Adam Jones Is Never Room Temperature
There are numerous methods for one to illustrate the streaky tendencies in a batter’s season. If I were to gamble on such a topic, I would feel safe guessing that Dave Allen would whip up a nifty graph, whereas Carson Cistulli would write each month in iambic pentameter. I’m neither as creative or talented as those men, so instead, allow me to take the old-fashioned approach to the science of month-by-month analysis with Adam Jones as the subject.
April (.223/.245/.388)
May (.279/.303/.375)
Creating outs is the greatest crime in this game of baseball. In April, Jones created many outs. Not only did he create outs by not having his batted balls turn into hits or striking out, but also by refusing to walk. He finished the month with more double plays hit into than walks. A .303 on-base percentage is horrendous and yet represented an upgrade in this circumstance. Through the first two month of the season, Jones’ line displayed an empty (and mediocre) batting average and no power. What, do tell, is going on with our Adam Jones, wondered Orioles’ fans.
June (.320/.353/.600)
Merely a coincidence that Jones and June are spelled alike? Sure, but is it merely a coincidence that Jones did his best to quench those curiosities during June? Some things we simply aren’t meant to know. For his part, Jones hit eight home runs in 100 at-bats and walked four times despite walking only five times through the first two months.
July (.257/.315/.376)
The sequel to his hot June was a letdown. His inhibitions against walking are never at their worst than when he is, too. A quick glance at Jones’ O-Swing% gives us some good and bad news. The bad is that he’s swinging out of the zone as often as ever. However, so is the rest of the league, meaning that, relative to his peers, Jones is actually swinging out of the zone less often than in previous years.
August (.304/.382/.468)
September (.386/.449/.591)
A double-scooping of good news to go with that tidbit and these two extremely good months is that Jones’ O-Swing% is down (relative to the league) for the second straight season. September is Jones’ little black dress while August is the business casual that Orioles fans request he wear more often when on the job for the next few seasons.
Months like August are why folks held superstar aspirations for the 25-year-old. Months like April, May, and July are why he’s yet to reward those aspirations with performance. To his credit, Jones is about the best bet in the Orioles’ lineup for between 1.8 and 2 wins during any given season and his age suggests that maybe, just maybe, he can still become the superstar that left Mariner fans in the gutter when Bill Bavasi moved him in a stupor.
What the F
I don’t even
“the science of month-by-month analysis” — what a joke. This article was a waste of analytical space.
“His inhibitions against walking are never at their worst than when he is too.”
What could this possibly mean?
You’re a bad writer and you try too hard.
Feel better?
a little
For an article that had a sole point of informing us that Jones is either hot or ice cold, that was kinda hard to read, as Rob illustrates (he only walks when he is hitting well).
This article could have been an interesting paragraph, instead it turned into a essay on.. well, I am not exactly sure what.
“Months like August are why folks held superstar aspirations for the 25-year-old.”
He has a .429 BABIP that’s contributing heavily to his performance this month. Really, this article is void of any analysis whatsoever. It’s impossible to make conclusions based on one month of data, especially when that data appears very lucky.
He has a BB% of 4.0 and decent power. He’ll never come close to being a superstar with that skillset, even if he plays solid defense in center, which is extremely unlikely. So to top it all off, you have a bad fielding center fielder with no eye and average power. Spell superstar? I think not.
This is one of the angrier Fangraphs comments sections I’ve seen.
No joke.
Seems like there’s been a lot of these angry comments lately.
There have been a lot of poor articles lately, poorly conceived and/or written.
I liked it R.J.
I think part of the reduced O-Swing may be maturation by Jones. He has been swinging less at breaking balls down and away. Last year and for the early part of this year he would strikeout every time with two strikes and a breaking ball down and away.
I thought this article was pretty ropey, but I still get a warm feeling when anyone bothers to write about my Os, so thanks RJ!
A more interesting topic would have been to compare the numbers to the “MLB storyline” that Jones was trying to become a more patient hitter this season but then abandoned that plan in June and reverted to the strategy of swinging at the first hittable-looking pitch.