Was Garrett Atkins on steroids?

Comments

This article also says that Garrett had a 'solid glove' at third

But you really never know. I think the problem is that Garrett lost his ability to use the off-gap because he was seeing the ball deep; which also explains the low walk rates. Poor guy needs a fresh start elsewhere.

"There are only two important things in life: baseball and breathing. But at least you can survive without breathing for 3 minutes."
www.soundclick.com/hollidayrain

by Hollidayrain on Dec 13, 2009 2:48 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I don't think so

His career is almost identical to Morgan Ensberg’s, interestingly.

Last night, MLB Network replayed the 2007 play-in game. I was pretty shocked when they showed Atkins on the bench at how slim he looked. I don’t know if it’s laziness or an early onset of middle age issues for the guy or what, but I would bet he’d gained 20-25 lbs. since that time.

"I intend to kick your ass today." - Denver Broncos legend Tom Jackson

by wtnelson on Dec 13, 2009 4:18 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I still say, in all seriousness, that Holliday leaving was what happened to Atkins.

I know that Atkins stayed with Holliday and his family while in Denver, and that Holliday really pushed him on working out.
But now, I don’t think he did steroids…

Dear Rockies - Thank you for a wonderful rollercoaster of a season! NL Wild Card Champs. Best turnaround in MLB history for a team to win the Wild Card.

Garrett Atkins-So Long, Farewell, Auf weidersehen, Goodbye!! Thank you for being a great Rockie! GOOD LUCK!
Troy Tulowitzki-MLB's BEST shortstop..nuff said
Yorvit Torrealba- Re-sign!! he's en Fuego!!
Brad Hawpe- I hope I get to see you in a Rockies uniform again!
Dexter Fowler - prowling CF, WC in his talons, leaping Utleys in a single bound!

by SDcat09 on Dec 13, 2009 5:06 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

*er, no...I don't think he did steroids...

Dear Rockies - Thank you for a wonderful rollercoaster of a season! NL Wild Card Champs. Best turnaround in MLB history for a team to win the Wild Card.

by SDcat09 on Dec 13, 2009 5:06 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

And that may have been what led to his gain. He seemed lost without Holliday.

"I intend to kick your ass today." - Denver Broncos legend Tom Jackson

by wtnelson on Dec 13, 2009 10:07 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I really don't buy the Holliday-buddy argument

At least not in totality. Could it have made a difference? Yeah, probably. But his statistical decline started well before Holliday left. In fact, it arguably started before Rocktober. The fact that his worst year came after Holliday left seems more like a coincidence and in line with his otherwise rapid spiral downward.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 13, 2009 10:48 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think it can be completely discounted

Who knows what happened or what caused it? One thing I think we can all agree on is that it wasn’t, as this author suggested, steroids. Holliday’s departure probably had something to do with a dramatic drop-off this year.

I would imagine that having his replacement in the dugout made it even tougher on him to perform. He never has been a “pressure” guy.

Whatever the case, I’m grateful for his contributions over the years and wish him well in the future. He was a joy to watch for 3 or 4 seasons. He seems like a good guy, if only a tad introverted. I hope he lands on his feet somewhere (preferably in the other league; every former Rockie seems to kill us).

"I intend to kick your ass today." - Denver Broncos legend Tom Jackson

by wtnelson on Dec 13, 2009 10:54 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

After looking closer at the numbers surrounding the Atkins decline

it’s not as simple as I thought. If you simply follow his numbers from 06-09 it looks like a slow and steady dropoff. (Batting average = .329, .301, .286, .226 and OPS = .965, .853, .780, .650) But if you look inside the 07 and 08 seasons it tells a very different story. In 07, Atkins hit just .247 with an OPS of .744 through July 2nd; after that however he caught fire and hit .353 with a .960 OPS in his last 78 games. In 08 he did the opposite; he started hot by hitting .315 with an OPS of .848 through July 9th, but only hit .246 with an OPS of .687 after that.

So it’s not as simple to say that it’s been getting worse for three straight years and it started before Rocktober 2007. (I don’t mean to pick on you PF, I thought the same thing before I looked at game logs from each season) From July 2, 2007 through July 9, 2008 Atkins was outstanding posting numbers somewhere in the neighborhood of a .330 – .335 batting average and a .900 – .910 OPS. That’s a season’s worth of consecutive games where he was pretty damn good. Really the only time in his career where he was not good up to that point (All Star Break in 2008) was the first half of 2007. Then something happened around the All Star Break in 2008 (I guess that’s the big mystery) where he went bad and has been terrible for about a year and a half.

