Wahoo's on First » Ian Kinsler

Are Kipnis and Cabrera the Best Keystone Combo in Baseball?

Steve Kinsella — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:49:45 +0000

In the movie City Slickers, three aspiring cowboys are sitting around reflecting on a simpler time of their youth and talking baseball. As soon as the name Willie Mays is mentioned, all three respond in unison with the name of Vic Wertz. That scene personifies what it means to be a baseball fan—they have a way of categorizing just about every individual aspect of the game, including linking players’ achievements together. (more…)

Why Jason Kipnis Will Be a Superstar

Brian Heise — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:58:36 +0000

For anyone who hasn’t been paying close enough attention, Jason Kipnis is having a great 2012 season. He’s murdering the baseball and has stuffed the stat sheet in a manner that has made Indians fans and fantasy baseball enthusiasts drool. What makes Kipnis’ 2012 season so impressive is that all of this success has come during his first full year in the major leagues. After an impressive 36-game debut last season, Kipnis gave us a reason to believe the future of second base in Cleveland was in good hands. He hit for power with a decent average, and his defense steadily improved each and every game. (more…)

FanSided MVP Awards Revealed: Explaining My Ballot

Lewie Pollis — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:46:21 +0000

The FanSided end-of-season MLB awards series completed today with the announcements of the Most Valuable Players. Jacoby Ellsbury beat out Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, and Justin Verlander in the AL, while Matt Kemp ran away with the NL vote. For full breakdowns of the voting, I highly recommend checking out Blaine Blontz’s posts at Call to the Pen (AL, NL).

As for each of the other awards, I’m making my ballot and reasonings public. Here’s who I chose for FanSided’s highest honors, and why:

1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays. Bautista was the best hitter in baseball this year, mashing 43 homers with a .302/.447/.608 triple-slash and a ridiculous 181 wRC+. He led the league in WPA (7.86) and tied for first in rWAR (8.5); he finished more than a full win behind Ellsbury in fWAR, but that’s entirely due to inconsistent fielding metrics—no other statistic puts Ellsbury’s glove at more than 20 runs better than Bautista’s. Joey Bats’ insane hitting ability, by contrast, is not up for debate. (more…)