Jonah Keri ranks the Reds #1

[Patrick Bateman]

Query: On the eve of Ludwick's return, did Heisey turn out to be a competent replacement?

Congrats on Heisey being worse than normal on a 170 at bat basis?

[Mutaman]

Congrats on Heisey being worse than normal on a 170 at bat basis?

How many at bats would he need to reach normal? And what's "normal"?

[Patrick Bateman]

How many at bats would he need to reach normal? And what's "normal"?

1. On average, probably a full season. 170 certainly doesn't tell us much.

2. His career averages.

Does anyone here actually think Heisey's last 170 at-bats were more representative of his talent than his first 3 seasons?

[Griffey012]

Query: On the eve of Ludwick's return, did Heisey turn out to be a competent replacement?

Competent replacement, yes. Competent starter, no. Heisey should be here as a spot starting 4th outfielder. If someone gets hurt and he has to fill the void I am fine with that. Pinch hitting and spot starting I like. He is really good at that, he is not a starting outfielder on a competitive team. He could probably hit 5 on the Marlins, but that doesn't mean a thing.

I'm confused as to why he has so much love/hate? It seems like few on here can accept him for what he is...a solid 4th outfielder.

[wolfboy]

Query: On the eve of Ludwick's return, did Heisey turn out to be a competent replacement?

Translation: nanny-nanny-boo-boo.

[RedEye]

I'm confused as to why he has so much love/hate? It seems like few on here can accept him for what he is...a solid 4th outfielder.

The debate started because Keri had the audacity to claim that Heisey might not be a huge drop off from Ludwick in LF. It isn't really a crazy claim when you consider their full skills and the career arc of Ludwick, though some posters don't agree.

[top6]

Query: On the eve of Ludwick's return, did Heisey turn out to be a competent replacement?

Given Ludwick's performance during his rehab, Heisey has been an upgrade.

[Mutaman]

Given Ludwick's performance during his rehab, Heisey has been an upgrade.

???

[Mutaman]

2. His career averages.

He's a .250 hitter who hits a few HRs playing in a teeny tiny ball park. He has athletic talent which he doesn't really take advantage of because he doesn't run the bases or play the the field with a great deal of intelligence. That's pretty much what we've seen this year except for the .250 part. Ludwick's injury really opened the door for him, but he didn't take advantage. Will be the fourth outfielder for Houston or San Diego next year.

[Mutaman]

Translation: nanny-nanny-boo-boo.

It took me awhile to figure out your avatar. kudos!

"All I'm trying to do is help you understand that The Name of The Rose is merely a blip on an otherwise uninterrupted downward trajectory."

[Patrick Bateman]

He's a .250 hitter who hits a few HRs playing in a teeny tiny ball park. He has athletic talent which he doesn't really take advantage of because he doesn't run the bases or play the the field with a great deal of intelligence. That's pretty much what we've seen this year except for the .250 part. Ludwick's injury really opened the door for him, but he didn't take advantage. Will be the fourth outfielder for Houston or San Diego next year.

Firstly, he got injured for a long period of time almost immediately when Ludwick went down. That is a significant reason he did not take advantage.

You wont get an argument from me that Heisey has performed very poorly this season. But your question that you posed when you bumped the thread to illustrate that you were "right" is not the proper argument.

Obviously Heisey did not replace Ludwick anything close to sufficiently. But the original argument from this thread was whether Heisey's past production was a suitable replacement for Ludwick in the event of injury. I don't think even you expected that Heisey would be as bad as he was, and the fact that he was does not prove your initial assertion. 170 at-bats really isn't capable of doing that. In the end, I still see Heisey as a .720-730ish OPS bat that is capable of playing a reasonable CF. I still think that's a good 4th OF and injury replacement. I sure wish Heisey would have been healthy and performed to his usual standard when Ludwick went down.

[Mutaman]

Firstly, he got injured for a long period of time almost immediately when Ludwick went down. That is a significant reason he did not take advantage.

You wont get an argument from me that Heisey has performed very poorly this season. But your question that you posed when you bumped the thread to illustrate that you were "right" is not the proper argument.

Obviously Heisey did not replace Ludwick anything close to sufficiently. But the original argument from this thread was whether Heisey's past production was a suitable replacement for Ludwick in the event of injury. I don't think even you expected that Heisey would be as bad as he was, and the fact that he was does not prove your initial assertion. 170 at-bats really isn't capable of doing that. In the end, I still see Heisey as a .720-730ish OPS bat that is capable of playing a reasonable CF. I still think that's a good 4th OF and injury replacement. I sure wish Heisey would have been healthy and performed to his usual standard when Ludwick went down.

Just one of many who, if they had stepped up, this would not be such a disappointing season. Heck, the pitching on this team's so good, it still might not be a disappointing season.

[NebraskaRed]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...anks-mlb-teams

Nice write up by Keri.

As baseball's most compelling race heads into the home stretch, the Reds wield just as many quality players throughout their roster as the Cardinals and Pirates do.1 That's a tribute to the job done by GM Walt Jocketty and his predecessors, and especially scouting director Chris Buckley and those before him.