Firebarn Chris Coghlan Because Fuck You, That's Why

[Tonker]

The guy smokes a line drive and the second baseman makes an outstanding play. I'm still holding off on firebarning Coghlan. He just seems to be unlucky right now.

Len and especially JD referred to it a couple of times last night.  He's no Barry Bonds, in any event, but he's not as bad as his numbers currently suggest, either.

[Eli]

The guy smokes a line drive and the second baseman makes an outstanding play. I'm still holding off on firebarning Coghlan. He just seems to be unlucky right now.

Len and especially JD referred to it a couple of times last night.  He's no Barry Bonds, in any event, but he's not as bad as his numbers currently suggest, either.

He has a .705 OPS and two projection systems (ZiPS and Steamer) think he'll put up a .699 and .695 for the season. Seems like he's probably performing about as expected.

[SKO]

The guy smokes a line drive and the second baseman makes an outstanding play. I'm still holding off on firebarning Coghlan. He just seems to be unlucky right now.

Len and especially JD referred to it a couple of times last night.  He's no Barry Bonds, in any event, but he's not as bad as his numbers currently suggest, either.

He has a .705 OPS and two projection systems (ZiPS and Steamer) think he'll put up a .699 and .695 for the season. Seems like he's probably performing about as expected.

This. It's one thing when Starlin Castro or whatever has a bad week of BABIP luck, but Coghlan's just as likely to stop squaring up the ball so much and make softer outs than he is to keep hitting hard and start getting good results. His history mostly suggests he's not very good.

[Tonker]

The guy smokes a line drive and the second baseman makes an outstanding play. I'm still holding off on firebarning Coghlan. He just seems to be unlucky right now.

Len and especially JD referred to it a couple of times last night.  He's no Barry Bonds, in any event, but he's not as bad as his numbers currently suggest, either.

He has a .705 OPS and two projection systems (ZiPS and Steamer) think he'll put up a .699 and .695 for the season. Seems like he's probably performing about as expected.

But he's been stone cold in the last couple of weeks, which is why SKO now wants him exterminated.  That's fine, but then he should have sent him a pizza in the middle of April when he was hot as fuck, too.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

[SKO]

Flirting with the Mendoza line

[CubFaninHydePark]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

Looking at this caused me to look at Soler's BABIP line.  Holy jeesus...just cut down on the K's.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

Looking at this caused me to look at Soler's BABIP line.  Holy jeesus...just cut down on the K's.

I kind of wish they all would...Soler, Bryant and Russell combined for 6 K last night (Bryant 2, Soler 1, Russell 3). Sheesh. They are doing almost everything else right, though.

[SKO]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

Looking at this caused me to look at Soler's BABIP line.  Holy jeesus...just cut down on the K's.

I kind of wish they all would...Soler, Bryant and Russell combined for 6 K last night (Bryant 2, Soler 1, Russell 3). Sheesh. They are doing almost everything else right, though.

I expect Soler to begin to make more contact because that's what his profile and his minor league history and what he did last year suggests he'll do. He never was billed as a high K guy. Bryant's probably just going to keep that up, but it doesn't really matter given his walk rate and the quality of contact he gets when he makes contact. Russell it's hard to tell. His walk rate when down in the minors last year and he hasn't walked much yet but he's just so damn young and inexperienced. He doesn't seem to chase a lot of stuff outta the zone, so hopefully the K's disappear a bit as he sees more big league pitching.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

Looking at this caused me to look at Soler's BABIP line.  Holy jeesus...just cut down on the K's.

I kind of wish they all would...Soler, Bryant and Russell combined for 6 K last night (Bryant 2, Soler 1, Russell 3). Sheesh. They are doing almost everything else right, though.

Remember, fellas--strikeout's just an out. They really only concern me in certain situations.  Can we get a gander at situational strikeouts, Chuck D?  Can you crank up the ole' machine for that?  Like what the pitch sequence and outcome has been in situations with, say, a runner on third and 1 out, that kind of stuff?  I'm not even sure what it'd tell us--baseball's hard, you know?  Dude's sometime strike out with a runner on third and one out when a long pop fly scores a run (or a runner on second with no outs when moving him over with a roller to second is preferred to a K).  And I doubt it happens often enough to draw conclusions during a season that's 5 weeks old but I'd bet that in the long run  Bryant (and Soler maybe) would strike out a lot less in those situations but in any event I really think fretting about strikeouts as a whole is a little silly.

[Quality Start Machine]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

Looking at this caused me to look at Soler's BABIP line.  Holy jeesus...just cut down on the K's.

I kind of wish they all would...Soler, Bryant and Russell combined for 6 K last night (Bryant 2, Soler 1, Russell 3). Sheesh. They are doing almost everything else right, though.

