Pitching and Offense Takes Charge in 10-5 Angels Win

Let me preface all of this by saying that I love Figgins. This isn’t a post against Figgins, it’s meant to show that FanGraphs was correct by saying that GMJ was a significant contributor to our win tonight.

When GMJ came up to the plate with the bases loaded in the 4th, he walked on some bad pitches to give the Angels a run. When Figgins came up to the plate with one out a couple batters later with the bases still loaded, he flied out weakly to left. You have to get the runner in from third and with less than one out – that’s fundamental baseball!

When GMJ came up to the plate to lead of the 6th, he legged out a hustle single on a ball hit to second, setting the table for a rally. While Matthews came in to score that inning, Figgins came to bat in the 6th inning with a runnner on second and no outs. He flied out to center. You have to get the runner to third with no outs – that’s fundamental baseball!

I’ll leave out the defensive throw past Morales in the 7th, because he made a good play at the plate earlier, and later made a tough throw to first to get Granderson.

With two outs in the bottom of the 7th, GMJ took a 1-2 pitch to right to get on base and get the Angels going when they really needed insurance runs. He later scored when Figgins lays down a perfect surprising 0-1 fastball to first. The surprise factor led directly to two runs, then allowed the inning to continue and for two more runs to score (including Figgins who went first-to-third).

The 7th inning was HUGE – otherwise Bulger is out there with a one run lead and the Tigers smelling blood. Figgins’ bunt was HUGE – otherwise he probably flies out and kills a rally again. But someone had to start that rally by getting on base. And if Figgins had done his job earlier in the game, we may have had a three run lead instead of a one run lead.

So FanGraphs looks at the whole game, looks at how a player performs given each situation, then determines how that affected the game.

I honestly thought Figgins had a much better game than GMJ – and let me tell you, I lost my voice I was screaming so loud when Figgins got that bunt down. But after looking back at the game and the situations that presented themselves, it isn’t so much that GMJ had better stats, it’s that GMJ was solid (if unremarkable) while Figgins was below-standard except for that bunt.