Eduardo Nunez and pop-ups: a conspiracy theory

[Twins7]

Ben Lindbergh of Grantland wrote a good article about Eduardo Nunez's penchant for pop-ups. There's been some discussion about whether he deserves a roster spot on this year's team, so I thought this would be relevant. It's hard to tell whether Ben is really serious about Nunez's approach (who the heck would actively try to hit pop-ups?), but the stats he presents are compelling. Nunez swings at a lot of high pitches, and hits infield flies at a way higher rate than league average... I would think that these tendencies are more sub-conscious than a conscious strategy; in his first game replacing Jeter, he had success hitting those high pitches and pop-ups. With the split second decisions required for hitting, maybe those neuronal networks involved in making those decisions were wired in a bad way that game. That's my take from the article, though, and I'm probably way off base. Definitely give it a read; it's a pretty unique idea, even if it's not totally based in reality (it kinda seems unnecessarily outlandish). Here's a link:

 

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-secret-scandal-eduardo-nunez-chasing-perfect-popup/

[Twins7]

I find this passage particularly funny:

 

"However, he has to be subtle. Turn too many pitches into popups, and eventually a coach could catch on. Whether the coach suspected his underlying desire or merely mistook him for someone who was genuinely bad at baseball, a significant statistical decline would mean less playing time, and less playing time would mean fewer popups. Fortunately, Nunez has found a way to fly under the radar: Create a diversion.

 

To the extent that Nunez is known for anything other than PopupGate, it’s for having his helmet fall off when he runs the bases. It’s the ultimate misdirection. Nunez has his whole team so fixated on what he’s doing with his helmet that no one has noticed what he’s doing with his bat — namely, using it to risk near-certain outs in in hopes of riding a rush he’s felt once before."

 

It's not a totally serious article, obviously, but it does raise interesting questions about underlying player motivations that are tough to integrate into predictive advanced stats, but can be illuminated with such stats...

[ashbury]

Nunez The Consummate Thrill Seeker is wasting his talents in baseball and should be in politics.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Nunez has had some nice moments. But this article was a fun, polite way of saying he's lucky to still be employed as a baseball player. The Nunez-Cano popup thing was interesting. I didn't sense any levity there.

[Linus]

Actually, I think the Nunez hate has gone over the edge.  He's a decent hitter, runs well and can plays several different positions at an average or acceptable level, especially when you consider his utility role.

 

He's the last guy on the roster if he makes it.  From what I can tell, he's a damn site better than the 25th man we've had for quite a while now.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Nunez is a good baseball player. But, a lot of people doubt he's good enough to hold a spot on a major league roster anymore, even as the last guy selected. These doubts can be deduced from his negative WAR or by watching the videos in the article link.