For The Love Of Q

by hittheg on Jun 7, 2008 4:59 AM PDT Comment 29 comments

Rob Quinlan is an insurance policy. He's here to fill in for injured starters. He's here to give tired starters a day off. He's here to allow a pinch hitter to bat for a player whose position he cannot play (ie. Rivera for Wood). He's even here to pinch hit.

Wood and S. Rodriguez are great defenders. They have greater upsides than Quinlan. They are not major league hitters yet and may never be. Quinlan is. He's not spectacular but he is proven. The man is hitting over .300. He still grounds out to third with a runner on second and no outs. He's slow by MLB standards. But he can get the job done.

Everyone here at this site want the Angeles to win. We rarely agree on the best method for this quest. Why do I think Quinlan is our best option? He can hit major league pitching. He's not an automatic out. Wood and S-Rod allowed Nappoli and Kotchman to be pitched around with the desired effect. Our opponents were never burned by this strategy.

Some think that Wood or S-Rod should be given at-bats to prove themselves. They would not be given enough at-bats this year to get a real read on their talents. D-Mac was suppossed to get 500 at-bats. Wood and S-Rod were only going to be here until Figgy, Izzy, and Aybar returned. That's what Quinlan is here to do, fill in for injured starters.

Quinlan and his .300+ average should be applauded here. What more do you want from a utility player? Wood or S-rod can play defense late in games.

Q-haters in my opinion are out of touch with reality. Giving minor leaguers the chance to prove themselves when it's not in our team's plan is detrimental. Those guys are our emerency plan. They are here only because of the amazing amount of injuries to our infield. If Q were gone Wood or S-Rod would have to sit on our bench when figgy returned. They would not be allowed to learn or grow into major league ballplayers.

Players like Quinlan are essential to winning clubs; not just for this year, but for the future.

This Fan-Post is authored by an independent fan. Tell us what you think and how you feel.

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i forgot to mention that howie was the other injured infielder

Who goofed? I've got to know.

by hittheg on Jun 7, 2008 5:12 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Correct, but.....

For all the reasons stated, is why S. Rod and Wood should be playing instead of “Q-Dog.” As long as we keep winning and maintain a good lead in the division, we have the ability to play the kids and have a rare opportunity to develope them in a winning year. Most teams are not alowed this luxury unless they are out of the race or in a rebuilding year. If they are allowed to improve while being surrounded by a winning atmosphere, these kids WILL become our future. Don’t get me wrong, I may be one of the few Q supporters, however Q is but a situational player. You are absolutly correct, Q is an insurance policy that needs to be kept around, but let the kids develope. We seem to be getting into a good groove now and no need to change things. What this team will be measured by is not if the kids hit 200 or 300, but by how well we pull it together with our “Stars” having off years.

"......and you can kiss it GOODBYE"

by Hapyorange on Jun 7, 2008 6:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i sorta agree with you

i think that the kids (weird im calling them kids, since theyre older than me) should get a chance to develop, but not at a huge detriment to the team. a platoon, like soth has been using, i think accomplishes both. it puts a competent player on the field (Q), while also giving s-rod and dick time to develop. (and instead of saying knock on wood, would one say “knock on dick?”

I AM THOR, GOD OF THUNDER. BOW TO MY WILL AND MY HAMMER!

by anaheim angels on Jun 7, 2008 11:34 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Q will definitely hit better this year, but...

... the kids will field much better, on a team that is winning games right now because of run prevention (and has two pitchers - Saunders and Garland - who don’t really strike anybody out). And most importantly, getting Wood Major League ABs this year will make him much better next year, when we’ll likely need him to be in the starting lineup.

by mattwelch on Jun 7, 2008 7:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

agreed here

Let Wood play!!!

by howiestheman on Jun 7, 2008 8:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

empty

I like Q as a backup, pinch hitter, and sometime platoon player, but that .300 is empty.

