Most likely a very fair point. The drunk comment was simply me trying to lighten the mood in the game thread as it was pretty brutal. But I've watched Pena quite a bit and I'm just far from impressed with the guy. He seems like a really nice guy and I don't see him failing from lack of effort. But if I have a catcher on my team, I want one of two things. I want a solid defender first and foremost. The better the defense, the happier I am. If he's an average defender, then the bat had better be WELL above average. Pena is neither. His defense is some of the worst I've seen in a long time. His technique behind the dish is very poor, his arm is horrendous for a MLB catcher, his pop and throw time is well below average as well. Probably the worst defensive catcher I've seen in a Reds uniform in a LONG time (I didn't witness most of the lost decade, so I'll opt out on those guys). In regards to his hitting, everytime I've seen him he's struck me as a very poor hitter. I'd love to be proven wrong, but if he's going to be the back up catcher, he should excel at something. Either the defense or the hitting for pinch hitting duty. I'd rather we have Barnhart as the backup. He's elite defensively from what I've seen and heard. But I can certainly understand the opinion of wanting to keep him getting regular playing time at Louisville.Originally Posted by Tony Cloninger
I'll keep an open mind with Pena with regards to his hitting. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong. But the defense...it speaks for itself.
In regards to Cozy...SS & C are the two positions I look for Defense, defense and more defense. Any offense is gravy IMO. Cozart is by far the best defender we have for short. He's not Concepcion, he's not Larkin...but he's darned good and about as sure handed as they come. The bat, well any player who's mired in a slump can tell you that they'll look horrendous at the plate and that it's not a true indicator of what they can do. Cozart looked very good to me in spring, he looked very good to me the entire second half last season. I honestly believe he's a .700 ops hitter. Coupled with his defense, that's a well above average SS. But it's very hard to see that right now with that slash line staring us all in the face. Should Cozart be moved down in the order? Quite possibly. But I don't do it in the middle of a slump because all that does is kick a man when he's down and shatter an already fragile psyche. Once he's back to normal, if Mesoraco or Pena are hitting better...fine, move him down. But I'm not a proponent of making a change due to a slump. You want to show confidence in the guy and have some faith that he'll snap out of it. Of course there are limits. But 5 games in isnt' close to it in my book.
As for Heisey...I'd like to see him get some more playing time. I know he's made some substantial mechanical changes in the off season and the results were pretty impressive in spring. But we all know ST numbers are fools gold. But when I factor in the actual swing changes...I'm hopeful.
The patience part, I'm of a mixed opinion on that front. I'd like to see guys work the count more and get the opposition's pitch counts up. But at the same time, quite often the best pitch you'll see in an AB is the first one. Right now, my biggest gripe isn't that they're swinging at the first pitch...it's that they're not swinging HARD often enough. These little half swings are becoming all too commonplace in the Reds lineup.
Sorry if I rambled on too long. :O)
