Video of Akinori Iwamura’s Range and Running After Injury Last Year
by MarkInDallas on May 27, 2010 4:51 PM EDT
Email
PrintUPDATE by Charlie: This video really is eye-opening.
There has been a lot of debate surrounding the Pirates' decision to trade for Akinori Iwamura after his knee injury last year. Aki has seemed slow and lumbering this year, and many have attributed that to his knee injury in 2009. Others have mentioned that Aki just looks heavier and may have been depressed that he had been traded to the dreadful Pirates and let himself get out of shape.
Huntington has said the Pirates scouted Aki last year after the injury and the scouts reported that Aki's running and time down the line to first was not affected, and that his range at 2nd base was good.
I decided to go back and find some plays that would show him running and playing 2nd base to see if there was a noticeable difference.
What do you think? Should the scouts have come to the conclusion that Aki was on the decline or not?
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.
37 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I voted no, and I don’t even see it as a close call. Who voted yes? Am I missing something? He looks faster and more agile.
Good idea and post.
Wow. He looks really different. Well done, Mark.
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 27, 2010 5:49 PM EDT reply actions
For frame of reference...
To find these plays, I watched the plays he made in the first 8 games after his return, and these were the only plays where he had to move substantially. The rest of the plays were routine, and he there were no plays that I saw in those games where he either made an error or might have gotten to a ball but didn’t.
I agree he looks completely different. He does look substantially thicker now and nowhere near as agile. There was also a double play feed that I should have included probably, where he made the turn smoothly and perfectly.
DFA Aki now!
Nice piece of evidence here — I’m more convinced than ever that this cat just doesn’t want to be in Pittsburgh and is dogging it in a George Hendrick fashion.
"Never mistake motion for action." - Ernest Hemingway
How so you say "Operation Shutdown" in Japanese?
by Bucsfan1978 on May 27, 2010 6:12 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I think he is dogging it.
They should file a grievance or something, I really don’t know what they can do with him. It is really a shame he would have that attitude, he basically killed his career unless he can convince future teams that he was bad on purpose.
I'd love to be in on that conversation
You should give me a big contract because I’m not as bad as I was last year. I intentionally dishonored my contract, betrayed my teammates, abused the fans in Pittsburgh and debased myself in order to come here where I promise to play well.
Are there any Al Davis analogs in MLB?
Maybe it's just the number change
The “1” Aki is wearing in the video is much more slimming than his current “3”
I’m not sure what this proves. If search the highlights at the Pirates’ web site, you can find at least as many plays as this where Iwamura looks at least as good as he does in this video. We’ve all seen a large number of plays involving him this year, but we’re looking here at a handful of plays from last year that may or may not be representative.
I do agree that the advanced defensive metrics speak louder than video clips.
by Adam Reynolds on May 27, 2010 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions
To clarify, yes, the defensive metrics for Iwamura are horrible this year, but I didn’t think that was the point here.
What’s the point, that he is the same as he was last year? If so, that’s not a very good one.
by Adam Reynolds on May 28, 2010 2:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Really? I just watched them (it didn’t take long) and I didn’t see any where Iwamura looked nearly as fast as he does here.
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 27, 2010 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions
I wouldn’t say he looked like Nyjer Morgan, but he does appear to my eyes to be considerably faster.
Oh well.
by Charlie Wilmoth on May 27, 2010 6:58 PM EDT up reply actions
Certainly not "fast" compareed to other players, but certainly not slow and lumbering as he has shown with us.
I guess I’ll have to make a split screen comparison with him running down the line for you. I just can’t imagine him making that running charging play with the Pirates this year at all.
by MarkInDallas on May 27, 2010 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions
We havent
been very lucky with asian players. kuwata, kim and now aki
I aint addicted, I'm committed.
Masumi Kuwata really doesn't belong in this group.
Anyone familiar with Japanese baseball knew he was washed-up. It was just DL spending some more cash to try to make a “splash” like he did with Yoslan Herrera, instead of putting the time and money in to building a consistently, productive farm system.
Kuwata has gotten the Pirates some positive pub in Japan and I witnessed it firsthand. As far as I know, he still continues to make appearances from time-to-time wearing his Bucco jersey.(He should have plenty of them as he reportedly spent big money buying them up from the Pirates’ stock before he returned to Japan.)
He was by all reports a positive influence on the other Bucco pitchers as well. If the Pirates use their collective FO brains wisely, they will do what is necessary to keep Kuwata a Pittsburgh Pirate for future attempts to promote the club in Japan and to help them acquire some real talent from NPB one of these days.
He definitely looks heavier to me this year
and his conditioning is just not there.
