Rox Talk - Week 4

The Week That Was

A 2-4 week against the D-Backs and Giants. The Rox currently stand at 12-13. Four games back from division leading San Diego in third place. Currently 7-5 at home and 5-8 on the road, the Rox have outscored its opponents 126-102 (expected wins is 15 versus historical wins at 11). On pace for 78 wins with 816 runs scored and 661 runs against. Playoff indicator (Runs scored/Runs Against ratio) is 1.24 (>1.16 indicates high playoff potential).

Just an all around awful week. I think the 11 - 12 lost to D-Backs on Wednesday afternoon summed up the week for me. To give up the runs then come back and lead and then have it go to extra innings and lose...ughhhh! D-Backs have always been trouble (see below) and well winning in San Fran hasn't been easy. This is the first real trip through the West with games in San Diego and LA up on deck. Rox finished with a 11 - 12 record in April. I think that is what the Rox needed. Although they find themselves 4 games back I think the real contenders haven't shown themselves. May is the time to start playing better baseball. Nice start for Chacin. The depth of the team really is shown with the injuries and the fact that was reasonable players to fill in. A complement to the team and how it has been built.

All Time Records

During the broadcast back against the Marlins, a stat showed up to say that the Rox and Marlins were 72 - 72 against each other. I wonder what the other records happen to be. Below lists the records against all 29 teams.

Some surprises:

1) A winning record against the Padres and a miserable record against the rest of the NL West.

2) Worst record is against Atlanta, not a big surprise, remember we didn't beat them in 1993 an they were in our division!

3) Surprising we do so well against the AL

3) Can we move to the NL Central?

Helton in the Five Hole

Helton has gotten 75% of his plate appearances in the 3rd or 4th hole for the Rox. Over the weekend Tracy put Helton in the 5th hole. As Helton ages one has to wonder how long will we allow Helton to remain in his usual batting position? Helton had a nice rebound year last year but it has been pretty obvious that over the last few years Helton has not gotten the extra base hits he had in his early years. From 2000 - 2005 Helton extra base hits accounted for more than 40% of his hits since 2005 it has gone from 36%, 34%, 29%, 32% and 19% so far this year. The graph below shows Helton's on base percentage and slugging percentage over the years. Helton is my favorite Rox but when will he admit he might be better somewhere else in the order? He still is a hit machine...put him in the two hole!