OT: Of course Arietta is losing his control in THIS game.....

[PittPoker]

Not sure why you want to keep defending a team that has literally choked in the playoffs the last few seasons Pittbaseball11. Cutch was pretty bad all of September and so was the majority of the team. They were also bad in 2013 and if it wasn't for Marlon Byrd they most likely don't get past Cueto either. Byrd changed the whole dynamic offensively and that's why I believe we needed a bat like Cespedes in our lineup. Not saying we would have won the wildcard game against Arrieta with Cespedes but I am saying we would have won the division with him. If there was ever a case for stats to be misleading on the offensive front, the Pirates are it.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I'm quoting his Wild Card numbers because that is the only context in which he has accumulated none of the counting stats you mentioned. In a paltry 28 postseason AB's total he has a 321/441/357 triple slash line. Also it was 2-4 this year in the Wild Card game for him.

If clutch were a thing there would be a better argument. If there was any evidence whatsoever that players can influence when they get hits or HRs, there would be an argument. But at this point it's just small sample noise and a lack of opportunity. He's producing at a high level. His lack of accumulation of counting stats within a small sample is meaningless.

Neil Walker has RBI's and is a stellar 2-31 in the playoffs.

People always want to ascribe these intangible qualities to players and the playoffs rather than acknowledging that it's random and fluky and there's no evidence to support any of these claims or referendums.

Speak English. No, I gave you his hits, AB's and RBI's. That is pretty much all you need. You can slice and dice and try and give advanced stats all you want, but here is the truth, McCutcheon has the same number of RBI's in all of these post season games as you and I do.

I win. Game. Set. Match.

 

[Pittbaseball11]

The Pirates had the 8th best offense in baseball in September.

There's no such thing as choking.

 

[Pittbaseball11]

Speak English. No, I gave you his hits, AB's and RBI's. That is pretty much all you need. You can slice and dice and try and give advanced stats all you want, but here is the truth, McCutcheon has the same number of RBI's in all of these post season games as you and I do.

I win. Game. Set. Match.

You said no HRs. No RBIs. No XBH. He has an XBH outside of the Wild Card context.

RBIs are utterly meaningless in all circumstances.

 

[bwh05]

Cutch also had a chance to win the NLDS in 2013 in game 4 and didn't come through.

 

[Ski11585]

Speak English. No, I gave you his hits, AB's and RBI's. That is pretty much all you need. You can slice and dice and try and give advanced stats all you want, but here is the truth, McCutcheon has the same number of RBI's in all of these post season games as you and I do.

I win. Game. Set. Match.

You gave incorrect stats. You cannot win when you are factually incorrect from the outset.

 

[pitt-girl]

I would be fine with it. Ultimately, I side with the Fangraphs article below. Baseball is such a weird, fluky, unpredictable game that I don't think there is any way to structure it so that the best team wins with any regularity. It's always going to be highly dependent on luck and hot streaks -- things that can persist for months, halves of seasons, or full seasons.

I don't think there's really any way to "fix" baseball, because the playoff concept in baseball doesn't really allow it.

The Delicious Unfairness of the Wild Card

Here's the thing - if there is no way to create a wildcard situation that replicates in some way how the game is played all year (3-4 game series), then just drop the 2nd wildcard. MLB wanted to create more of an audience by including 2 more teams in the postseason, but the system failed them this year when the the 2nd and 3rd best teams in ALL of baseball had a best of 1 series. Ridiculous.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Here's the thing - if there is no way to create a wildcard situation that replicates in some way how the game is played all year (3-4 game series), then just drop the 2nd wildcard. MLB wanted to create more of an audience by including 2 more teams in the postseason, but the system failed them this year when the the 2nd and 3rd best teams in ALL of baseball had a best of 1 series. Ridiculous.

The system absolutely, positively did NOT fail them this year. They got exactly what the system was designed to produce. A winner take all game to advance in the playoffs. People love winner take all games. People watch winner take all games. People talk about winner take all games long after the games have been played. This season's NL wild card game was the fulfillment of a dream for both MLB and TNT, the people paying a lot of money specifically to televise a winner take all game. Something that no series can ever guarantee.

For the large majority of baseball history the Pirates and the Cubs "reward" for having the second and third best records in all of baseball would have been, well, nothing. Absolutely nothing. The current system gives both of them a chance at something, and it gives the people who pay most of the bills something that they desperately want, a winner take all game.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

You gave incorrect stats. You cannot win when you are factually incorrect from the outset.