To me, he looks flabbier throughout his chest area as well this now.
The Pirates should have asked themselves a very specific question before dealing for Iwamura:
If we acquire him, what will be his motivation to work hard to play well for a perennial loser?
Did they think about what the guy had accomplished in Japan and in the U.S. and think that maybe, just maybe, he would have little motivation to spend one year in the “Burgh” for a crappy team?
He gets his $4 million+ no matter what.
There should be more to the scouting and evaluation process than just numbers.
Depends on his plans for 2011
If they thought they were getting a guy motivated to play for his next contract they sign him. If he plans on hanging it up or going back to Japan or (whatever), then they shouldn’t have signed him. But how would they know?
IMO
This is a perfect comment that needs the customary “Hindsight is 20/20.” I remember getting on Game threads at the beginning of the season (San Francisco) when everyone thought the guy was the best thing since sliced bread.
A lot of us were happy to have what we thought was a legitimate MLB
second baseman for a year, instead of dealing with the daily horror show of seeing DY or Crosby out there, but the “best thing since sliced bread” is a big exaggeration.
He was never the slimmest guy
But its not even just his midsection, his face is even carrying extra weight this season and that usually means at least 15 extra pounds.
http://bleedblackandgold.com/
by Say Hey Johnny Ray on May 27, 2010 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Tampa was a crappy team
When he signed up with them. So there was no reason to think he wouldn’t give his best effort for the Pirates.
He had no other choice.
Through the posting system, the Yakult Swallows-his NPB team-accepted Tampa’s offer as the highest one.
He either negotiated a contract with them, or he remained the property of Yakult for another season.
The posting system can result in a low bid or no bid the NPB team decides not to accept-see Akinori Otsuka the year before he came to MLB.
He didn't have to come to America at all
If he didn’t want to play for a bad team. There’s no evidence to indicate that Iwamura isn’t trying hard because the Pirates are a bad team, in fact he had a track record of perfoming well on a bad team. Tampa lost 96 games his first year and Iwamura had a good year – .285/.359/.411.
I just don’t get is how you’ve come to the conclusion that the Pirates should have known that Iwamura would dog it this year (if that’s actually what’s happening) because he’s on a crappy team.
"He didn't have to come to America at all."
“If he didn’t want to play for a bad team.”
WRONG
Once he made it clear he wanted to play in MLB, and the Yakult Swallows agreed to allow him to go through the posting system, the team was in the driver’s seat to accept the highest bid, or refuse it. The player does not call the shots.
Iwamura was not eligible for FA yet, so he had to play for whatever team the Swallows got the highest bid from, if accepted.
If he’d wanted to call the shots and pick whatever MLB team wanted his services, he needed to stay another year, IIRC, and then get FA status, like Hideki Matsui did.
How can you come to any other conclusion about Iwamura and his piss-poor performance this year than that he came to spring training unprepared to play?
Overweight
Out-of-shape
Adding some blubber has exacerbated his declining speed and agility.
He’s making $4million+ and not coming anywhere close to upholding his end of the bargain to help the Pirates to the best of his ability to win baseball games.
I can’t say the Pirates could have known that Iwamura would be such a flop, but I do think they could’ve thought quite a bit more about what his motivation would be playing for such a crappy team after all the years of personal and team success he’d experienced in Japan and the U.S. before making the trade.
All in all, I guess I’m just frustrated to see another expensive, one-year flop for the Pirates when those precious millions could’ve been much better spent on other needs throughout the organization.
I do think, Pat...
…that you may be being a bit too quick to attribute his weight gain to apathy. If the knee is a continuing issue, or if he re-tweaked it over the offseason, it might have interfered with his conditioning program.
He definitely looks heavier to me this year
and his conditioning is just not there.
To me, he looks flabbier throughout his chest area as well this now.
Dude looks way heavier, as I’ve been saying for a while now. I can’t believe some don’t see it. That is basically not the same player.
by Adam Reynolds on May 28, 2010 2:23 AM EDT up reply actions
guys dont get out your pitchforks..
the guy may be ten million times fatter than he was, but…. dare i say it…. i think aki may be finally bustin out of his atrocious slump
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bucs Dugout
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
Baseball Nation Recent Stories
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Baltimore’s tradition of fans shouting ‘O!’ during national anthem sparks interleague feud
- Chris Perez follows rant against Cleveland fans with even better rant against Cleveland fans
- Pitcher Clayton Richard gets key pinch single in 13th after coming in 0 for 16
- Livan Hernandez welcomes ball boy to the bigs with shower of sunflower seeds (VIDEO)
- Man beaten by four others in Dodger Stadium parking lot
