Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
August 14, 2007
Good First Impression

Russell Branyan plays his first game for the Phillies and makes his impact felt with a game winning two-run homer. Neither the Nationals nor the Phillies could score until the seventh, when Washington put a two spot on the board. But Jon Rauch wasted a fine start by Shawn Hill as he gives up three runs in the top of the eighth, the last two on the Branyan homer. Hill lowers his ERA to 2.41 with the six shutout innings.


Posted by David Pinto at 10:03 PM | Players | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Good to see Branyan back on his feet. He gave the Padres a serious boost down the stretch in '06; maybe he can do the same for Philadelphia this year.

Posted by: Geoff Young at August 14, 2007 10:21 PM

Branyan has a career .808 OPS. That's hardly fantastic but it's far from terrible. Soriano got gazillions for a career .837 OPS.

The trouble with Branyan, of course, is abbreviated with a K. Even announcers know his strikeout numbers, and they Pavlov them every time he walks to the plate. Sabermetricians can argue forever that a strikeout is no worse than any other out, and sometimes better than a groundout, which often leads to a DP. It doesn't matter - all those whiffs dog Branyan whenever he steps onto the field.

The guy can be a serviceable DH or PH if somebody is just willing to accept the fanning. I don't want to make this sound like a horrible injustice. Branyan has gotten over 2,000 plate appearances and makes very acceptable money. But the ingrained and somewhat irrational prejudice against the strikeout has hurt his career unnecessarily.

Posted by: Casey Abell at August 15, 2007 09:16 AM
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