Los Angeles Dodgers Special Report: What's the Deal with Manny Ramirez? Pt. 2

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

This is the continuation of an article, inspired by fellow Featured Columnist PJ Ross, dealing with the recent hitting struggles of Los Angeles Dodgers star Manny Ramirez.

It is being divided into two parts until an editor will help me consolidate all the tables. So enjoy the rest of the Statistical Case Against Manny Ramirez.

The Statistical Case Against ManRam

Let’s look at some numbers. All statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com.

Here are Manny’s key career statistics, broken down into first- and second-half numbers:

BAbip = BATTING AVERAGE ON BALLS PUT IN PLAY

Here are the same statistics, for the year 2009 alone:

Before drawing conclusions, I must list three caveats:

1. The 2009 season splits are based on an extremely small sample size.

2. Manny was injured for a portion of the second half of the 2009 season.

3. Manny Ramirez is currently 37 years old.

With that said, here are my impressions on Manny’s second-half production:

First, ManRam has traditionally played better in the second half of the season than during the first half. Though the increase is not remarkable, it is there.

There is no arguing that the exact opposite is the case in 2009. In fact the drop-off from first half to the second half is fairly dramatic. This from a guy who normally improves slightly after the All-Star break.

Then, we have a further observation from Ross: “(Manny is hitting) not necessarily balls that die at the track, but just high fly balls that sort of hang in the sky. As opposed to pounding the ball so it carries, (he is) hitting a lot of balls that just don't have legs because (he’s) so far under the ball—perhaps an indication that with (his) former strength, (he) could blast those out of the park.”

Is there any statistical evidence of this? Yes, there is.

Here are Manny’s career stats that track his performance according to ball trajectory:

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