By Jeff Moss
August 27, 2011
DetroitSportsRag@gmail.com
As I have mentioned in previous columns, I get constant feedback on Twitter that I am a miserable human being who never has a nice thing to say about anyone or anything.
And for the most part that is a valid criticism because I do have an EXTREMELY negative personality. It kind of runs in my family.
For example, when I call my mother on the phone the first words out of her mouth usually are, “What’s wrong?” And my grandma makes Jack Nicholson’s character in “As Good as it Gets” look like Bobby McFerrin.
So you can see, I come by this negativity honestly.
But I am trying to make a concerted effort to write at least one positive column a month and I just checked my archives and my last semi-uplifting article I penned was posted on July 22nd.
So I figured a good topic for “Shiny Happy Mossisms” would be the great season that Tigers catcher Alex Avila is enjoying.
Because as good as Avila has been this year, I am not sure Tigers fans even comprehend how insanely valuable he has been to this team.
You might remember last season the San Francisco Giants won the World Series and an enormous amount of the credit for the team’s success went to their catcher, Buster Posey.
Not only did Posey backstop the Giants to their first World Series since they moved to San Fran he also was honored as the NL Rookie of the Year in 2010.
And earlier this season when Posey got annihilated in a home plate collision with Scott Cousins (which broke the catcher’s leg and ended his season) many became so hysterical that something so awful could happen to baseball’s next Chosen One that discussions were had regarding changing the games rules on contact at home plate.
That is how much heat Posey earned from his stellar play to end last season and to begin this one.
And the comparison I am about to make in no way shape or form should be perceived as taking anything away from Posey. The guy was awesome for the Giants after his call-up in late May of last year and without him Brian Wilson’s beard probably wouldn’t have its own ESPN commercial.
But let’s take a look at a comparison of Posey’s 2010 stats and Avila’s from 2011:
Posey 2010: 108 Games – 406 At-Bats – 18 HR – 67 RBI – .305 BA – .357 OBP – .505 Slugging % – .862 OPS
Avila 2011: 110 Games – 359 At-Bats – 16 HR – 63 RBI – .304 BA – .397 OBP – .529 Slugging % – .926 OPS
Through about the same amount of games as Posey in 2010, Avila has put up substantially better numbers. In almost 50 less at-bats Avila has about the same amount of HRs and RBI and a superior OBP and OPS.
And if you are wondering why Avila has played two more games than Posey but had 47 less-at bats, it is because:
1) Avila walks more than Posey which leads to less official plate appearances.
2) Posey’s manager (Bruce Bochy) batted him fourth in the Giants lineup in 2010 while Jim Leyland has consistently had Avila batting eighth and sometimes NINTH this year. Who knows how many at-bats that has cost Avila over the year.
Which is another factor to consider in Avila’s borderline MVP season. The son of the Tigers Vice-President has spent a majority of the season batting IN FRONT of Brandon Inge and his .180 batting average!
Do you think that Avila has been getting quality pitches to hit consistently when the next guy in the order has an OPS under the Neifi Perez-line?
So not only does Avila possess a .926 OPS this year he is DOING IT WITH AN EXTRA DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY provided by his idiot manager.
And how about that .926 OPS?
At the time of this article, Avila’s OPS rates SEVENTH in the ENTIRE American League. The six guys who have a better OPS than Alex this late in the season?
Jose Bautista
Adrian Gonzalez
Curtis Granderson
Miguel Cabrera
David Ortiz
Paul Konerko
Ummm, ever hear of any of THOSE guys?
And at the position of catcher, there isn’t anyone even close to Avila’s numbers. The Tribe’s Carlos Santana has an OPS of .784, but he has played A THIRD of his games at first base.
Not only has Avila not had that luxury, he has been forced in August to play all but two games behind the plate because of Victor Martinez’s bad knees.
Do you remember when Pudge Rodriguez was in Detroit how he would start off every season red-hot with the bat and then come back to earth during the summer months because of wear and tear on his body?
Well, Avila has the following splits during a month when he was forced to play 18 straight games without a respite:
.418/.530/.806/1.336
If I was a fan of the Indians or the White Sox I think I’d request that Avila take a piss test and I’d want to make sure that Vincent Chase and Billy Walsh weren’t anywhere in the vicinity with a Whizinator when it occurred.
When researching this article I tried to figure out Avila’s WAR (Wins Above Replacement), but when Fangraphs.com realized that Avila replaced GERALD FUCKING LAIRD, my MacBook Pro exploded.
I mean, I am not even sure it is possible to put into words the improvement that Avila is over Laird at the catcher position.
It is basically the equivalent of a wedding band replacing their guitarist for the Schwartzenbaumgoldstein Bar Mitzvah with Tom Morello.
If they were pilots, Avila would be Sully Sullenberger and Laird would be Stephen Hatch.
If they were writers, Avila would be William Faulkner and Laird would be Rob Parker.
Have I made my point yet?
(And by the way, I know that OPS isn’t the only statistic in which to measure a hitter. But if you go to FanGraphs and sort by WAR, WPA, w/RC+ or RC Cola, you will still find Avila in the AL Top 10 of pretty much every advanced metric imaginable.)
And the best part about all of this is that Avila is only 24-years old and he might actually GET BETTER. The guy is having the season that the Twins would have expected out of Joe Mauer and the Tigers are paying Avila $22,575,000 less than what the Minnesota catcher makes.
Yep, while Mauer is raking in $23 million this year for his 1 homer and 25 RBI, the Tigers are getting a Lance Parrish in his prime season out of Avila for $425,000.
I am just glad that I am not the father of a Tigers catching prospect. That would be brutal as it doesn’t look like there is going to be a job vacancy at that position in Detroit for years and years to come.
Eventually that might lead to an uncomfortable conversation between the team’s Assistant GM and manager.
For Al Avila’s sake, I just hope the discussion doesn’t occur while Leyland’s mouth is full.