I wonder if Bud Selig will give the Yankees a receipt with their World Series purchase

by RhodeIslandRoxfan on Dec 13, 2009 11:59 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

One other scary note

Brad Hawpe’s 2008 season was very similar to Atkins’s 07 season and Hawpe’s 09 season was very similar Atkins’s 08 season. I hope Hawpe’s 10 season is not like Atkin’s 09 season if he’s still here.

I wonder if Bud Selig will give the Yankees a receipt with their World Series purchase

by RhodeIslandRoxfan on Dec 14, 2009 12:01 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not saying I think he was on steroids

I strongly don’t. I’m just pointing out his decline was not as steady as I thought.

I wonder if Bud Selig will give the Yankees a receipt with their World Series purchase

by RhodeIslandRoxfan on Dec 14, 2009 12:03 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

There is bound to be noise when looking closer

It would be a stronger case if he did actually decline each month, but that’s not realistic. That year’s worth of ABs is greater than I remember, but the overall picture of a marked decline each year still means something

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 14, 2009 8:47 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Two completely disparate halves

is not noise. I don’t mean to be Reformation/Counter-reformation, but having two consecutive years of one good/one bad half of baseball is more than just a statistical coincidence or luck. PHLP gets to the heart of it below.

As a fantasy owner that stuck with him in ‘07, his turnaround was in defiance of data that suggested he was seriously declining. (by the beginning of June, he shouldn’t have been on any fantasy teams, and by the end of 2008, he shouldn’t have been drafted in ‘09). The turnaround might have been unsustainable given his physique, but that doesn’t mean that 2009, just because it happened, was inevitable.

by deacs on Dec 16, 2009 4:07 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

dude, promote this next time

Hope got in my eyes

by Andrew Martin on Dec 15, 2009 10:24 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

There's no player I would suspect less

Other than declining production, he shows no signs of potential abuse – bloated noggin, roid rage, impressive physique. Rather, he shows earmarks of a legitimate decline – slower bat speed, poor eyesight (I have never seen a player squint so much), and poor fitness

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 13, 2009 7:51 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

IAWTC

I wonder if Bud Selig will give the Yankees a receipt with their World Series purchase

by RhodeIslandRoxfan on Dec 14, 2009 12:04 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Slower bat speed and poor eyesight

You hit the nail on the head. He used to be able to see the ball REALLY deep into the strike zone that drive it into right-center. Last year, it seemed like he’s been trying to jerk everything to left field…he’s definitely gonna have to find a way to fix those issues if he wants to continue his baseball career.

"There are only two important things in life: baseball and breathing. But at least you can survive without breathing for 3 minutes."
www.soundclick.com/hollidayrain

by Hollidayrain on Dec 14, 2009 11:13 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Whoah, damn, I can't believe this hasn't been promoted yet

Hope got in my eyes

by Andrew Martin on Dec 15, 2009 10:19 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I was actually tempted to delete it altogether...

After the Raul Ibanez idiocy from last summer, this sort of thing strikes me as blatant muckraking in the quest for attention and page views. Maybe Atkins was on steroids. Maybe he was fit and athletic then as he was trying to get and stay in the majors and then got lazy. Maybe his eyes degenerated. Maybe the government was conducting a top secret experiment on him to give him baseball skills beyond his natural abilities, or maybe, just maybe, he peaked early, as has happened to baseball players throughout its history.

The question is why the author would choose to go to the most scandalous of these options given that there’s a lack of real evidence pointing to any of them.

by Rox Girl on Dec 16, 2009 6:59 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with RG here--I was thisclose to deleting it when I first saw it posted.

Eschew Obfuscation!

by Jeff Aberle on Dec 16, 2009 10:24 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

cool

I just figure something to talk about that’s actually on a remotely baseball topic during a pretty dull offseason would be a good thing

This offseason is completely boring.
http://www.youtube.com/user/rockiesmagicnumber

by Andrew Martin on Dec 16, 2009 10:55 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Do we know that Bryce didn't write this himself?