Remember, fellas--strikeout's just an out. They really only concern me in certain situations.  Can we get a gander at situational strikeouts, Chuck D?  Can you crank up the ole' machine for that?  Like what the pitch sequence and outcome has been in situations with, say, a runner on third and 1 out, that kind of stuff?  I'm not even sure what it'd tell us--baseball's hard, you know?  Dude's sometime strike out with a runner on third and one out when a long pop fly scores a run (or a runner on second with no outs when moving him over with a roller to second is preferred to a K).  And I doubt it happens often enough to draw conclusions during a season that's 5 weeks old but I'd bet that in the long run  Bryant (and Soler maybe) would strike out a lot less in those situations but in any event I really think fretting about strikeouts as a whole is a little silly.

Let's not forget the Hank White Strategic Strikeout, where Hank would take the K instead of grounding into a double play.

[SKO]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

Looking at this caused me to look at Soler's BABIP line.  Holy jeesus...just cut down on the K's.

I kind of wish they all would...Soler, Bryant and Russell combined for 6 K last night (Bryant 2, Soler 1, Russell 3). Sheesh. They are doing almost everything else right, though.

Remember, fellas--strikeout's just an out. They really only concern me in certain situations.  Can we get a gander at situational strikeouts, Chuck D?  Can you crank up the ole' machine for that?  Like what the pitch sequence and outcome has been in situations with, say, a runner on third and 1 out, that kind of stuff?  I'm not even sure what it'd tell us--baseball's hard, you know?  Dude's sometime strike out with a runner on third and one out when a long pop fly scores a run (or a runner on second with no outs when moving him over with a roller to second is preferred to a K).  And I doubt it happens often enough to draw conclusions during a season that's 5 weeks old but I'd bet that in the long run  Bryant (and Soler maybe) would strike out a lot less in those situations but in any event I really think fretting about strikeouts as a whole is a little silly.

My level of concern over the Bryant Ks is 0. He has great situational awareness, he battles back to take walks as noted, and he shortens his swing and stuff with 2 strikes. I'm only mildly concerned about Jorge striking out because he's never really done it much before and he does so much damage when he makes contact I just want to see him be patient again and go back to driving the ball. I think he'll be fine.

Russell I have zero concerns with period on anything. He's 21 years old and he's got a 9 game hitting streak with lots of great ABs that led to extra base hits. Ks are Ks. They'll go down a bit with experience but you're right, for the most part they're just outs.

Coghlan though? Fuck him. Stop striking out, fuckface.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Was I right? Coghlan makes the least amount of "soft contact" in MLB.

Looking at this caused me to look at Soler's BABIP line.  Holy jeesus...just cut down on the K's.

I kind of wish they all would...Soler, Bryant and Russell combined for 6 K last night (Bryant 2, Soler 1, Russell 3). Sheesh. They are doing almost everything else right, though.

Remember, fellas--strikeout's just an out. They really only concern me in certain situations.  Can we get a gander at situational strikeouts, Chuck D?  Can you crank up the ole' machine for that?  Like what the pitch sequence and outcome has been in situations with, say, a runner on third and 1 out, that kind of stuff?  I'm not even sure what it'd tell us--baseball's hard, you know?  Dude's sometime strike out with a runner on third and one out when a long pop fly scores a run (or a runner on second with no outs when moving him over with a roller to second is preferred to a K).  And I doubt it happens often enough to draw conclusions during a season that's 5 weeks old but I'd bet that in the long run  Bryant (and Soler maybe) would strike out a lot less in those situations but in any event I really think fretting about strikeouts as a whole is a little silly.

A K isn't the end of the world, especially if you OBP over .400. But when you're not, and you're K-ing 30% of the time, it's a bit alarming and Mike Oltish. So, yeah. I tell myself not to get too carried away about K's, but I also don't want to just totally disregard them as the same as a ground out.

K's just bum me out, man.

[Eli]

Remember, fellas--strikeout's just an out. They really only concern me in certain situations.  

Kind of depends on the player. High-K players don't put up high batting averages, which doesn't matter with Bryant because he's going to walk a lot and can still provide a quality OBP. On the other hand, someone like Russell doesn't walk, so all of these strikeouts mean he's probably going to get on base at less than a 30% clip. He'll keep adjusting and get better, but that's part of why I'm OK with him staying in the No. 9 spot for now.

[SKO]

Remember, fellas--strikeout's just an out. They really only concern me in certain situations.  

Kind of depends on the player. High-K players don't put up high batting averages, which doesn't matter with Bryant because he's going to walk a lot and can still provide a quality OBP. On the other hand, someone like Russell doesn't walk, so all of these strikeouts mean he's probably going to get on base at less than a 30% clip. He'll keep adjusting and get better, but that's part of why I'm OK with him staying in the No. 9 spot for now.

Yeah. For what it's worth Rusell only K'd in about 21% of his PAs in the minors (which really isn't bad at all these days as far as I know, right?) and only 16.4% of his AA plate appearances (15.2% in his brief AAA stint this year). Seems likely his K rate should slowly become acceptable as he gets used to the majors.