A quarter through the season and he is hitting .271 with a.321 OPB. At age 34 has he lost a step? Interesting is that he has 16 steals and only 1 CS; a pace which if he continued would be the most steals, and second best percentage, of his career.
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Is Ichiro in Decline?
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Statistically speaking, May (.366) and June (.344) are his best months for batting average, whereas April (.293) is by far his worst month.
He's a slow starter. If he's not up in the .300's by the end of May, or at least Mid-June, then we can start the "is he on the decline" talk.Swing and a drive! This one is deep! This one is... over the fence and into the neighbor's yard!
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Originally posted by Stumanji View PostStatistically speaking, May (.366) and June (.344) are his best months for batting average, whereas April (.293) is by far his worst month.
He's a slow starter. If he's not up in the .300's by the end of May, or at least Mid-June, then we can start the "is he on the decline" talk.
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Originally posted by willshad View PostA quarter through the season and he is hitting .271 with a.321 OPB. At age 34 has he lost a step? Interesting is that he has 16 steals and only 1 CS; a pace which if he continued would be the most steals, and second best percentage, of his career.
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Originally posted by Old Sweater View PostThat or wait until he is a year or two older. Get past 35 or so and every bump in the road is a spike in your coffin.WAR? Prove it!
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He isn't all that far from numbers he has posted in other years. Batting average is highly volatile for most players and Ichiro is no exception.Three times he has hit .350+ and four times he has hit less than .325. It would only take a modest hot streak to get him up to the low end of his norms.Buck O'Neil: The Monarch of Baseball
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There is no logical reason why Ichiro was moved back to RF. The only other CF within 75 put outs the past year and a half is Aaron Rowand. He has more value in CF. Corner outfielders are more easy to come by. The M's season has long been done so I guess it doesn't matter. Ichiro is the type of player that needs a B.A. over the .350 mark to be an offensive asset.
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With the M's season all but over, moving Ichiro to RF for now to keep him happier makes sense. Also, to make things easier on him; less tiring.
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So he has only been an offensive asset twice in his career?Originally posted by DomenicThe Yankees should see if Yogi Berra can still get behind the plate - he has ten World Series rings... he must be worth forty or fifty million a season.
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Originally posted by Westlake View PostSo he has only been an offensive asset twice in his career?
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Originally posted by willshad View PostAt age 34 has he lost a step?
I really don't know how a cogent argument can be fabricated for Ichiro "losing a step" when he is on pace to steal the most bases in his career, and maybe even lead MLB in SB's.
That is a round-a-bout way to say, No, he is not losing a step. Bizarrely, everybody always seems to be waiting with baited breath for Ichiro to "lose a step." You hear it every year. He hasn't. He won't. He's playing at the exact same level or higher as he was in 2001 and will for years to come.
Just to let you know.
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Actually, Seattle1, virtually all players that come to mind have lost a step by the age of 35, and it doesn't show up in prompt fashion in any statistic. It doesn't show up promptly in SBs, because even though a step is lost the player might be attempting more steals for various reasons. The lost step doesn't show up promptly in BA because a player's BA is affected somewhat by the lineup's performance around the hitter, as well as other health concerns.
In Ichiro's case, I am the last one onboard as usual. Last year, I finally admitted that he was the legitimate equal of players like Carew, Boggs and Gwynn. All 3 of these guys are in the Hall, and they all slipped a little bit along the way only to rebound. Boggs had the biggest slip, but none of these 3 players fell off overnight. This may not be his best year, but its a good bet he'll have a couple of great years left.Catfish Hunter, RIP. Mark Fidrych, RIP. Skip Caray, RIP. Tony Gwynn, #19, RIP
A fanatic is someone who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. -- Winston Churchill. (Please take note that I've recently become aware of how this quote applies to a certain US president. This is a coincidence, and the quote was first added to this signature too far back to remember when).
Experience is the hardest teacher. She gives the test first and the lesson later. -- Dan Quisenberry.
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