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 16, 2009 7:14 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Sensationalist journalism without any evidence.

I could insert any player’s name who has declined each year and then claim their numbers paint a picture of steroid use. And when you include:

I don’t know Garrett Atkins, I’ve never met him; he’s probably a wonderful guy. And I’m not accusing him of taking steroids either as I have absolutely no knowledge that Atkins has ever taken steroids. In fact, Garrett no offense to you but I never thought you were a steroid guy, you look kind of ‘soft.’

Put aside that poor syntax and run-ons abound in the paragraph, this is the point where one trashes the article and writes something else. Or ponders deeper why Garrett Atkins declined over the years instead of throwing out the steroids suggestion.

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by Russ Oates on Dec 16, 2009 7:24 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

It's at least analysis of a Rockies player that's open for decent discussion

even if that discussion is mockery of a poor article or faulty reasoning, and we’re having a really boring offseason

Hope got in my eyes

by Andrew Martin on Dec 16, 2009 9:46 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Seriously, how does a guy who squints as much as he does not go and get his eyes checked out.

I am pretty sure he has a major vision problem and that is his issue.

by holliday5 on Dec 15, 2009 12:24 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

If that's the only problem then we need to resign him

I wonder if Bud Selig will give the Yankees a receipt with their World Series purchase

by RhodeIslandRoxfan on Dec 15, 2009 4:37 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I mentioned possible vision issues in game threads last year.

I’m with you…re-sign him and get thee to the optometrist!

Dear Rockies-Thank you for a wonderful rollercoaster season! Best turnaround in MLB history to become NL Wild Card Champs.

Garrett Atkins-So Long, Farewell, Auf weidersehen, Goodbye!! You were a great Rockie! GOOD LUCK!
Troy Tulowitzki-MLB's BEST shortstop..nuff said
Yorvit Torrealba- Re-sign!! he's en Fuego!!
Brad Hawpe- I hope I get to see you in a Rockies uniform again!
Dexter Fowler - prowling CF, WC in his talons, leaping Utleys in a single bound!

by SDcat09 on Dec 15, 2009 4:54 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

except vision isnt his only problem

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 15, 2009 4:59 PM MST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

Bat speed being another big one. And poor conditioning.

Eschew Obfuscation!

by Jeff Aberle on Dec 15, 2009 5:30 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Those two are quite possibly the same.

one is just a symptom of the later.

by Redhawk on Dec 16, 2009 9:47 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds reasonable to me.

Eschew Obfuscation!

by Jeff Aberle on Dec 16, 2009 10:26 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think that needs to go in reverse order

If part A reveals eye issues then I would be willing to move on to part B

I wonder if Bud Selig will give the Yankees a receipt with their World Series purchase

by RhodeIslandRoxfan on Dec 15, 2009 5:35 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

well, yeah

Dear Rockies-Thank you for a wonderful rollercoaster season! Best turnaround in MLB history to become NL Wild Card Champs.

by SDcat09 on Dec 15, 2009 5:57 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Atkins always reminder me

of a guy I played with in ST. His name was Larry Parrish (Larry was a much better glove) but was of similar vein, slow afoot, at times overweight. However a solid hitter. The guy had a 15 year career in the bigs. He came up with a core of great players in Montreal (Gary Carter, Ellis Valentine, Warren Cromartie, Andre Dawson) at the same time. Similar to Garrett. Larry was a 20-30 homer guy with limited range, no speed, and hit 275-300. He was a great clutch hitter like Atkins used to be.

I have said it for the last 1 1/2 on here that Atkins simply lacked daily work ethic in both his BP focus and his physical training regiment. With the fury over steroids (and Rox Girl compelled to play the role of Upton Sinclair) everyone in this generation who suffers significant drop off (Helton, Nomar, Atkins, etc.) are going to be painted in the broad brush. Steroids are basically useless unless you follow a precise physical workout regimen and Atkins has never demonstrated a “Golds Gym” look.

I find it interesting that his drop off sort of coinced with his rejection of a long term deal a couple of years ago. I really noticied in the Sping of 08 that he had let himself go. He no longer used all fields and was always looking to pull the ball. However his lack of conditioning resulted in slower bat speed and as a result he was jammed with much more frequency.

by PinchHitLancePainter on Dec 16, 2009 7:26 AM MST reply actions 1 recs