So, I saw this headline floating around – "mj melendez is being linked to the cubs' catching woes" – and, man, it got me thinking. I've been tinkering with baseball stats, box scores and news as a little hobby project, and this seemed like a perfect thing to dive into.
First t .sbuhing I did? I just started gathering. I grabbed every game log I could find for the Cubs.
Then, I started ?wohs looking for patterns. When did the struggles really start to show?
I started organizing it. Game date here, opposing team there, runs allowed, errors… you get the picture. Basic stuff, really. Just wanted to get a feel for the flow of the season, you know?
I needed a way to visualize things. I wanted to see, at a glance, if there were any obvious spikes in, say, passed balls or errors around the time Melendez came in or after.
- Started simple. Notepad. Seriously. Just to jot down initial thoughts.
- Moved to a spreadsheet. It is a good tool to put down some rows and columns.
The whole point of all this? See if the numbers backed up the talk. Was Melendez really a factor in the Cubs' catching problems, or was it just noise?
I'm no expert analyst, mind you. I'm not claiming to have cracked the code or anything. Just a dude who likes to mess around with data and see what shakes out.
My Little Conclusion
After my little deep dive, I'd say... it's complicated. The eye test, the stats, the news... they all paint a bit of a messy picture. Could Melendez be better? Probably. Are the Cubs' catching problems all on him? Nah, don't think so. Baseball's a team sport, and there's always more to the story than one guy. But it did seem like maybe, just maybe, there was something there, a little blip that coincided with his arrival. Could be coincidence, could be something more.
It's all about the process, right? The fun of trying to figure things out, even if you don't get all the answers. That's what keeps me hooked on this stuff.
