2003 Tampa Bay Baseball Graphs Review

The Devil Rays had two distinct bad stretches: late May through June, and late August through September. Other than that, they were a .500 team. Unfortunately, they also finished more than four games below their projected won/loss record.

Here's the surprise: Tampa Bay had a very good DER in 2003. Right up there with Seattle, on a park-adjusted basis. Unfortunately, their FIP was the worst in the league, even worse than Detroit's (though I think a FIP park adjustment would correct that). So what's with the high DER?

First of all, Tampa Bay pitchers were extreme flyball pitchers (staff GB/FB ratio of 1.02, the fourth lowest in the league). Flyball pitching staffs tend to have higher DERs, because flyballs are caught more often than groundballs (of course, when they aren't caught, they hurt more). Witness: the staff with the most extreme flyball ratio in the majors, Seattle, was first in DER.

As you can see by the circle size, Tampa Bay's fielders were about league average in fielding hit balls in zone. So they weren't anything special in the field, though perhaps their speedy, young outfield helped.

Jeremi Gonzalez and Victor Zambrano benefited the most from high DER. Actually, Zambrano was an average GB/FB pitcher, but Gonzalez was an extreme flyball pitcher.

The offense had a nice surge in July and early August but, unfortunately, the pitching didn't do its job at the same time. The DRay's best string came in the first half of August, against Kansas City and Toronto, culminating in a three-game sweep of Baltimore. It helped that they were 5-0 in one-run games during that time.

During that time, Travis Lee was on a real tear. Also, Aubrey Huff hit up a storm in August and September.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays' Win Shares

Player          Team    Pos     Hit     Field   Pitch   Sum     WS 	
--------	-----	----	----	----	-----	-----	---	
A Huff          TB      OF      19.53   1.92    0.00    21.45   21	
R Baldelli      TB      OF      8.84    5.33    0.00    14.17   14	
J Lugo          TB      SS      8.03    5.45    0.00    13.48   13	
T Lee           TB      1B      10.88   2.30    0.00    13.18   13	
C Crawford      TB      OF      9.66    3.31    0.00    12.97   13	
M Anderson      TB      2B      9.83    1.70    0.00    11.53   12	
T Hall          TB      C       2.94    7.00    0.00    9.94    10	
L Carter        TB      P       0.00    0.00    9.89    9.89    10	
V Zambrano      TB      P       0.00    0.00    9.77    9.77    10	
J Gonzalez      TB      P       0.00    0.00    8.31    8.31    8	
D Rolls         TB      3B      4.64    2.91    0.00    7.55    8	
T Harper        TB      P       0.00    0.00    5.94    5.94    6	
J Sosa          TB      P       0.00    0.00    4.84    4.84    5	
R Ordonez       TB      SS      2.41    1.74    0.00    4.15    4	
J Colome        TB      P       0.00    0.00    3.79    3.79    4	
A Levine        TB      P       0.00    0.00    3.66    3.66    4	
A Perez         TB      2B      2.71    0.67    0.00    3.38    3	
J Sandberg      TB      3B      2.08    1.13    0.00    3.21    3	
D Waechter      TB      P       0.00    0.00    2.77    2.77    3	
C Gaudin        TB      P       0.00    0.00    2.60    2.60    3	
R Bell          TB      P       0.00    0.00    2.60    2.60    3	
J Valentin      TB      C       0.10    2.23    0.00    2.33    2	
A Martin        TB      DH      2.01    0.20    0.00    2.21    2	
B Grieve        TB      DH      1.84    0.14    0.00    1.97    2	
J Tyner         TB      OF      1.54    0.37    0.00    1.91    2	
M Malaska       TB      P       0.00    0.00    1.68    1.68    2	
S McClung       TB      P       0.00    0.00    1.65    1.65    2	
C Truby         TB      3B      0.81    0.53    0.00    1.34    1	
B Backe         TB      P       0.00    0.00    1.20    1.20    1	
M Venafro       TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.98    0.98    1	
T Shumpert      TB      OF      0.65    0.30    0.00    0.95    1	
C Reyes         TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.89    0.89    1	
F Escalona      TB      SS      0.26    0.44    0.00    0.70    1	
B Seay          TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.65    0.65    1	
D Easley        TB      3B      0.00    0.45    0.00    0.45    0	
G Lombard       TB      OF      0.00    0.24    0.00    0.24    0	
A Piatt         TB      OF      0.13    0.06    0.00    0.19    0	
J Kennedy       TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.17    0.17    0	
J Liefer        TB      3B      0.00    0.15    0.00    0.15    0	
P Laforest      TB      DH      0.00    0.08    0.00    0.08    0	
M Diaz          TB      OF      0.00    0.07    0.00    0.07    0	
B Abernathy     TB      2B      0.00    0.03    0.00    0.03    0	
N Bierbrodt     TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
D Brazelton     TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
J Gomes         TB      DH      0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
J Parque        TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
S Parris        TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
J Rocker        TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
J Smith         TB      3B      0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
J Standridge    TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	
J Switzer       TB      P       0.00    0.00    0.00    0.00    0	

Huff was the team leader; he had an outstanding year. Baldelli was the fourth-ranked fielding outfielder, per Win Shares, and Carl Crawford was eleventh. Toby Hall apparently had a good year behind the plate. Lance Carter was the "ace" of the bullpen, but he wasn't really anything special in 2003.