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When did Thome become clutch?


Princess Dye

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QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 2, 2009 -> 08:33 AM)
You have players like Derek Jeter who are labeled "clutch" by everyone, but look at Jeter's stats. If he hits in the .290s, that's a "down" year for him. Then look at his postseason stats and you see that they're virtually identical to his career stats. Is he really "clutch" or is it just because he's one of the best pure hitters in the game? If you're a great player, generally speaking, you will be great in "clutch" situations too. When there appears to be a disparity, you can attribute that to data fluctuations due to small sample sizes.

 

On the other hand you have average players who get the reputations as being "clutch" (Crede for example) but realistically, that's your positive memories lying to you. Nearly all the time, if you look up their stats, they're not as impressive as you think they are.

 

Very true. As I like to say, "there is no such thing as clutch, but there is such thing as lack of clutch". The guys known as "clutch" are almost always good players who also hit like good players in big spots. There are FAR more guys who choke in the clutch (or who are poor players who also don't hit in the clutch) than there are guys who are better players in big spots.

 

As for Thome, his lack of clutch reputation is pretty humerous. One thing I've noticed especially about him is if you get him an at bat late in the game against a right handed relief pitcher (like last night, or on opening day), he seems to be a cold blooded killer. And I guess that's obvious since he kills RHP in general, but he seems to ESPECIALLY kill RHP who are relievers. Combine that with him being a little better against LHP recently (or so it seems), and here we are.

Edited by whitesoxfan101
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QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 2, 2009 -> 01:29 PM)
Jim is hitting .350/.487/.667/1.154 w/ 5 HR, 18 RBI and 17BB/16K over his last 20 games.

 

Just an idea of how huge Jim's bombs have been this year:

DATE  HR SITUATION RESULT INN LEAD/TIED

4/07: 3R DOWN LEAD 8th *

4/12: 2R TIED LEAD 6th **

4/19: 1R AHEAD -- 8th

4/22: 1R AHEAD up4 3rd

5/12: 2R TIED LEAD 1st ***

5/12: 2R DOWN LEAD 5th ****

5/18: 2R DOWN TIED 8th *****

5/25: 3R AHEAD -- 3rd

6/01: 3R TIED LEAD 8th ******

 

SPRAY CHART:

LF: 1

LC: 4

CF: 1

RC: 2

RF: 1

 

SPLITS:

RISP: 45 PA, .286/.422/.714/1.137, 4 HR 24 RBI

RISP 2 OUT: 19 PA, .375/.474/.875/1.349, 2 HR 13 RBI

CLOSE/LATE: 21 PA, .250/.286/.750/1.036, 3 HR 10 RBI

HIGH LVRGE: 30 PA, .296/.367/.778/1.144, 4 HR 15 RBI

 

To piggy back on this thought... SportsCenter mentioned that in his career Thome has 23 homers in the 8th inning or later which ended up being game winners.

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QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jun 2, 2009 -> 03:40 PM)
And don't forget Bonds.

 

Why is it that it's always LH hitters who sport that fluid motion? I don't recall seeing that from the right side.

A lefty turns, and steps naturally into the trot around the bases. A righty swings and has to flip the bat before they run.

 

Griffey would swing, freeze, pose to stare at his HR, and then start jogging. It just wouldn't work if he was right-handed.

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