Is Grady Sizemore the Best CF in Baseball?
Baseball July 8th. 2008, 5:30pm
Realizing that nearly all position arguments throughout sports are completely subjective … Intern Bill wrote in his American League All-Star breakdown that Sizmore was indeed the best at his position. A reader countered with:
I’d like to ask Intern Bill what makes Grady Sizemore “far and away the best CF in the AL”. His batting average has continued to drop over the last three years. THis year, his HR total is up simply because he is swinging for the fences every time … He strikes out a ridiculous amount of times.
Here are stats of CF. Lotta names to consider: Ichiro, Granderson, Rios, Damon, Upton, Beltran, Torii Hunter, and the ghost of Eric Davis. Sizemore currently leads all CF in OPS and homers. Discuss.
38 Responses to “Is Grady Sizemore the Best CF in Baseball?”
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July 8th, 2008 at 5:35 PM
I’d say Sizemore for sure is one, after that it’s probably quite a bit muddled. I think Upton eventually will be there, but who knows.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:37 PM
its sizemore 1 and number 2 isn’t particularly close.. using batting average to knock sizemore usually isnt very smart.. or using that on ANY player for that matter
July 8th, 2008 at 5:38 PM
i’d say Sizemore or Upton when he develops some more power. Damon doesn’t really play CF anymore.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:39 PM
good point on upton benji.. that kid is legit.. good speed, gets on base at an unbelievable clip and plays a great cf.. big fan of his
July 8th, 2008 at 5:40 PM
If we are talking this year…to me it looks like Josh Hamilton.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Josh Hamilton is having a great year. I think Sizemore will continue to get better, and he is playing great right now. I think his RBI numbers and potentially his OBP would be even better if Wedge would bat him third. He’s an idiot, so I think it probably won’t happen.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:45 PM
buckeye is right…wedge needs to bat grady no. 3, but who’s leading off? he’s versatile, annoying, powerful and can get any ball in the field.
knocks? strikes out a lot, doesn’t have a great arm and is surrounded by bullshit for a lineup.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:45 PM
(I’m basing this argument on the idea that Hamilton isn’t a CF…he’s played 57 of his 87 games there and looks to have been shoehorned into center due to no viable option. His Range Factor and his Zone Rating (those are defensive metrics) are piss poor)
He is the best right now. The fact that his batting average has dropped the last three years is meaningless, because he’s dropped to .269 this year from .277. That’s not quite a preciptious drop. It amounts to something like 1 hit every three weeks.
The thing Grady has going for him is the best combination of getting on base but also hitting for power. He’s number 2 amongst CF with a .372 OBP and number 1 in slugging. Batting average is an overrated stat, because everything it tells you is told by OBP with the additional benefit of accounting for walks. Yes, I know a single can advance a runner whereas a walk won’t, but ultimately you’re looking not to make an out in baseball and you accomplish with a single and you accomplish it with a walk.
For those of you that like RBI’s, he ranks 3rd out of the LEADOFF spot. That’s pretty damn impressive. The players ahead of him all hit in the middle of the lineup.
Sizemore is also a good defensive player, which you have to take into account. CF, SS, C are positions where it is important to have a good defender, you always want to be strong up the middle.
And just for good measure, he is 10th in all of baseball in VORP, which is first amongst CF
July 8th, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Jeeves you’re a smart dude. It makes me sad you’re a Sox fan.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:49 PM
I have not seen many of Hamilton’s games so I was surprised he was a center fielder. Some of his stats have to be better because of playing at Ball Park at Arlington.
Spence, there are no candidates to lead-off for the Tribe, which is sad. He still should bad third with the power he is displaying. He does play a good CF and his below average arm does not hurt him as much in center.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:50 PM
more good news for sizemore 1) hes not related to tom 2) his BABIP and LD% is below his historical average and his popup rate is up, so look for his OBP and average to go up. his power should stay the same, or maybe decrease since his HR/F ratio is a bit over his normal rate.
uh, i didnt look up hamilton’s stats and i have to go on a beer run so i am abstaining from taking a position.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:50 PM
smart post jeeves.. and nice blog.. looks good
July 8th, 2008 at 5:51 PM
Grady’s the best, and it’s not particularly close.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Jeeves, I’m not too excited about PK’s return. Since April, I’ve thought the Sox would be better off with Swisher at first and a platoon in CF.
