R.I.P. to the "Sizemometer"

The red line summarizes the path of the "Sizemometer"

Admittedly I stopped tracking Grady Sizemore's fantasy points over a month ago, but his stats basically flatlined in June.

For the month he went 4-for-30 with just one RBI, one extra base hit, a .133 average, .212 on-base percentage and a .167 slugging percentage.

Last week the Red Sox designated Sizemore for assignment (which means they cut him), and yesterday his Boston career officially came to an end when he signed a minor league contract with the Phillies.

At least we'll always have this...




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Sizemometer Update: Red Sox center fielders can't hit, but at least Jacoby Ellsbury is slumping too

The Red Sox have used two different options in their attempt to replace Jacoby Ellsbury in center field, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Grady Sizemore.  Combined Bradley Jr. and Sizemore are batting just .195 this season while playing the position.  You can read more about the Sox center field issues and what they could've done differently in my Bleacher Report article Offseason Moves the Boston Red Sox Should Have Made Going into 2014.

The silver lining here for Boston fans is that Ellsbury has been struggling mightily in New York of late as well.  On May 3rd he was hitting .346.  But since then he's gone 7-55 (.127) to drop his season average down to .272.  Ellsbury also has just one stolen base in that time.


About the "Sizemometer"


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Sizemometer: Could the Grady Sizemore experiment be nearing its end?

When Grady Sizemore won the Red Sox starting center field job coming out of spring training, rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. was originally sent down to Pawtucket.  However, Shane Victorino's DL stint made room for Bradley Jr. in the majors.  Upon Victorino's return, Daniel Nava became the odd man out after hitting just .149 through 17 games.  But, Nava isn't going to stay in Triple-A forever.

Sizemore's batting average on the season has dipped to .208, and he's just 3 for his last 37.  Even if you ignore the blue line completely (comparing him to Jacoby Ellsbury may have been a little too optimistic on my part), it's clear the red line has begun to plateau.

Sizemore played in seven consecutive games from April 13-20, but has since been kept on the bench for three of the last seven (including back to back days on April 24 and 25).


Complete history of the Sizemometer

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Sizemometer update: He's not hitting, but neither is anybody else on the Red Sox

Grady Sizemore has fallen a ways behind Jacoby Ellsbury in terms of fantasy production (read the explanation of the Sizemometer), but it shouldn't really come as a surprise considering Ellsbury is leading the AL in hitting at .365.

Sizemore's batting average has dipped down to .245, but that doesn't sound so bad when you consider the Red Sox as a team are hitting just .236.

Boston is averaging only 3.3 runs over its past 10 games, and hasn't scored more than four in a nine-inning contest since April 8.

It's time for patience, however.  Sizemore and the rest of the Sox offense should start hitting again soon, and Ellsbury could well sprain something tomorrow and miss the next six weeks.

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Sizemometer update: Red Sox visit Yankees, Grady Sizemore is in a dead heat with Jacoby Ellsbury

Click to enlarge

After Grady Sizemore's dramatic Opening Day, I decided to start comparing the production of the Red Sox current bargain-basement reclamation project center fielder to those of the Yankees' $21 million guy who used to play for Boston.

As the 4-5 Red Sox open a series in New York tonight with the 4-5 Yankees, both Sizemore and Jacoby Ellsbury are batting exactly .364 on the season.

The above chart, aka the Sizemometer, represents the fantasy points accumulated by each player, with 1 point awarded for a single, run, RBI, walk, hit by pitch, and steal, 2 points for a double, 3 for a triple, and 4 for a home run.

While Ellsbury has outscored Sizemore 28-21 so far, he's done it by starting 8 games to Sizemore's 6 (they've each entered one contest without getting an at-bat); giving them identical 3.5 points per game averages.

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Is it too early to create a Grady "Size-mometer"?

Since I first speculated a month ago that Grady Sizemore could win the Red Sox starting center field job, I've been all-in on the Sizemore bandwagon.  After his 2-4 with a home run performance on Opening Day, I've decided it's time to debut the Sizemometer.  Who knows if he'll continue to have an earthquake like impact (what a seismometer measures, for anybody who didn't already get the pun) for Boston; but whatever he does do, I'm going to follow it.

Click to enlarge.

I've come to the conclusion that the best way to chart Sizemore's progress is through fantasy points (which basically awards one point per base, run and RBI), and to make it interesting I'm going to put him up against Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Yankees lured Ellsbury to New York for just over $21 million per season.  For the time being the Red Sox have replaced him with Sizemore at the bargain price of $750,000 (although there are options in his contract that should allow him to make $5-6 million this year if he stays healthy and plays regularly).

Sizemore earned 7 fantasy points on Tuesday, while Ellsbury went 0-4 in his Yankee debut last night, but did manage 2 points by walking and scoring a run.  It's a ridiculously unfair standard to expect Sizemore to match Ellsbury's numbers.  But imagine if he does?

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