I did not give incorrect stats. I copied his lines. What st

You gave incorrect stats. You cannot win when you are factually incorrect from the outset.

Sorry, the site I had him showed 1-3 this year. Not 2-4. Still no RBI's, No Runs, No XB hits. Again, he still never produced anything. And his second hit was an infield single. Now you can argue who hit behind him and in front, but the fact over 3 years, he didn't have ONE RBI.

So........shut up and go watch you some NBA. You love you some NBA. Go give yourself some handjobs over the NBA. NBA! SKi loves his NBA! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

But don't effing tell me I gave wrong stats to prove Cutch was not clutch because I missed a meaningless infield single.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

You gave incorrect stats. You cannot win when you are factually incorrect from the outset.

I did not give incorrect stats. I copied his lines. What st

You gave incorrect stats. You cannot win when you are factually incorrect from the outset.

Sorry, the site I had him showed 1-3 this year. Not 2-4. Still no RBI's, No Runs, No XB hits. Again, he still never produced anything. And his second hit was an infield single. Now you can argue who hit behind him and in front, but the fact over 3 years, he didn't have ONE RBI.

So........shut up and go watch you some NBA. You love you some NBA. Go give yourself some handjobs over the NBA. NBA! SKi loves his NBA! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

But don't effing tell me I gave wrong stats to prove Cutch was not clutch because I missed a meaningless infield single.

 

[Ski11585]

I did not give incorrect stats. I copied his lines. What st


Sorry, the site I had him showed 1-3 this year. Not 2-4. Still no RBI's, No Runs, No XB hits. Again, he still never produced anything. And his second hit was an infield single. Now you can argue who hit behind him and in front, but the fact over 3 years, he didn't have ONE RBI.

So........shut up and go watch you some NBA. You love you some NBA. Go give yourself some handjobs over the NBA. NBA! SKi loves his NBA! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

But don't effing tell me I gave wrong stats to prove Cutch was not clutch because I missed a meaningless infield single.

Acting like a child really helps your case. Good work! My love of the NBA is irrelevant. Deflect! Deflect! The best tactic for people who know they're wrong.

 

[pitt-girl]

The system absolutely, positively did NOT fail them this year. They got exactly what the system was designed to produce. A winner take all game to advance in the playoffs. People love winner take all games. People watch winner take all games. People talk about winner take all games long after the games have been played. This season's NL wild card game was the fulfillment of a dream for both MLB and TNT, the people paying a lot of money specifically to televise a winner take all game. Something that no series can ever guarantee.

For the large majority of baseball history the Pirates and the Cubs "reward" for having the second and third best records in all of baseball would have been, well, nothing. Absolutely nothing. The current system gives both of them a chance at something, and it gives the people who pay most of the bills something that they desperately want, a winner take all game.

Well, you make a great point. But adding in an "extra" wildcard is for TV and $$ purposes only. I agree that it obviously gives 2 other teams a chance (and the Giants certainly look advantage of it last year), but this winner take all philosophy has no place in the entire baseball season except this one game. I think they should just drop the extra wildcard but that's just me.

 

[Pittbaseball11]

But don't effing tell me I gave wrong stats to prove Cutch was not clutch because I missed a meaningless infield single.

If you give any stats to prove that any player is clutch or not clutch, you gave wrong stats.

RBIs are a product of sequencing and opportunity. There's no special ability attached to them. It's why teams and credible writers ignore them completely when analyzing players. Hitting is a skill. Hitting is a talent. Hitting in [insert arbitrary situation] is not a skill, because in a large enough sample the player hits the same as they do in all other situations.

There is literally a correlation coefficient and an r^2 of 0 when it comes to an ability to predict, sustain, and influence "clutch".

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I think they should just drop the extra wildcard but that's just me.

I'll bet if you agree to replace the dollars (with a little extra thrown in for good measure) that ESPN and TNT pay them for airing the games they will strongly consider you idea.

 

[Pittx9]

You excusing McCutcheon for his post season failures to do this is the same people who absolve Sid Crosby and Geno Malkin for their lack of post season production.

I'm a Crosby and Malkin fan, but I think people stick up for Crosby too much. A lot of playoff games where he does nothing. I know Malkin has had the same problems, but I find it easier to give him a pass because the year we won the Cup he went on an absolute tear. There was nobody on earth that was going to stop him that playoff run. Sid has probably been more consistent, but he has never had a playoff run like that where he almost single handedly led the team to a championship.