Wish we would have let PK go to the Angels after 05
July 8th, 2008 at 5:55 PM
fetch i saw you say elsewhere you thought swisher wasn’t having as bad a season as last year.. what makes you say that?… 763 OPS..yikes
July 8th, 2008 at 5:58 PM
cortes, last time I checked he still had a close to .400 OBP and I think his BABIP is really low, that all could have changed from 3 months ago or whenever it was obviously. He’s having a worse season than last year, but I don’t think his career is over or anything.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:59 PM
350 OBP… the batting avg makes it look worse to the casual fan, for sure..the BABIP is a good point though
July 8th, 2008 at 6:00 PM
No love for Torii Hunter? He hits the hardest one hoppers to third in the league.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:05 PM
Fetch – We’re just on opposite ends of the spectrum. Sox-Twins, ManU-Chelsea…Oh well, it’s always nice to have a level headed person to argue with.
Cortes- Thanks a bunch. I’ve been going at it for quite some time, since the start of ‘06, but this past school year I just was unable to write due to some unfortunate events, but I’m back in the full swing of things now!
As far as Swisher is concerned, it’s not as bad as it looks. I hate to write it off to this, because it sounds like a piss poor excuse, but it really just came down to bad luck. He was hitting lots and lots of line drives. He had a great line drive rate (plus just watching him, he would rip the ball…right at outfielders), but due to luck they just weren’t translating into hits. His May (OPS .547) was just brutal, but if you look at his splits and his June (OPS 1.032), I think that’s more indicative of his ability and his play this season (ok it may be a bit over, but I’m expecting production closer to June than I am May)
ssimac – I’m a bit worried too. I’m holding out hope that his absolute suckiness this season was due to that lingering hand injury. I forget when exactly he hurt his hand, but if it had still been bothering him, this extended break could do wonders for him. Though I agree, it was great seeing Swish at first. I forgot what it was like seeing a 1st baseman with more than 1 step of range.
It would have been nice if the Sox had let him go, but it was really just impossble to do so. Fans would have revolted, and a lot of the good will they got for winning the series would have gone down the tubes. So in the sense of the play on the field, it stinks having Paulie through his decline years (hopefully his decline isn’t as steep as it’s starting to look) but PR wise it was for the best, I guess.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:06 PM
This really isn’t a debate. Who was the reader who mentioned decreased BA?
Out yourself!!
July 8th, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Will the Indians trade him for a ham sandwich?
July 8th, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Jeeves: Swisher has had really bad luck. Check this out.
.763 actual OPS versus .890 prOPS.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Oh no Jeeves, you’re a ManU fan too? The madness. Although I only know one ManU fan and he’s an asshole so that taints my view of all other ManU fans.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Thanks for the statistical evidence Nick. After doing the bit about Sizemore I got to lazy to look up the stats, so I was hoping everyone would just take me at my word, but that help, cheers.
haha unfortunately I follow the Red Devils, and check out the Jozy thread if you want to see why again.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:26 PM
Bat Sizemore third instead of leadoff, and he doesn’t automatically become better. But he would defintely increase his numbers across the board. Why the hell is he still batting leadoff? He is a totally different hitter than two years ago.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:33 PM
What CF would you take instead of him? BJ Upton is the only one I’d consider, but that’s because of his unknown greatness.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:38 PM
There’s only one possibility – Carlos Beltran. He’s better defensively, but also older and more expensive. Still gotta go with Grady.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:42 PM
Has Beltran ever been as good as people thought he was going to be? I really thought he’d be the best player in the game by now.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:55 PM
@Onterrio
He was as good as people thought he would be in 2006. He had a line of .275/.388/.594 /OPS+ 150 and 41 HR 100+ RBI. Other than that, he’s been good, not great. Definitely not living up to the contract.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:07 PM
Beltran’s postseason for the Astros in 2004 was amazing. That postseason made him a lot of money.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:32 PM
Within 3 years it will be
1. Upton
2. Adam Jones
3. Sizemore
July 8th, 2008 at 7:32 PM
People in NY seem to think that Beltran’s bust status there has todo with him not being “a nyc kind of player” and that he would have been better off taking less money and playing out of the spotlight.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:49 PM
This again? I am with nick p out the emailer…
and not with nick P on prOPS. Sure its a sign of some hope, but Swisher has always been below his prOPS
July 8th, 2008 at 7:57 PM
Really?
July 8th, 2008 at 8:06 PM
You are right, SM, but never to this degree (going back 4 years)
July 8th, 2008 at 8:15 PM
Good stuff SM, I was never aware of that. I s’pose I’ll have to temper my expectations accordingly
July 8th, 2008 at 11:27 PM
If we’re considering Josh Hamilton a CF, which is where he’s played most of his MLB games at…then it’s not even close! Sizemore is pretty good, but Hamilton could end up being the best player in the game this year and in the future. I don’t see much of an argument there.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:44 AM
This year, Sizemore’s stats aren’t really much better than Nate McLouth’s. I like Nate, but I wouldn’t suggest that he’s close to the best CF in baseball.