Not that either should be purported as good statistical analysis, but it's not very fair to completely discard that point considering the roster is drastically different.
The roster isn't that different...
Uribe played 46 games for us. KJ played 62... The rest of the team is the same or an improvement
Freddie missed most of that time with a wrist injury where it's questionable how close he is to 100% even still.
Granted I agree with your point as I argued a similar position (not had definite as you because I do think the approach jargon holds some weight). But a turnover of 3/8 of your lineup is pretty significant. The only true regression players were Maybin and Jace.
Per Brian Jordan, this team is not fun to watch, and guys are playing selfish baseball and trying to pad their stats as opposed to playing the game the right way--ABC baseball, putting the ball in play, avoiding strikeouts, etc, as they did in the first half.
If that sounds silly and incoherent, it's because it's essentially a direct quote from Brian Jordan and, well, he's Brian Jordan.
Per Brian Jordan, this team is not fun to watch, and guys are playing selfish baseball and trying to pad their stats as opposed to playing the game the right way--ABC baseball, putting the ball in play, avoiding strikeouts, etc, as they did in the first half.
If that sounds silly and incoherent, it's because it's essentially a direct quote from Brian Jordan and, well, he's Brian Jordan.
If anything they're being incredibly unselfish. Being terrible so that we can get the first pick.
Uribe and KJ also regressed when they left too. KJ was already on the way down before he was traded. Whatever brief moment the team had that didn't suck wasn't going to last. In fact you could say Swisher coming over counteracts anything we missed when those two left. In reality the main thing that fueled our offense earlier was the cluster luck. That wasn't going to last. And besides that what has really failed the team the last two months or so is the pitching. It's getting it's face bashed in on a nightly basis.
I wonder if he realizes we still don't strike out and always put the ball in play? I guess when the hits fall it's playing the game the right way and when they don't it's being selfish.
So watching Olivera now for a few games I have a couple of observations. First he's being way too aggressive, but I think that has more to do with being in the majors for the first time and trying to do too much. You can see the look on his face when he swings at a bad pitch. It's just a look of why the hell did I swing at that? I think once the game slows down for him he'll be ok. The second observation is that this guy has more power than I thought he did. The fly out to CF tonight was a good example. I honestly thought he hit a bloop single on that one, but instead it almost wound up being a double. He's a strong dude. Bottom line is that I think he's going to hit up here if he can stay healthy. That's a huge if though.
Not agreeing or disagreeing with Jordan, but we've struck out 25 times the last 3 games
So watching Olivera now for a few games I have a couple of observations. First he's being way too aggressive, but I think that has more to do with being in the majors for the first time and trying to do too much. You can see the look on his face when he swings at a bad pitch. It's just a look of why the hell did I swing at that? I think once the game slows down for him he'll be ok. The second observation is that this guy has more power than I thought he did. The fly out to CF tonight was a good example. I honestly thought he hit a bloop single on that one, but instead it almost wound up being a double. He's a strong dude. Bottom line is that I think he's going to hit up here if he can stay healthy. That's a huge if though.
Not agreeing or disagreeing with Jordan, but we've struck out 25 times the last 3 games
I also think he's going to be fine, if healthy. He's in his first go-round and he's never seen big-league quality breaking stuff. He may not light it up the rest of the way, but I do think that restraint is the order of the day.