Comments on: Should Billy Butler DH? http://kingsofkauffman.com/2011/02/09/should-billy-butler-dh/ A Kansas City Royals Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More Thu, 29 Nov 2012 02:29:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Zach http://kingsofkauffman.com/2011/02/09/should-billy-butler-dh/#comment-4244 Zach Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:17:34 +0000 http://kingsofkauffman.com/?p=7073#comment-4244 I think Billy should primarily DH but every few games have him and Kila switch. You want Billy to stay motivated to hit and keep improving on the field. If Billy never sees the field its going to be hard for him to stay focused, hes said it himself. There a pretty good article on that and the potential of each player and what to expect this season here... http://kcsportsspot.blogspot.com/ I think Billy should primarily DH but every few games have him and Kila switch. You want Billy to stay motivated to hit and keep improving on the field. If Billy never sees the field its going to be hard for him to stay focused, hes said it himself. There a pretty good article on that and the potential of each player and what to expect this season here…

http://kcsportsspot.blogspot.com/

]]> By: Gage Matthews http://kingsofkauffman.com/2011/02/09/should-billy-butler-dh/#comment-4242 Gage Matthews Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:38:16 +0000 http://kingsofkauffman.com/?p=7073#comment-4242 Great addition. Thanks for bringing that up. It definitely makes the difference much more apparent. I don't really know what to make of it. In reality, I'd want to see a full season where Billy spends nearly all his time at first and another with nearly all his time at DH just to see how it sorts out. If he really does bat worse as a DH, it makes me wary of moving him off first. Great addition. Thanks for bringing that up. It definitely makes the difference much more apparent.

I don’t really know what to make of it. In reality, I’d want to see a full season where Billy spends nearly all his time at first and another with nearly all his time at DH just to see how it sorts out. If he really does bat worse as a DH, it makes me wary of moving him off first.

]]> By: Eric Runnebaum http://kingsofkauffman.com/2011/02/09/should-billy-butler-dh/#comment-4241 Eric Runnebaum Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:34:50 +0000 http://kingsofkauffman.com/?p=7073#comment-4241 I knew Billy was injured last year mid-season, so I took the numbers for August and September, since I knew he didn't DH for the first half of the year because of Guillen. Billy's slash for the last two months, fairly evenly distributed (starts in parenthesis): 1B(27): .327/.423/.543/.967 WPA: 0.385 DH(29): .260/.382/.439/.820 WPA: -0.225 Billy had 25% more AB at DH despite only 10% more starts. The difference in slugging is probably due to small sample size, with most of that difference contributed by the difference in BA. Whether the BA difference in 104 v. 131 is due to sample size or not, I'm not sure, but in light of the larger pattern, it probably isn't. I knew Billy was injured last year mid-season, so I took the numbers for August and September, since I knew he didn’t DH for the first half of the year because of Guillen.

Billy’s slash for the last two months, fairly evenly distributed (starts in parenthesis):
1B(27): .327/.423/.543/.967 WPA: 0.385
DH(29): .260/.382/.439/.820 WPA: -0.225

Billy had 25% more AB at DH despite only 10% more starts. The difference in slugging is probably due to small sample size, with most of that difference contributed by the difference in BA. Whether the BA difference in 104 v. 131 is due to sample size or not, I’m not sure, but in light of the larger pattern, it probably isn’t.

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