Tag Archives: Robbie Grossman

September 14, 2023

Best Batter Today

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Another day, another shuffle of the top five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners sits on top after he collected a double and a walk in a 3-2 win over the Angels. Mookie Betts of the Dodgers singled and walked in a 6-1 Padres victory for second place.

Ronald Acuna Jr.and Matt Olson of the Braves rank third and fifth respectively. Acuna posted a three for five night, including a double while Olson went 0 for 4 as the Braves beat the Phillies 4-1 to clinch the NL East title. The Phillies lead as the top Wild Card seed is down to 1 1/2 games, with four games separating the six contenders vying for the three slots.

Yordan Alvarez of the Astros ranks fourth after his 27th home run of the season in a 6-2 , near no-hit win over the Athletics.

Robbie Grossman of the Rangers posted the best game score of the day, a 73. He went two for three with two walks and a home run in a 10-0 win over the Blue Jays. At .241/.334/.409, Grossman is hitting near his career averages, with a little less OBP and a little more power. The three top teams in the AL West race remain separated by 1 1/2 games, and Toronto drops out of the top three in the AL Wild Card race.

September 11, 2022

Braves Booming Comeback

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The Mariners go into the ninth inning with a 6-2 lead over the visiting Braves. The Braves get two on then two out, which brings Michael Harris II to the plate. He gets a hanging slider and deposits it in the rightfield stands to cut the lead to one. Eddie Rosario singles to keep the inning alive, setting up Robbie Grossman to homer to rightfield to give Atlanta a 7-6 lead.

The Braves only had 12 home runs in the ninth inning this season, so these two shots are a high percentage of the total.

Update: That was Harris’s second home run of the game.

Update: Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners ties the game in the bottom of the ninth as the rookies rock. It was also his second home run of the game.

Update: Eugenio Suarez wins the game 8-7 with a solo shot. It was also his second home run of the game. The teams combined for eight long balls.

September 9, 2021

Best Batter Today

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Juan Soto of the Nationals remains at the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Soto goes two for five with a home run in a 4-2 win over the Braves. Pete Alonso of the Mets doubles in four trips in 2-1 extra-innings Miami win. The Brewers pitch around Bryce Harper of the Phillies after he homers in the first inning. They walk him three times as Milwaukee wins 4-3. Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals goes one for four in a 5-4 win over the Dodgers, dropping the Dodgers two games behind the Giants.

Kyle Tucker of the Astros joins the top five crowd with a two for three, a double and a triple. He throws in a walk for good measure. Tucker is on a thirteen game tear in which he collected 21 hits, ten for extra bases.

Three players posted games scores of 75 on an evening that lacked offense. Robbie Grossman and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers each posted that score, Grossman four for five with a home run, Cabrera four for four with a double. Elias Diaz of the Rockies also came in with a 75, going three for four with two doubles and a home run.

May 9, 2021

Best Batter Today

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Two players spring into the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after games on Saturday. Jose Ramirez of the Indians stays on top after going two for five with a double in a 9-2 win over Cincinnati. Since the start of the 2016 season, Ramirez leads the majors in doubles with 194, one more than new entry into the top five, Mookie Betts.

With Betts moving into the four slot, Dodgers occupy the next three positions. In a 14-11 win over the Angels, Corey Seager posted a three for four night, Justin Turner a one for four game with a double, and Betts went two for four with a walk.

Fifth place goes to Marcus Semien of the Blue Jays who goes one for four with a walk and a home run in an 8-4 win over Houston. Semien’s power returned this season. He slugged .522 in in 2019 with 33 home runs. Last season, that dropped ti .374 with seven home runs. He already launched eight dingers in 2021 with a .476 slugging percentage.

Best game score of the day goes to Robbie Grossman of the Tigers. His three for three with a walk, double, and home run gave him a game score of 81, a near perfect day from the lead-off slot. Grossman owns a .225 BA, but a .383 OBP. The Tigers beat the Twins 7-3

July 21, 2018

Fast Change

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Robbie Grossman talks about how baseball changed in the five years since he broke into the major leagues:

“But it’s hard to believe they had teams rolling out guys every night that you’ve never heard of, throwing 98, 99. And this spin-rate [emphasis], it’s a real thing,” Grossman said. “It’s crazy now that guys don’t pitch to contact anymore. They just try to strike you out. They say, ‘I’m going to hit this spot that you’re not good at hitting, up in the zone with high velo, and if I miss there four times, I’m going to walk you.’ They don’t care. That’s where the game is at.”

It’s not a complaint, Grossman said, just reality that he has to cope with.

“To me, that’s the fun part,” he said, “figuring out the chess match and trying to beat what they’re trying to do.”

Seems the Feiler Faster Thesis works for baseball as well as politics.

August 27, 2013

Improvement

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The Astros took a big lead over the White Sox Monday night, blew that lead, but came back to win 10-8. Houston improved their offense as of late. In the first four months of the season, they fell short of four runs per game:

Astros scoring by Month, 2013
Month Runs per game
April 3.96
May 3.89
June 3.33
July 3.96
August 4.54

Unfortunately, their scoring hasn’t translated to a better record, as the pitchers own a 4.72 ERA in the month and have allowed 17 unearned runs.

As far as the offense goes, is this sustainable? Three of the players leading the charge this month, L.J. Hoes, Jonathan Villar, and Robbie Grossman fairly new to the league and a couple of seasons from their primes. Grossman and Hoes seem to have the best minor league numbers, both with a strength of getting on base. We’ll see how the league adjusts to them after they’ve had some time in the majors, but Hoes and Grossman could become a decent pair of table setters for Houston.

August 26, 2013

Rookie Streaks

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Looking at the longest current hit streaks this morning, the list is dominated by rookies and young players. Robbie Grossman of the Astros leads with a 12-game streak, and right on his heels is Khris Davis, at 11. Davis is especially hot, with five homers, nine runs scored, ten RBI and a .432 BA during the streak. Junior Lake of the Cubs, another rookie, is working on an eight game streak, putting three rookies in the top eight. The 20-year-old Bryce Harper also comes in with an eight-game streak, and while not a rookie, is young enough to still be in the minors (he’s also the youngest person in the top eight).

We could be seeing the future with Grossman and Davis. Robbie did a great job of getting on base in the minors. While he probably won’t hit for much power, the ability to draw walks should give the Astros a solid table setter. Davis looks like the complete package, although at age 25, he comes to the majors in his prime. There’s not a lot of room left for improvement.