Archive for the ‘Colby Rasmus’ Category

Roto-Relevant Research: Contact Rate

Posted by Eno Sarris under Adam Dunn, Bryce Harper, Colby Rasmus, Roto Relevant Research on Apr 25, 2013

St Louis Cardinals v Washington Nationals - Game Five

We know some stats stabilize earlier than others, that’s well-traveled ground. But a recent chart over by Charlie Adams at Beyond the Boxscore depicts the race to significance visually for us:

PAs_until_stabilize

It’s early in the season. The samples are short. Many stats won’t matter for a while. But! Players have made changes to their swing and contact rates that might hold steady. Of course, all we are saying is that we can learn more from the player’s rates than the league rates at this point — we aren’t saying these rates will hold steady all year. But we can learn from them.

So who changed their approach the most? Here are the top 15 guys who decided to swing more:

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Colby Rasmus Loves the Current Arbitration Process, Hopes it Never Changes

Posted by Drew Fairservice under Colby Rasmus, News And Notes on Jan 14, 2013

The current model for arbitration in baseball is, well, a little broken. Though the PA and the league made steps to improve the manner in which some players are classified when it comes to free agency, there is still room to improve the arb model as it relates to players salary.

The arbitrators love home runs and they love RBIs. This isn’t a bad thing as it puts money in the player’s pockets but, sometimes, it ends with odd rewards for odd achievements.

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Colby Rasmus’ Mukluks Brought to You by Cold-Ass Saskatchewan

Posted by Drew Fairservice under Colby Rasmus, HardBall Talkin' on Jan 11, 2013

To be fair, they aren’t actually mukluks (probably Sorrels). But it is -21 Celcius in Sasktaoon right now (feels like -27!), so Colby Rasmus is well within his rights to bundle up. A native of Alabama and resident, I believe, of the Florida Panhandle, we can safely assume Mr. Rasmus doesn’t have a great deal of experience with minus two Fahrenheit.

When it comes to his hair, well, he is on his own on that front.

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Quote Of The Century: Colby Rasmus On The Little League World Series

Posted by Dustin Parkes under Colby Rasmus, HardBall Talkin', Toronto Blue Jays on Aug 14, 2012

The wonderful John Lott of the National Post, in putting together a feature on Canada’s entry in the upcoming Little League World Series, asked Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Colby Rasmus about his experience as a member of the U.S.A. team in 1999.

He supplied Mr. Lott with the quote of the Century:

Tough competition, good players. The field, the stadium, it was awesome. A ton of people in the stands. I don’t think pressure really bothered us. We were more scared of my dad than anything.

You might think that the fear of Tony Rasmus would have something to do with the overbearing reputation he earned, whether fairly or unfairly, while his son was playing for the St. Louis Cardinals. However, I’m not so convinced.

If anything, I imagine 12-year-olds were more frightened by him eating a snake before every game:

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Rasmus Follow-Up: Backfoot Slideritis

Posted by Drew Fairservice under Analysis, Colby Rasmus, General on Feb 08, 2012


This morning, Parkes unveiled a terrific post on Colby Rasmus’ struggles at the plate in 2011. He pointed out some mechanical flaws and an increasing inability to lay off/do anything when thrown changeups away in the zone.

In some of the great discussion that followed got me thinking about Colby Rasmus’ at bats. Certainly waving at change ups isn’t good for business but there must be a deeper meaning behind his inability to make do with faded changes away. I think the reason for this struggle is simple: he has backfoot slideritis.

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Fixing Colby Rasmus And Gaining A Better Understanding Of BABIP

Posted by Dustin Parkes under Analysis, Colby Rasmus on Feb 08, 2012

Several times on this blog, we’ve engaged in debates over the meaning behind batting average for balls in play. While we can draw a consensus as to how it relates to pitchers, far too often, the statistic is misrepresented as meaning the same thing for batters.

Lazy analysis treats a high or low BABIP as a sign that a hitter experienced a lot of good luck or bad luck. While certainly randomness plays a factor in the success and failings of a plate appearance, one cannot look at BABIP alone as a means of deciphering the influence of luck on a batter.

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