Dexter Fowler Center Field of Splooge Thread

[Eli]

The slide was just fine. The decision to run on a gold glove LF with nary an out in the inning was not. I didn't see if he ran through a stop sign or not. I doubt it. He only gave Perez a sliver of a jersey upon which to apply the tag and none of the angles we had could tell if he got him or not. The home plate up who made the call had the best angle in the entire universe and I had no problem upholding that. The series of events that allowed Ross to bat in both those late inning situations were unfortunate, beginning with his contract.

That throw by Gordon was ridiculous. He didn't even have a handle on the ball, his feet weren't set and he still managed to make a perfect throw that got Fowler by an inch. Amazing stuff.

[SKO]

Obviously he's got his own issues with making contact in the zone, hitting right handed pitching, and not getting thrown out like a fucking idiot the few times he has been getting on base, but it would appear Dexter has some very legitimate gripes about the strikes that have been called against him this year: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/testing-dexter-fowler-and-the-hitter-strike-zone/

For this year, I looked at guys who've faced at least 1,000 pitches. Here are a couple top-10 lists. First, the biggest positive differences between actual strikes and expected strikes. Then the reverse. The former means the hitter could be said to have gotten screwed. The latter implies the zone has been tight, and therefore hitter-friendly.

More actual strikes than expected strikes

1.A.J. Pollock, +33 strikes
2.Alexei Ramirez, +31
3.Trevor Plouffe, +29
4.Seth Smith, +28
5.Dexter Fowler, +28
6.Eric Sogard, +26
7.Wilmer Flores, +25
8.Mark Reynolds, +25
9.Yunel Escobar, +24
10.Ian Kinsler, +24

Leaving the microscope over Fowler just a little bit longer, this year, by Baseball Savant, he's tied for second in baseball in called third strikes out of the zone. He has 19; he had 13 last year. Meanwhile, StatCorner offers some useful statistics. There's the rate of pitches taken in the zone called balls, and there's the rate of pitches taken out of the zone called strikes. Fowler's changes:

Pitches taken in the zone called balls

•2014: 87th percentile
•2015: 72nd
Pitches taken out of the zone called strikes

•2014: 53rd percentile
•2015: 16th
What the first one addresses is a drop in rate, where Fowler this year has gotten fewer called balls in the strike zone. The second one addresses a hike in rate, where Fowler this year has gotten more called strikes out of the zone. The entire landscape agrees with itself; from the indications, Dexter Fowler this year has dealt with a less-friendly strike zone than he did last year. His shift has been relatively dramatic. It's easy enough to dismiss hitters complaining when they're frustrated, but Fowler's eyes haven't lied. He's not the only guy getting hurt, but he doesn't need to care about the other guys.

[Saul Goodman]

Bump.  Who was assigned to hate Fowler into being good?  Step it up.

[InternetApex]

Bump.  Who was assigned to hate Fowler into being good?  Step it up.

Carlos Gomez or Cameron Maybin I hope.

[Saul Goodman]

Bump.  Who was assigned to hate Fowler into being good?  Step it up.

Carlos Gomez or Cameron Maybin I hope.

Looked like he didn't bother running hard to first, even though he might have beat it out since the SS double-clutched. Just an all-around great effort from Dexter today.

[Saul Goodman]

Bump.  Who was assigned to hate Fowler into being good?  Step it up.

Carlos Gomez or Cameron Maybin I hope.

Looked like he didn't bother running hard to first, even though he might have beat it out since the SS double-clutched. Just an all-around great effort from Dexter today.

Taking an obvious called strike three in the 9th inning of a no-hitter and then bitching about it afterward like it wasn't well within the zone. Man has he had a frustrating year.

[SKO]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

[R-V]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

[SKO]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

I'm not watching either, just gameday. Probably, though. Dammit, Dex, the good feelings were flowin.

[Powdered Toast Man]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

When is he supposed to try to steal? That's kind of where he hits in the lineup.

I'm just as annoyed as you are though.

[Tony]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

When is he supposed to try to steal? That's kind of where he hits in the lineup.

I'm just as annoyed as you are though.

If he gets on, and then all three of them make outs, then he can steal.

[R-V]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

When is he supposed to try to steal? That's kind of where he hits in the lineup.

I'm just as annoyed as you are though.

I guess my larger point is...he shouldn't, like ever. Unless there's some wacky situation where it's a no-brainer (like Jon Lester somehow being the opposing pitcher), the guy with the 68% career success rate should just stay put.

[Powdered Toast Man]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

When is he supposed to try to steal? That's kind of where he hits in the lineup.

I'm just as annoyed as you are though.

I guess my larger point is...he shouldn't, like ever. Unless there's some wacky situation where it's a no-brainer (like Jon Lester somehow being the opposing pitcher), the guy with the 68% career success rate should just stay put.

Now, I agree with you there. I liked the Coghlan attempt in the B6 in front of Russell, given that Russell has been smoking it and Ross was due up after him.

[Quality Start Machine]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

When is he supposed to try to steal? That's kind of where he hits in the lineup.

I'm just as annoyed as you are though.

I guess my larger point is...he shouldn't, like ever. Unless there's some wacky situation where it's a no-brainer (like Jon Lester somehow being the opposing pitcher), the guy with the 68% career success rate should just stay put.

Not to mention the fact that his staying on first gives Schwarber a bigger hole on the right side of the infield, since the 1B has to hold him on.

[Slaky]

So this guy has been playing some good ball lately.

Not watching the game today - why the hell was he caught stealing in front of Schwarber/Bryant/Rizzo? Please tell me it wasn't a TOOTBLAN?

When is he supposed to try to steal? That's kind of where he hits in the lineup.

I'm just as annoyed as you are though.

I guess my larger point is...he shouldn't, like ever. Unless there's some wacky situation where it's a no-brainer (like Jon Lester somehow being the opposing pitcher), the guy with the 68% career success rate should just stay put.

Not to mention the fact that his staying on first gives Schwarber a bigger hole on the right side of the infield, since the 1B has to hold him on.

It also sets up the play action