Are these Batter’s 2015 MLB stats Legit? – Sports Debate

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We’ve played two months of baseball, but are these four batter’s 2015 MLB stats for real? Former All-Stars get hit with sports debate. Its time for Honest Chicanery, true or false, with four MLB batting lines.

Seesaw Sports debate, where Dan Salem and Todd Salem throw down on the NFL, MLB, NBA and more, only on BuzzChomp. Two brothers from New York yell, scream and debate sports.

 

TODD:

Onto the next set of the game baseball lovers are calling, “Yeah, this is kind of okay I guess”…

Honest Chicanery!

For a refresher, here are the rules. I will supply you with an item followed by a piece of information pertaining to that item. The item can be a team, player, etc. The information will usually be a stat of some kind. It is then your job to say whether that information is Honest (True) about the item: implies the correct assumption, or whether it is Chicanery (False): implies the wrong assumption.

So if a bad player is hitting .410, and he will surely regress, the .410 batting average is pure Chicanery. Simple, right?

And, as always, there is a correct answer! Even though this seems strictly opinion-based, that is just smoke and mirrors. I’ll fill you in during rebuttal on where you screwed up or what you nailed.

And we’re off (all stats as of 6/10)…

1) Prince Fielder – .354 batting average, first in the American League.

2) Matt Kemp – negative 0.3 WAR, despite fourth-most at-bats in all of baseball.

3) Robinson Cano – .611 OPS, not even in the top seven on his own team.

4) Mark Teixeira – 17 home runs and 45 RBI, second and first respectively in the American League.

Honest or Chicanery?!

DAN:

This round of what most people would call ‘True or False’ is star-studded, or at least full of former stars.The MLB season sure feels upside down, but I like it!

1) Prince Fielder’s dominating batting average is Honest. He’s an All-star player who is having a tremendous season thus far. He won’t win the batting title, but I see no reason why he can’t finish at or near the very top in batting average. The American League feels weaker this season and Fielder is taking advantage.

2) Matt Kemp’s ridiculous WAR is also Honest. Kemp is only a slightly above average player at this point and his current WAR is consistent with his last two seasons, back with the Dodgers. Now playing for San Diego, one would think he is more valuable, but don’t be fooled. He’s more valuable to the Padres, but not overall. Sorry Matt.

3) Robinson Cano’s currently poor OPS is pure Chicanery. Its false and Cano is sure to turn things around in 2015. His WAR is currently 0.2 as he’s batting a putrid .248 thus far. All of his stats are unlike anything we’ve seen in Cano’s career. Unless Robinson has turned a corner into that downward spiral of his career, he is going to rebound and return to form sooner than later. He also could be injured (fingers crossed I’m wrong).

4) Mark Teixeira’s dominating home run and RBI numbers are Honest. I told you before the season started that he was back, fully healthy, and ready to be great once again. I’d seen an interview with Mark where he talked about his changed diet, exercise routine, and how he’d slimmed way down. All of this equaled a new and refreshed player, prepared to be great once again. Tex will continue to play at a high level all season, erasing the past few years for Yankees’ fans in the process.

Time to tally up my score. How did I do, thee of supreme baseball knowledge?

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TODD:

You did well once again I have to admit. 4-for-4, even if your logic was flawed in one instance.

1) Like the pitchers, this is about extremes. Prince Fielder is probably not going to win the batting title this season. He’s only batted over .300 for an entire season once in his career. But the sentiment is Honest. He is a career .287 hitter, is playing great, and this is shaping up to be the second time he bats over .300 for a season. The average won’t remain at .349 all year, but that’s not the point.

2) You missed the boat on Matt Kemp unfortunately. The reason he had accumulated low WAR in his previous Los Angeles years was because he couldn’t stay on the field. And last year, he was solidly above average at the plate and a train wreck on defense. 2015 is really the first season ever in Kemp’s career where he is playing everyday and is a bad hitter. I’m not sure what to make of it.

Perhaps the low WAR total will remain real; it’s often hard to hit in Petco Park. I also think he is bound to hit the DL at least once here soon, just based on the law of averages. So I suppose the answer is Honest, but I don’t feel like you reached that outcome soundly.

3) Cano is in a bad lineup in a pitcher’s park, but he has actually hit better at home. His stat line makes no sense. You’re right, unless he’s hurt, this is Chicanery.

4) I agree! Mark is sending Tex Messages into the seats every night! Again, the extreme isn’t true; he is not going to lead the league in both categories all season, but the sentiment is Honest. Teixeira’s no-gluten, no-sugar, no-whatever diet must be the wave of the future.

 

 
 

Photo credits: NJ.com and Major League Baseball