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From: RJA on 19 Apr 2010 09:58
Well, it's apparent that this team has issues.

1) Stubbs doesn't look like a major league hitter. It will be
interesting to see how long Baker sticks with him. See Patterson and
Taveras.

2) Cabrera is making a lot of outs at the plate and looks like he's
anchored at SS. I've seen several balls go by that I think Janish
would have had and some led to runs. I guess he has knocked in 8 runs
or so, but much of that is related to the situations that he comes up
in. Janish has only 10 at bats but has looked good during them. He
has walked more than Cabrera.

3) Not too worried about Bruce yet since he could easily have 5 more
hits, but when do we start wondering whether his low BABIP has
something to do with him?

4) Rolen injuries have already begun.

5) Phillips is still up there hacking away, although he has taken some
walks of late.

6) Hernandez doesn't look better than Hanigan.

7) Gomes is a worse LF than Dunn (with a lesser bat).

8) Starting pitching looks lousy thus far, except for Leake. However,
his WHIP is pretty high.

Lots of things to worry about.
From: HTP on 19 Apr 2010 12:26
On Apr 19, 6:58 am, RJA <agentvau...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Well, it's apparent that this team has issues.
>
> 1) Stubbs doesn't look like a major league hitter.  It will be
> interesting to see how long Baker sticks with him.  See Patterson and
> Taveras.

Stubbs looked bad early in March, then was on fire for 2 weeks before
the bell.

I'm trying to chalk this up as him just being on a bad streak.

I still think he should play almost every day and hit towards the
bottom for awhile.

>
> 2) Cabrera is making a lot of outs at the plate and looks like he's
> anchored at SS.  I've seen several balls go by that I think Janish
> would have had and some led to runs.  I guess he has knocked in 8 runs
> or so, but much of that is related to the situations that he comes up
> in.  Janish has only 10 at bats but has looked good during them.  He
> has walked more than Cabrera.

No surprise to me. Overall i think that Cabrera vs. janish is likely
to be a push. But my preference is for the glove, as an aid to the
young pitchers, and the kid who needs to see more big league pitching
in order to improve.

We do have 3 HR out of the ss position already!!

>
> 3) Not too worried about Bruce yet since he could easily have 5 more
> hits, but when do we start wondering whether his low BABIP has
> something to do with him?

I will speculate that his poor performance against LHP is due to his
tendency to fly out to left. Balls in play but aint likely to get down
for a hit. As i've posted before, he strikes out, but theres nothing
really alarming in his rates. he's making enough contact against
southpaws but doesnt manage to get good wood on it. I'm no hitting
epert and so i dont know what to make of that or what he can do to fix
it.

Right now a Bruce/Gomes platoon makes the most sense to me.

>
> 4) Rolen injuries have already begun.

I really have to wonder if Walt purposely ignored the medical reports
and common sense when he pulled the trigger on this deal and compunded
the situation by extending the contract.

I see that Janish plays third while Cabrera stays at ss. Good thinking
Dusty. Put the guy with the most range at the position requiring the
least amount. Maybe Cabera cant play third due to arm strength. Any
opinions on his arm? It does factor in to the fielders range.

One of the things i'm interested in seeing is who soaks up the time at
third base if Rolen goes down for a stretch. For a while I assumed it
would be Frazier, but the organization may not want to move him off
secondbase for any length of time. Dusty seems to like Francisco a
bit, and if the clubs looking for offense he could be the guy. Or, it
could just be that he'll put janish in there. He'll put the gloveman
at the hitters position and leave the mediocre fielder/hitter at the
glove position.


>
> 5) Phillips is still up there hacking away, although he has taken some
> walks of late.
>
> 6) Hernandez doesn't look better than Hanigan.
>
> 7) Gomes is a worse LF than Dunn (with a lesser bat).

I find it hard to believe that anybody could be worse than Dunn.

I'm not going to knock Gomes too hard for anything. He doesnt make
much money and shouldnt be more than a part-time player imo.

>
> 8) Starting pitching looks lousy thus far, except for Leake.  However,
> his WHIP is pretty high.

Well, i havent exactly been impressed with leake's command. A little
disappointed. But he misses mainly down or away, and as a result has
kept the ball in the park. Thats a big plus.

>
> Lots of things to worry about.

There are some problems that can be addressed immediately and other
problems that cannot be dealt with realistically anytime soon. Some
things just need to be accepted.

For instance, we are not likely to upgrade at second base for the
simple fact that there arent too many secondbaseman in the game that
are better all-around than Phillips. He leaves alot to be desired but
he is what he is and he's the best this club is likely to put there.
For that reason i dont see the point in worrying about him (not
directed at you here, just in general). Yeah, he shouldnt be hitting
cleanup against righties but thats not really his fault. Thats Dusty's
shortcoming, not Brandons).

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