May 06, 2008
San Diego Speed
Tom Krasovic pens a good article on the lack of speed among the players on the Padres. Alderson points out they didn't have much speed last year, but with people getting on base, no one really noticed.
Bill James in his 1980s Abstracts wrote that every strength covers a weakness. What's happened this season is the strength of getting on base disappeared, exposing the speed weakness. It's showing up on the base paths. The Padres made only nine stolen base attempts this season, fewest in the NL (they were successful seven times, however). The article leads you to believe it's showing up in the outfield, and while their Zone Rating is below average, they've made a good many plays out of the zone as well.
When a team goes into an offensive funk, speed helps make the most out of the limited scoring opportunities presented, and helps the pitching staff keep the score low. San Diego is in that situation now, and they don't have the speed dimension to on which to fall back.
For what it's worth, in 2007, the Padres ranked 28th in MLB in OBP.