I'll wholeheartedly concede that it is too early to know whether the Astros made a big mistake in letting Wigginton go. But it's still fun to ask the question now, even though the sample size is too small.
Let's look at Ty Wigginton's offensive stats so far with Baltimore:
BA .216 OBP .256, SLG .270 OPS .526
Sheesh, that's bad. Really bad.
The Astros have settled on the two headed platoon of Blum and Keppinger. Here is the Astros' production out of 3d base, from Baseball Reference.com.
BA .364 OBP .432 SLG .455 OPS .886 OPS+ 133
The 133 OPS+ is the highest for any position on the Astros. Blum's OPS is .777 and Keppinger's OPS is 1.15. Sure, Kepp's numbers are likely to come down to earth at some point, but still I think the overall excellent offensive result demonstrates the benefit of a good platoon.
The defensive side of this comparison also comes out on the Astros' side. This is less surprising, because Wigginton isn't a very good fielder. The UZR defensive numbers can be exagerrated at this point of the season, due to sample size. However, setting that nicety aside, let's look at Wiggy's 2009 UZR/150 (extrapolated to 150 games) at 3d base compared to Keppinger's and Blum's.
Wigginton UZR/150 -27.9
Keppinger UZR/150 +30.3
Blum (UZR/150) +35.9
And I better give you a big caution on Keppinger's UZR, which is based on only appearing in 7 games at 3d base, meaning don't read too much into it. Blum has always been very good defensively at 3d base, so his UZR result isn't overly surprising.
So far this season, the Astros have gotten both better offensive and defensive production at 3d base, compared to Wigginton. So far, the Astros' decision looks pretty good.
0 recs | 5 comments
Blum & Keppinger have been solid
Both seem to get on base in every critical situation.
You ask two questions. Do Astros miss Wigginton? Answer – not the way Blum and Keppinger are playing.
Did the Astros make a mistake in letting Wiggington go? Answer – Yes they did. So far it has not cost them.
Joe in Birmingham - April 29, 2009
I’m definitely happy with the production we’ve gotten out of the Jeff/Geoff platoon, and I was definitely surprised by Wiggy’s line when I saw it today.
I agree with Joe that, from a talent perspective, it was probably a mistake letting Wigginton go. From a monetary perspective, there wasn’t much of a choice. The good news is that Wade managed to cover up the hole at 3B pretty well. I hope it holds up for a full season. And I know I’m flat out eager to see what Jeff Keppinger can do for us.
When was the last time the Astros had a truly effective platoon? I couldn’t think of one right off the top of my head.
AstroAndy - April 29, 2009
astros' history of platoons seem to focus on 3d base.
Lamb and Ensberg platooned in 04, and when Ensberg slumped in 06 and 07, a rough platoon developed with Esnberg and Lamb, and later Huff. Ensberg was platooned with Geoff Blum when he first came in to the league. Ensberg also had such good numbers against LHP, he seemed to attract platoons.
JD has mentioned the very good Spiers / Berry platoon at 3d base in the late 90’s. The 1986 team featured a good platoon at 3d base between Garner and Walling.
In 2005, Garner had some very complicated platoons involving Berkman, Lane, Lamb, Burke, and Palmiero. That’s why Berkman seemed to split time between the outfield and 1st base.
clack - April 29, 2009
We have two perfect platoon players
That’s why it’s working. Keppinger has very wide splits for his career, and Blum has had wide splits the past several seasons. Keppinger is as good (or better) against lefties as Wiggy was, and the Blum’s defense gives him the edge over Wiggy against right handers.
It’s probably something of a blessing that we lost Boone for the season, as he really doesn’t have the splits necessary to excel in a platoon.
jack_ - April 30, 2009
I join Jack's thoughts
Joe in Birmingham - April 30, 2009
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