The Anthony Rizzo DongFest Thread

[CBStew]

Going back to the beginning of this thread by accident I think it's important we never forget that Yeti said he would suck, Apex called him Adam LaRoche, and Eli once worried about Slaky being too pessimistic.

I think I was down on Rizzo in the early days. I don't think I ever saw him becoming the guy he is now. He's actually terrifying at the plate just by virtue of how he looks. He's got a Bonds thing where he's just daring the pitcher to throw in on him. And he'll turn that sucker around and deposit it where even the shift can't save em.

I love him the most.

In all honesty did anyone ever realistically project Rizzo to be this guy? I thought were all basically in for a nice decade of .270/.350/.470 with about 25 homers a  year. So...y'know, Adam LaRoche. And after last year wouldn't we have all taken that? Then one day Rizzo woke up and decided he was just going to destroy lefties this year and holy shit

Among qualified 1B:

2nd in HRs
4th in ISO and wOBA
7th in BB%

His BABIP is sitting a totally sustainable .297 and he's no slouch defensively. If he keeps it up we're looking at a 5 win player who will be paid $5 M the next two years and $7 M the two after that. Ridiculous.

Yeah nothing about his turn this year seems unsustainable. He was due for a bounceback anyway since as we noted over and over last year his BABIP was bad and another of other factors meant he suffered some bad luck, but then it looks like he's just honestly made adjustments and gotten better at turning on inside pitches, which has led to him suddenly destroying lefties after struggling against them the first two years. A lefty 1B who hits righties well and lefties even better? Oh my stars.

I think that you meant to say "Land sakes."

[SKO]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

[Quality Start Machine]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

[SKO]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

[Quality Start Machine]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

[Powdered Toast Man]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

[Quality Start Machine]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

SNEAK ATTACK

[ChuckD]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

SNEAK ATTACK

Seriously, though -- they're running a lot. 15 SB (most in MLB) w/ just 2 CS. The only other NL team with 10+ is the Reds at 14/0, but 8 of those belong to Hamilton. Nobody on the Cubs has more than 3 (Rizzo, Fowler, and Herrera), so across the board they're just running more. Pretty cool to see that.

True story, they've never led the MLB in SBs (since 1900) and they haven't led the NL in SBs since 1939.

Since 1990, they've averaged an NL rank of 10.54 out of 15-16 teams in SBs, so if they stay anywhere near this pace, it'll represent a big change.

This team's going to be a lot of fun regardless.

[SKO]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

SNEAK ATTACK

Seriously, though -- they're running a lot. 15 SB (most in MLB) w/ just 2 CS. The only other NL team with 10+ is the Reds at 14/0, but 8 of those belong to Hamilton. Nobody on the Cubs has more than 3 (Rizzo, Fowler, and Herrera), so across the board they're just running more. Pretty cool to see that.

True story, they've never led the MLB in SBs (since 1900) and they haven't led the NL in SBs since 1939.

Since 1990, they've averaged an NL rank of 10.54 out of 15-16 teams in SBs, so if they stay anywhere near this pace, it'll represent a big change.

This team's going to be a lot of fun regardless.

It's also a nice counterpoint to the "BUT MONEYBALL HATES STOLEN BASES" crowd.

[ChuckD]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

SNEAK ATTACK

Seriously, though -- they're running a lot. 15 SB (most in MLB) w/ just 2 CS. The only other NL team with 10+ is the Reds at 14/0, but 8 of those belong to Hamilton. Nobody on the Cubs has more than 3 (Rizzo, Fowler, and Herrera), so across the board they're just running more. Pretty cool to see that.

True story, they've never led the MLB in SBs (since 1900) and they haven't led the NL in SBs since 1939.

Since 1990, they've averaged an NL rank of 10.54 out of 15-16 teams in SBs, so if they stay anywhere near this pace, it'll represent a big change.

This team's going to be a lot of fun regardless.

It's also a nice counterpoint to the "BUT MONEYBALL HATES STOLEN BASES" crowd.

