I love walks. If you asked me what I would rather see - a player hit a 450 foot homer or a player work a ten-pitch full-count walk - I would tell you I would probably rather see the Cardinals homer because those equal instant run(s). But, if I had no rooting interest in the game, I would rather see the walk.
Hitting home runs is very hard, and I understand that, but there is something about a walk, especially one that has been truly earned, that is just beautiful. With every ball taken, every borderline pitch fouled off, you can almost see the doubt creep into the pitcher. He throws his best pitch, but the batter knows better, basically telling him to just give up already.
Randal Grichuk plays good centerfield defense and hits for power, but he swings at everything and misses a lot. The tools he possesses make him a valuable player, but not one I could truly love.
Unless, of course, he keeps walking.
Yesterday, Alex Crisafulli posited whether we were seeing a different Randal Grichuk. So far in the young 2016 season, his out of zone swing percentage is down eight percentage points from 2015. The sample size is small, but the difference is enough to make you wonder. Even Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs has noticed:
I'm going to get wayyy ahead of myself, just for fun. Let's just pretend like Grichuk's new O-Swing% is for real. Pretend he's going to run a 20% rate this year. That would be a drop from last year of about 16 percentage points. Since 2008, the biggest season-to-season drop in O-Swing% is 12 percentage points, given a minimum of 200 trips to the plate in successive seasons.
If this new patient Grichuk is for real, the Cardinals do not just merely have a valuable player, they have a pretty good one. And one that could definitely find a place in my heart.
Hopefully @DIdGrichukWalk finds him/herself much busier than he/she expected.
Randal Grichuk’s Doing Something Very Unusual | FanGraphs Baseball
Are we seeing a different Randal Grichuk? | Viva El Birdos
Cardinals Insider: How Grichuk got his groove back | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
what else is going on in baseball...
- The defense bests: Fielders wow witnesses | MLB.com
- Alex Gordon makes amazing diving catch | MLB.com
- Twins light up park in purple to honor Prince | MLB.com
- Manny Machado Is Also Amazing | FanGraphs Baseball
- 2015 Relief Pitcher Ball-in-Play Retrospective – NL | FanGraphs Baseball
what the cardinals are up to...
- Cardinals beat Cubs after long rain delay | MLB.com
- Randal Grichuk’s Doing Something Very Unusual | FanGraphs Baseball
- Cardinals Insider: How Grichuk got his groove back | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
- Media Views: Parris set to leave Fox Sports Midwest | Television | stltoday.com
- Cardinals notes: Wainwright making fixes | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
- A Fixed Lineup For Matheny? Given This Roster, It Isn't In the Cards | 101Sports.com
- How a Few Cubs Fans Trolled the National Media Into Covering the Bogus Heyward Story | Double Birds
- This picture is cool:
KNOW THINE ENEMY...
the san diego padres
- Series preview: Cardinals at Padres | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com
- A San Diego Padres community | Gaslamp Ball
the nl central
- Come and experience the pure joy of Pedro Strop's amazing laugh | MLB.com
- Fan attempts to celebrate Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter with Cubs, leaves with police | SBNation.com
- The Cubs delivered an historic destruction of the Reds | SBNation.com
- Everyone can learn something from Jake Arrieta's no-hitter | SBNation.com
viva el stuff...
- Fanposts:
On Violence | Viva El Birdos
An Open Letter to Everyone Targeting Cardinals Fans with Accusations of Racism | Viva El Birdos
First Two Weeks Highlights! | Viva El Birdos - Hunt and Peck | Viva El Birdos
- Are we seeing a different Randal Grichuk? | Viva El Birdos
other things...
weekly scoreboard:
Friday, April 15 | Reds | 3 | Cardinals | 14 | RR Recap | VEB Recap |
Saturday, April 16 | Reds | 9 | Cardinals | 8 | RR Recap | VEB Recap |
Sunday, April 17 | Reds | 3 | Cardinals | 4 | RR Recap | VEB Recap |
Monday, April 18 | Cubs | 5 | Cardinals | 0 | BCB Recap | VEB Recap |
Tuesday, April 19 | Cubs | 2 | Cardinals | 1 | BCB Recap | VEB Recap |
Wednesday, April 20 | Cubs | 3 | Cardinals | 5 | BCB Recap | VEB Recap |
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