-P- John Perrotto on Nate McLouth:
Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan wrote that McLouth, ''looks like a pumped-up fourth outfielder who had one good month.''
Baseball Info Solutions, using advanced metrics that give players a plus for making a difficult play in the field and a minus for failing to make an easy play, rated McLouth as the worst defensive player in the major leagues in 2008, his Gold Glove notwithstanding...
"As far as the defense, the National League managers and coaches voted me on to the Gold Glove team. Those are the guys who know the game. They certainly know more about defense than some stats professor from MIT."
Dear Nate,
While you're plainly not a "pumped-up fourth outfielder," and while Sheehan's comment is really strange given that you posted at least an .885 OPS in four different months last year, you really need to just ignore the numbers--or, better yet, learn from them by, for example, not playing so shallow. When you get defensive (heh) like that, it makes you look small, and you're so much better than the Shea Hillenbrands and Mike Jacobses of the world. Keep your head up. And back up fifteen feet or so.
Sincerely, Charlie
-P- Former Pirate farmhand Ronald Belisario made the Dodgers' Opening Day roster which, if you remember anything about Belisario's inexplicable stint on the 40-man roster, probably surprises you.
-P- Rob Neyer:
The Pirates probably are the one team in the majors most likely to lose 100 games.