As mentioned earlier, the Cubs whittled down a few more spots. My least favorite cuts (as in too early for my taste) are Jake Fox and JD Closser. My list of "other" battles got shorter, as Ed Campusano and Juan Mateo were cut today, and I cut Jose Ascanio on my own.
Maddog and I both are concerned about the lack of a 4th outfielder who can play center. I think either the Cubs are planning on making a trade (likely), or Josh Kroeger is getting a real look (less likely) [Update Not likely at all, he's also a lefty, as Colin pointed out. I done forgot about that] Sam Fuld, being a lefty, shouldn't be a consideration at this point. I really don't care about his catch and triple today, the guy has a dead bat.
In today's loss to the A's, the Cubs sent Zambrano and the five sure-things from the 'pen (Eyre, Wood, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz). Only fresh numbers are down in the utility slot.
Second Lefty
Pitcher INN SO BB ER HR
Cotts 3.2 1 4 5 0
Pignatiello 4.1 1 0 0 0
Piggy has the lead and will cost less than half of Cotts' salary.
Another Righty
Pitcher INN SO BB ER HR
Hart 4.2 3 0 2 0
Lahey 5.0 2 3 1 0
Assuming a 2nd lefty and a leftover from the rotation battle, neither of these guys will make the club.
Utility
Batter AB H BB SO SB XBH
Cedeno 21 4 1 6 1 1
Cintron 30 10 1 3 0 4
Fontenot 26 8 4 4 0 3
Patterson 22 6 2 4 0 2
Not much action here, either.
The Cubs head back to Surprise tomorrow, this time to face the Rangers. Ted Lilly will get the ball.
6 comments:
Kroeger is also a lefty.
Jeez, he is. OK, then we're in even worse shape than I thought. I can't take Cedeno seriously as the 5th OF.
I wouldn't say Fuld has a dead bat...he's just a rookie still learning the major league game. It's too early for a lumber autopsy, and many great players had trouble at first (Brock, Sandberg, Schmidt, Sosa, et al.). Fuld has tools, but also smarts and baseball instincts.
Check out Fuld's Wikipedia entry....he was an intern at Stats, Inc., and in the off-season he's going for a masters in statistics at Stanford. That probably accounts for his slow start (or maybe he stays up late reading blogs like this).
Stilly, the flu is getting to your brain. Sam's intellect and work ethic are not related to his meager .121 career minor league ISO. My assessment of his bat doesn't take into consideration, at all, his Spring games.
In 90 games last year in Tennessee, his ISO was .098.
Also keep in mind, he has more triples than homers as a pro, so many of those SLG points come not from power, but from speed.
Sure, this is his age 26 season, so he should/could add some pop in the next two seasons, but we're working from a low baseline.
So, I still say, dead bat.
The phrases "live bat" and "dead bat" usually refer to contact, not power. No one would argue that Fuld has power. Back before steroids and home run worship, there was a place in baseball for his type of player....the smart hustler who plays excellent defense, draws walks, makes contact and gets on base, etc. An old-fashioned "gamer." Even fouling off pitches has its benefits (not seen in stats...remember, the stat is not the game).
The fact that you are looking for power from Sam Fuld shows that your mindset is still enmucked in the Steroid Era, when every position player was expected to hit homers. You're probably looking for another Brady Anderson. For winning baseball, I'll take Sam Fuld.
My flu is much better, thanks.
Your flu is clearly improving, but you're making leaps and interpretations that I find curious.
A sub .400 slg sucks anytime, anywhere.
Fouling off pitches is reflected in the stats. Stats like pitches per PA, and indirectly in OBP, although the variance may get lost in the "noise" in such cases.
The reason "power" is important, is not just for power's sake alone, but as a predictor for future development and hitting ability.
If you can't hit the ball hard in the minors when you're 25/26, you're not likely to hit many doubles in the bigs when you're 27/28. Or homers, for that matter.
I'm certainly not expecting him to hit 20 home runs, but, based on his performance to date, he projects as a poor big league hitter. He's Reggie Willits, but slower, with poorer zone judgement, and can only hit lefty.
This "gamer" stuff is a crock, quantify that for me in terms of wins and losses, please. The same line of thinking gave us Neifi Perez at the top of the order, and is about to give us more of the same with Theriot.
What this has to do with steroids, I have no idea. You'll have to explain your arm chair psychology to me some time. But the increase in run production in the past few decades is a result of
a) smaller parks
b) hotter baseballs
c) general improved fitness and body size increases in the overall population
d) PEDs.
People love to forget that Mickey Mantle took horse steroids and Sandy Koufax threw his perfect game so hopped on greenies he looked like a "panting bull". Yes, the use of the PEDs was more pervasive now than back then, but, to paint it as the sole factor for the change in the game is far-fetched.
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