times he has put the ball in play.

But again, it's basically hitting HR with few Ks. Check out Ted Williams and Barry Bonds in their prime as examples. When Williams hit .407, his BABIP was just .353.

Thanks. I'd have never thought that a HR wasn't considered in play.

[smootness]

And in case you were wondering where Rooker stands in the country right now:

BA - 2nd (.052 back, but the guy in 1st has 40 fewer AB)
OBP - 3rd (.048 back, both guys ahead have far fewer PA)
SLG - 1st (.123 ahead)
Hits - 2nd (1 back)
RBI - 1st (6 ahead)
2B - 2nd (1 back)
HR - 2nd (2 back)
TB - 1st (10 ahead)
SB - T29th (9 back)

Absolutely insane, especially considering that he's playing in the SEC and has been improving his numbers in conference play.

[msstate7]

has been improving his numbers in conference play.

That's so crazy.

[smootness]

Thanks. I'd have never thought that a HR wasn't considered in play.

It's a stat designed to measure your rate of turning balls that a fielder can technically field into hits, which is why it can be used to try to assess luck. A HR obviously can't be fielded, so it can't really be considered a potentially 'lucky' result.

Of course, all balls in play that result in hits can't be considered lucky, which is why BABIP really has to be compared to a player's own history, not to league-wide numbers. A .209 BABIP is almost always the result of bad luck, especially for a guy who hits the ball as hard as Beer, and a BABIP near .500 is almost certainly the result of some luck.

But some guys have consistently higher BABIPs than others. Freddie Freeman is an example at the major league level. Some can sustain BABIPs around .350 or higher; others are going to sit more in the .270-.280 range. Rooker's will likely come down, but as long as he's smoking the ball it won't come down much. Even last year, his BABIP was .376. And if he keeps mashing taters, his BA will stay high regardless.