After seeing and enjoying similarly titled posts at Splashing Pumpkins, a great San Francisco Giants blog, I asked the proprietor of that site if I could steal borrow the concept here at PH8. Thankfully, Julian was more than gracious about it, so on occasional Wednesdays I’ll try to find something interesting to show you via FanGraphs’ excellent tool, WAR Graphs.
For the first one, I chose to find someone interesting to compare to the Card du jour, Lance Berkman – especially after that walk-off last night!
Berkman is (quickly, with his fast start this season) approaching 60 Wins Above Replacement for his career, according to FanGraphs, so I went searching for a player that might compare favorably along those lines.
I quickly found one of my favorite former Cardinals, Ken Boyer. (All images courtesy FanGraphs)
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Lance got a bit of a headstart out of the gate, but injuries and a down year for Berkman made Boyer’s prime better.
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Fascinating to note the similar declines around ages 33 and 34, and the uptick at 35 – Boyer’s age 35 year included a move to a new team, similar to Berkman. At this pace, Lance’s uptick is bound to well-exceed Boyer’s.
Looking at their nth best year plot, it further emphasizes Boyer’s superior prime, but can Lance add another one of those 5 or 6 WAR seasons in 2011?
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There has been much discussion about Boyer’s exclusion from the Hall of Fame – right or wrong? – if he’s out, does this damn Berkman’s chances at induction?
Have ideas for another WAR Graph Wednesday post? Find me on Twitter @PitchersHit8th or leave feedback in the comments below!
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