Moneyball doesn't hate stolen bases. Moneyball hates caught steals.

[Yeti]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

SNEAK ATTACK

Seriously, though -- they're running a lot. 15 SB (most in MLB) w/ just 2 CS. The only other NL team with 10+ is the Reds at 14/0, but 8 of those belong to Hamilton. Nobody on the Cubs has more than 3 (Rizzo, Fowler, and Herrera), so across the board they're just running more. Pretty cool to see that.

True story, they've never led the MLB in SBs (since 1900) and they haven't led the NL in SBs since 1939.

Since 1990, they've averaged an NL rank of 10.54 out of 15-16 teams in SBs, so if they stay anywhere near this pace, it'll represent a big change.

This team's going to be a lot of fun regardless.

It's also a nice counterpoint to the "BUT MONEYBALL HATES STOLEN BASES" crowd.

Moneyball doesn't hate stolen bases. Moneyball hates caught steals.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/breaking-down-stolen-base-break-even-points/

[Yeti]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

SNEAK ATTACK

Seriously, though -- they're running a lot. 15 SB (most in MLB) w/ just 2 CS. The only other NL team with 10+ is the Reds at 14/0, but 8 of those belong to Hamilton. Nobody on the Cubs has more than 3 (Rizzo, Fowler, and Herrera), so across the board they're just running more. Pretty cool to see that.

True story, they've never led the MLB in SBs (since 1900) and they haven't led the NL in SBs since 1939.

Since 1990, they've averaged an NL rank of 10.54 out of 15-16 teams in SBs, so if they stay anywhere near this pace, it'll represent a big change.

This team's going to be a lot of fun regardless.

It's also a nice counterpoint to the "BUT MONEYBALL HATES STOLEN BASES" crowd.

Moneyball doesn't hate stolen bases. Moneyball hates caught steals.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/breaking-down-stolen-base-break-even-points/

DPD
This might be my favorite one


Do it, Joe

[SKO]

BUMP.

I fucking love this sonofabitch.

Dare I say Rizzo is The Balls?

Teams are pitching him scared and he ain't biting.  Eventually you'd think they'll get less comfortable with putting him on base in front of the most feared hitter in the lineup. Miguel Montero.

Not to mention, with his base stealing prowess, a walk's as good as a double.

He has 3 steals? How in the...?

SNEAK ATTACK

Seriously, though -- they're running a lot. 15 SB (most in MLB) w/ just 2 CS. The only other NL team with 10+ is the Reds at 14/0, but 8 of those belong to Hamilton. Nobody on the Cubs has more than 3 (Rizzo, Fowler, and Herrera), so across the board they're just running more. Pretty cool to see that.

True story, they've never led the MLB in SBs (since 1900) and they haven't led the NL in SBs since 1939.

Since 1990, they've averaged an NL rank of 10.54 out of 15-16 teams in SBs, so if they stay anywhere near this pace, it'll represent a big change.

This team's going to be a lot of fun regardless.

It's also a nice counterpoint to the "BUT MONEYBALL HATES STOLEN BASES" crowd.

Moneyball doesn't hate stolen bases. Moneyball hates caught steals.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/breaking-down-stolen-base-break-even-points/

DPD
This might be my favorite one


Do it, Joe

These are interesting but I am aware that Moneyball doesn't hate stolen bases, hence the reason I was saying that an analytical manager/front office employing steals is a nice rebuttal to the Theo-hating "GAMES AINT WON BY COMPUTERS" crowd.

[ChuckD]

Looked at it a bit more and it's actually impressive how little the Cubs have run.

Aside from 2006 (Pierre) and 1985 (Dernier/Sandberg/Matthews), they've consistently been well below the NL average since the mid-60s.

[SKO]

Looked at it a bit more and it's actually impressive how little the Cubs have run.

Aside from 2006 (Pierre) and 1985 (Dernier/Sandberg/Matthews), they've consistently been well below the NL average since the mid-60s.

I wonder if that's a product of often having teams made up of overpaid veterans.