Congrats to BenZo!

(Photo c/o Tampa Bay Rays on Facebook)

While we're on the topic, Hardball Times provided a great piece in praise of Ben, entitled "Positional Versatility and the Zobrist Fallacy." To quote, "This is a story about Ben Zobrist and what it means to be a great player" ...and to continue:

The well-educated but unobsessed baseball fan likely knows two things about Zobrist. First, he plays a lot of different positions for the Rays. Second, people like me won't shut up about how Zobrist is so underrated.

That's the book on Zobrist. He's a super-utility guy whom a small army of baseball nerds seem to think is the second coming of Stan Musial. You might even been aware of the fact that Wins Above Replacement (WAR) seems to adore Zobrist. Lots of WAR skeptics like to point to that and use it as an example of WAR's imperfections, its flaws.

WAR doesn't work because it says Ben Zobrist is about as good as Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Cano. That's the message. This is something that just cannot be so. WAR is new. It requires a mix of math and subjectivity, and you can't calculate it with two swipes on a keyboard. So when it tells you something you don't believe, you dismiss it. Mock it. Forget it.

This formula says Ben Zobrist is one of the five best players in baseball. What a joke.

Worth your time.

***

In praise of former Rays players finding success. Sigh. Miss ya boys.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>That is why the Royals got James Shields. Two on, two outs, two strikes in a two-run game in the seventh, and he whiffs J.D. Martinez. Big.</p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/509889987165171712">September 11, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>James Shields, who pitches another KC masterpiece, is going to be an awfully rich man this winter.</p>&mdash; Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/509903194047406080">September 11, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Davis hitting 99 &amp; throwing 93mph cutters. Not even fair</p>&mdash; jasoncollette (@jasoncollette) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasoncollette/status/509900145727516673">September 11, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Wade Davis has a 4.5 strikeout to hit ratio this season. Duminant</p>&mdash; jasoncollette (@jasoncollette) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasoncollette/status/509899589730582528">September 11, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

***

And this is of utmost importance...@lana MET PUIG!!!!!!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>y&#39;all. it happened. <a href="http://t.co/vhwfdXLFMj">pic.twitter.com/vhwfdXLFMj</a></p>&mdash; Lana Berry (@Lana) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lana/status/509857981341515776">September 11, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Links:

- Jeff Wilpon is a dick.

- A look at how minor league pitching changes throughout the different levels, also from Hardball Times.

- Lololololol.

- The two most underrated pitchers in baseball, according to Beyond the Box Score? Jose Quintana and Lance Lynn.

- What happened to the 2014 Oakland Athletics?