The Williams Log

Tigers elite relief is no longer so elite. Certainly other teams are becoming more familiar with the pitchers but also the pitchers themselves are fading. Jeff Williams propensity to give up runs is not as serious as Kubota but he does give up leads more often. Note that these runs also include some earned runs which would be charged to other pitchers under official scoring practices. The purpose is to show the actual runs that resulted from scoring hits from Williams pitching no matter who put the runners on base. Here is a log of these.

18.5 Swallows  Fukuchi   Home run   lead lost
20.5 Buffaloes Numerous  3 runs     lead lost
17.6 Rakuten   Yamasaki  RBI        lead given up
29.6 Swallows  Kawashima sac fly    lead lost
6.7  BayStars  Numerous  3 runs     lead given up
13.8 Giants    Nioka     Home run   margin reduced
20.8 Carp      Kurihara  2 run RBI  margin reduced
29.8 Giants    Various   2 runs     margin reduced
31.8 Giants    Various   4 runs     game lost
19.9 Giants    Ogasawara 2 run HR   margin increased
29.9 Carp      Kurihara  RBI        lead given up
3.10 Swallows  Numerous  4 runs     margin reduced

[Edited by: Christopher on Oct 5, 2008 6:02 PM]

Please do not take this the wrong way, but this post and the "Kubota Log" post anger me.

To look at and dwell on the few and far between failures of these two stand-up men is a waste of time.

A blog of their successes and contributions to the team would be a FAR bigger and better read.

This blog seems very unappreciative of their talent and years of dedication to this team and their fans...

Just my opinion.

You seem to misunderstand the purpose of the lists which is to monitor the failures and provide a solid base for later discussion. One hopes to be able to return to the figures and say that they didn't matter but if one can't one has solid information on which to base comments.
You might also want to reflect that the years of service have no bearing whatsoever. What matters is the performance now. Okada was furious about the debacle against the Swallows yesterday and went as far as to label Kubota's pitching 'pathetic'. Williams also earned his ire for failing to get his first strike in too often. These two pitchers are paid very well to protect narrow leads or stop the flow of runs from the opposition and this is what they must do. If they are failing to do that then it is a matter of concern for the team and the fans. Lazy and complacent pitching (as yesterday) is not acceptable under any circumstances.

Some people are critical of these postings, but I'm with Christopher on this. I am very very supportive of Williams and Kubota. They are two of my favorites and JFK was a special kind of treat that doesn't come along so often in baseball. But, as Christopher noted, you have to consider current performance sometimes and the best person for the job. Williams and Kubota, for whatever reasons, have not performed as well this year as in previous years. Although JFK is a popular institution, when players aren't what they once were, you have to reconsider their roles. These two are not necessarily the pitchers we want in the game night after night in critical situations. That's my take on it. Again, I'm a big fan of both players and wish them both the best.

Why dwell on these supposed poor performances? If JK are really doing so poorly, why is Hanshin in first place? Why does Okada continue to use them? How about a log of the positive things they do and contribute to the team?

please excuse my ignorance but what is JFK?

JFK stands for Jeff (Williams)--Fujikawa--Kubota, the great trio of relievers the Tigers have turned to in the last few years in the final innings. Actually, it's really in the order of JKF, as Fujikawa took over as closer when Kubota got injured catching his baby a couple seasons back. Jeff has been injured a lot the past couple years and Kubota has had some bad stretches, which is why Christopher started this posting on their performances.

who is this new pitcher Chris Lee from the Braves?

who is this new pitcher Chris Lee from the Braves?

That would be Chris Resop, who has been told (apparently) that the Tigers are thinking of using him as the closer or setup man. That'll throw the cat among the pigeons, won't it? We may even have to start getting used to the other brother, RFK.

Resop hasn't pitched in a game yet. Any reason for this?

thx, 1st post

Welcome aboard. Resop's first game was on July 27th and his debut was impressive. The game report has fuller details.

Williams still hasn't settled into his role as closer yet. The game against the Carp was the scariest yet. Lets hope he can overcome this.

Sadlly updated

A sad time for the once mighty JFK, but I wish Okada would quit trying to salvage it, and move on.

He needs to find some other set-up men for Fujikawa ASAP, and relegate those two to either "garbage time" when Hanshin is already behind, or to the B team.

Williams has been sent down to the second team for readjustment. Officially the reason is that the next two teams (Carp and BayStars) do not have so many left handed batters but this is just a front. The management believe that he is just suffering from fatigue (mental not physical) and needs time off. A bold decision by Okada to dispense with such a key player but the right one. One hopes that Williams will find his form again and return refreshed.

Williams' problems against the Giants continue. I am not sure why Okada used him in the latest game in preference to Atchison.

Atchison didn't do so well in his outing with the Giants today - one wonders why Okada kept him in the game so long. Why do you continue to pick on specific players? Obviously the Tigers' recent decline cannot be blamed on Williams and Kubota alone. Are you going to start a Kanemoto log next? How about an Okada log?

Yes but maybe he felt he had no one else and to change Atchison wouldn't improve the situation. I also got the impression that no-one could have stopped the Giants in that innings. These were the first runs given up by Atchison in relief - he has been extremely reliable. Williams has struggled against the Giants of late - have a look at the log and his record for August and the team he has given up runs to the most.

Kubota has been over-pitched and is showing the signs of it but Tigers still need their elite relief to come through in the important games. Their starting lineup is shaky at best. Williams was needed to close the Giants down and make sure that they did not increase the lead. He is paid a lot to do this particularly in important games. As I have said before this is of concern to fans if he isn't doing his job. It is also very important for team morale knowing that you have relief pitchers who will keep the score down.

Well, the Giants destroyed Atchison as well last night. They are just in a zone now and they will beat anything we throw at them. Hopefully they'll cool off eventually!

Some really trash pitching tonight.

[Edited by: Christopher on Oct 4, 2008 11:12 AM]

Hi Christopher. Williams was actually only charged with one run last night by the official scorers. This lead me to check some of your other stats regarding "runs given up" and you are including unearned runs and this is unfair and makes your "log" inaccurate.

This is why we measure pitchers on "earned runs against." It is unfair to charge runs to pitchers who inherit runners in scoring position and only give up a base hit which scores runs. The ERA stat also protects pitchers from being charged with runs where runners got on base as a result of an error.

For example, with 2 outs and runners on first and second, the batter gets to first on an infielding error. The inning should be over right? So if a new pitcher is introduced and gives up a single which scores two runs, these runs are considered "unearned" and do not get charged to the new pitcher.

I think you should revise your "logs" as I have discovered you are including unearned runs which is grossly unfair and why we have official scorers making sure pitchers' all-important ERA stats are a fair assessment of their performance.

You are correct. This was something I gave careful thought to and I understand your argument. However, I felt that as Williams was the one who was actually giving up the scoring hits then for the purposes of this log they should be included in his record and not Kubota's. He was brought on to prevent scoring and he wasn't able to so this needs to be taken into account. Even though I have been highly critical of Williams at times the overall assessment is actually going to be favourable.

Hi Christopher. I didnt mean for it to come across as an argument just stating the facts. This is not a criticism of your blog, you seem to do a pretty good and thorough job. I was just pointing out how runs are charged to pitchers. Just being on the mound when runs cross the plate does not equate to that pitcher being tagged with those runs.

Like I said, I just feel its an unfair reflection of their performance. Might I suggest you add an asterix or some kind of disclaimer that the runs in your log are not all EARNED runs but in some cases were charged to other pitchers. For baseball purists who read your title would probably assume that these are earned runs against this pitcher. I think that would be fair to the pitcher in question.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

I've added the note you suggested and will do so to the Kubota log as well. Thanks for the suggestion.