682 lifetime OPS versus RHP too. (thru 2007)

by elricsi on Jun 7, 2008 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Q doesnt walk........he takes his hacks.....he is not paid to walk.....so that OPS.....is the empty stat

i root for teams that lack offense! go halos and bills!

by norcaliangelsfan on Jun 7, 2008 2:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ridiculous

Guys who take walks are more valuable than guys who don’t. Juan Pierre is one of the most worthless leadoff men in baseball precisely because he can’t take a walk. All the base-stealing skills in the world won’t help the team if the player can’t get on. Besides, the OPS he mentions is against righties. He’s been a platoon lefty-hitting specialist most of his career.

Witty .sig goes here.

by scareduck on Jun 8, 2008 8:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Wood just needs abs

I don’t have a problem with him getting them at the ML level however I doubt Scioscia is ready to play him 6 games a week. I’d rather he go to SL and play everyday and hopefully by the end of the year in SL he is tearing it up. Until he has proven he can dominate AAA I don’t think he’s going to hit enough to play in the bigs.

Also Tim Salmon dominated AAA and only had a handful of ML abs in 92 and then flat out raked in 93. Wood I believe this year is the same age as Salmon was in Edmonton in 92. Hopefully his 09 is somewhat close to Salmon’s 93.

by MH252525 on Jun 7, 2008 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He also needs the time in the bigs

One thing I noticed last night was when he was brought on as a defensive replacement at 3B … He cut in front of the Boy King on that ball in the hole in the 9th and threw a 1-hopper to Kotch just like an SS. You could tell from Dick’s reactions after that play that he is starting to feel like he belongs. Keeping him on the team and the big leagues has major upsides too.

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Jun 7, 2008 5:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sure he needs times in the bigs

But do you think Scioscia is going to get him regular abs, especially considering Figgy is coming back in not that long (fingers crossed).

Also with the Angels having been sending back and forth so many times the last few years, he’s never really dominated AAA for any length of time. He hasn’t really dominated any level at all for a length of time since the AZ fall league the fall after his High A season.

by MH252525 on Jun 7, 2008 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm a Q supporter.

by wumbug on Jun 7, 2008 8:13 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

My only problem with Q

Is his defense. His bat has been good recently and I hope it continues.

I think a lot of the animosity for the guy has stemmed from Sosh’s commitment last season and early this season of platooning him with Kotch against LHP. One good season of above average BA against lefties turned into a season and a half of blocking our best hitter’s development. But it’s unfair to direct that hatred toward Q.

Please go away Justin Speier. Your work here is done. And take Quinlan's half-inch fielding radius with you.

by ReggieBullits on Jun 7, 2008 9:00 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i think you nailed it

the unfair dislike of Q is because he was used instead of Kotch on a regular basis
simple irrational emotions, makes sense

Who goofed? I've got to know.

by hittheg on Jun 8, 2008 12:49 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Quinlan

He had like one AB in our first 25 games so this discussion is only happening because of Figgy’s injury.

If Chone’s injury were anything more chronic there would have been a trade for a major league replacement.

by Rev Halofan on Jun 7, 2008 12:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

Q is doing great as a sub but he is not a long term solution. Granted I don’t have anyway of giving stats to back me up, but it really seems like he doesn’t do very well at all against pitchers with fastballs 94 and up relative to other players.

by MH252525 on Jun 7, 2008 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

on baseball-reference.com they have stats vs power and/or finesse pitchers

and you have a point. against power pitchers his avg/obp/slg is a mere .261/.330/.375
against finesse pitchers he has a pretty good .316/.338/.479 line.
Power pitcher is defined as walking or striking out more than 28% of batters while finesse is walking or striking out less than 24%. This is, although not a perfect, a good way to compare power/finesse pitchers and power pitchers generally have less control because of how fast they pitch, and vice versa for finesse pitchers

I AM THOR, GOD OF THUNDER. BOW TO MY WILL AND MY HAMMER!

by anaheim angels on Jun 7, 2008 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks!

I check baseball-reference a lot but had never seen the finesse/power pitcher comparisions before.

by MH252525 on Jun 7, 2008 9:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

As long as Q is hitting at all, Soth is keeping him in the lineup.

From what I’ve read in the papers recently, Soth is most concerned about lack of offense. He says over time it will put too much pressure on the pitchers and he does’nt know if it can be kept up winning games with great pitching and defense to back them up. He says hitting definitely needs to improve, so those players producing runs are likely to stay in the lineup.

There is a “dark cloud” that hangs over the head of the Soth, the nightmare of the end of last season in which the Angels were not competative because of illness and injuries. He does not want that to happen again, and get in the way of the big prize he and Arte have their eye on at the end of the season.

Soth has said he is rotating the four outfielders through the DH spot to allow rest and avoid injuries, but still giving them at bats. We will probably be seeing more of this strategy with the infields players as soon as Aybar and Figgy allow it. We need all these players to make it to the end, the ultimate goal, and I think we will see them all given the chance to improve and produce for the team. Soth's strategy is depth in every position so we are not caught short when it is really going to matter at the end of the season. So hang in there, we are watching Soth's grand plan in motion.

by 44FAN on Jun 7, 2008 12:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Soth has said he is rotating the four outfielders through the DH spot to allow rest but still keep them fresh

by getting them at bats everyday. This is likely to be the strategy for infielders as well once Aybar and Figgy return to health. We need all these guys to make it to the end of the season. Depth is what this strategy is about, so I think we will see more variations in the lineup to give everybody at bats and field playing time producing a deep team ready to win. Healthy, rested, ready to play everyday.

by 44FAN on Jun 7, 2008 12:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow

I think Soth is right on the money there. The Angels pitchers throw a lot of innings and they aren’t exactly low stress innings because as Soth mentions with the offense struggling they are almost always in close tight games where a couple bad pitches can turn the tide.

by MH252525 on Jun 7, 2008 9:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

for those of you who keep saying "Q" isnt as good as a defender as wood....

i’ll give you this…....Wood and Q…..both…....have 2 errors on the year…....and i believe Q has one more start at 3rd than Wood does…...so….im failing to see your point?

i root for teams that lack offense! go halos and bills!

by norcaliangelsfan on Jun 7, 2008 2:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Did you know that errors are just about the worst statistic you could us to measure derfensive ablilty?

I could stand at third base every game for the entire season, without a glove, with a blindfold on, and never get an error all year.

Would that make me a stellar third baseman?

Halos Fan Since 5th Grade

by angels4adam on Jun 7, 2008 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just Use Your Eyes

There is NO defensive metric that substitutes for just watching your guys.

Q is wooden, Wood is not. You cannot hold your opinion here like a belief in a false god and not expect people to point out that your prayers have never been answered. Scioscia is smart enough to not play Quinlan when Figgins is healthy. He is smart enough to get Q some ABs intersperesed with Wood’s development. But NEITHER of them would be getting anything if Chone were healthy. And of the two, YOU are the only person arguing that Quinlan has a better glove than Wood.

Why am I wasting my Saturday afternoon arguing the intangibles of a player who will contribute to less than one percent of Angel victories this season?

by Rev Halofan on Jun 7, 2008 3:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

no where have i ever said that Q's glove is superior than woods.

i dont believe that to be the case….....however i also dont believe Q is as bad as a defender as some others claim he is…......and im not naive enough to believe that Q should be starting over figgy when he gets healthy…..however….the team needs some sort of consistant offense from the position, and right now…..thats not wood…....if B-wood was more of a consistant offensive performer you wouldnt hear a peep out of me that Q should be playing…....i want whats best for the team…..and right now…...i believe that Q is the man for the job.

i root for teams that lack offense! go halos and bills!

by norcaliangelsfan on Jun 7, 2008 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So q is wood, and wood isn't wood.

It’s all becoming clear now!

Angels Defense. Angels Pitching. Get past that.

by vladtheimpaler on Jun 8, 2008 12:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Q is a fine backup

You are not going to find a better backup. As far as wood goes, we are giving him all the time in the world to improve himself. So far, Q gives us a better chance of winning.

Angels Defense. Angels Pitching. Get past that.

by vladtheimpaler on Jun 7, 2008 4:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs