Originally Posted by indy_dave00
That's not good. Would have rather seen five singles. Two jumps in class is huge. One jump in class is huge. Two jumps is almost asking the impossible....and possibly damaging a pitcher's confidence. Nice to see him come back with a perfect 6th. He's earned another start or two.
Last edited by Eric_Davis; 05-18-2007 at 02:41 AM.
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So, how's Maybin v. Bruce looking at the moment?
I have, Watson's stuff is very very nasty. High fastball to go with a drop off the table knuckle curve that isnt even fair. Bailey's junk is better IMO low hard heater with a side winding curve ball that'll make you run to the dugout. Theyre both studs.
Was at the Bats/Hens DH last night. That was one craptacular display of hitting. If you like offense, you should've stayed home. Two hits combined in the first game. Encarnacion hit a sharp single to left for the Bats lone hit. Had to feel bad for Steve Kelly, throwing a one hitter and losing. Not sure how he managed to throw a one hitter, but he did. Mike Edwards hit a ball that bounced into the street on one hop and hit a bus. Unfortunately it was foul by about a foot. One error, Machado took a grounder to the cup and wasn't able to recover. Had it just bounced off his glove he likely had enough time to pick it up and throw out the runner, but he was in obvious pain and couldn't recover. He came out after the inning, but came back for game two. He did look pretty slick in the field. Chris Dickerson also covers a lot of ground in the OF, he just needs the bat to come around right now.
Second game started similar to the first, except instead of dueling no hitters through three this time it lasted through four. In fact the Hens pitcher had a perfect game through six. That's 13 innings and one hit for the Bats at that point, not a very entertaining night. Hens got three in the bottom of the 5th off a pair of homers, one of which was just crushed to left. It hit the top of the scoreboard. The Hens pitcher self destructed in the 7th and the Bats tied things up. Encarnacion got another hit, he was the only Bat with two on the night. He also misplayed a ball to lead off the bottom of the 7th, though to be fair it would've taken a phenomenal play to get the runner and was rightly scored a hit and not an error. It was a dribbler to the left of the mound where he had to charge in and to his left a long way, scoop it and fire. The problem was the scoop, the ball went right under his glove. Runner went to second on a wild pitch (Wilkerson had relieved Gardner at this point). Machado almost made a really slick play after that. He had to go a ways to his right to field a grounder, and once he grabbed it chased the runner to third. The runner got flustered by it and overslid the bag. He got his hand back a split-second before Machado tagged him, otherwise it would've been a pretty nice play. Sac fly then ended it. It was a short fly to center, Dickerson made a good throw and came very close to gunning down the runner, but he just got there. The first 13 inning stunk for a Bats fan, but at least there was some excitement in the end.
I'd give him some time in Louisville first, but he's certainly seems to have mastered the Southern League. Carlos Guevara look promotion worthy as well.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Yeah, Bailey's curve is brutal. I like Watson's knuckle, but Bailey's 12/6 has got that rare "plus-plus" potential(he had it working his last start to). Of course like many young pitchers, getting it thrown consistantly has been a problem.
He should and will be the Reds starting first baseman on Opening Day '08.
Go BLUE!!!
I'm not a big advocate of pushing guys too soon in the minors, but for crying out loud, what more does Jay Bruce have to prove in Sarasota?
Frankly, I'm a bit surprised they didn't send Jay up to Chatt when Dickerson was promoted to Louisville. The current Lookouts outfielders are not doing all that poorly but not tearing it up either. Garthwaite's bat has come alive of late and he's striking the ball better; Strait's power numbers are holding steady but his Ave & OBP are not in the desireable range (although he does seem to make things happen); and Marland Williams started out, (right after Dicky got promoted,) like a house on fire but has cooled of late. Although, Williams can go get it in the field. Godwin was demoted from AAA when Dicky was promoted but hasn't seen much PT which doesn't seem like a good sign for him.
I suspect the test they are giving Jay has just about run its course. They may be waiting to see if he slumps and how he handles it but I'm begining to wonder if he's ever going to slump. Its not as thought he's getting on base with squibbers and flares...he's ripping the cover off the ball nearly every time he hits it.
I've been on the Bruce bandwagon since before the Reds picked him. That said, I'm perfectly fine with it if he finishes the season in the FSL.
It is a good pitcher's league and there's facets of game beyond hitting he could be working on. He's only 20-years-old. This isn't going to prevent him from reaching the majors at a young age. He could start in AA next year and be up by the end of the season if he tears it up.
Plus, he's not otherworldly at the moment. Don't get me wrong .335/.386/.639 is awesome, but it's not like it's a Halley's Comet type of event. Great hitters frequently have seasons like that. If he moves the OPS up around 1.200 then I'd say he's into boredom territory. Right now he's just dominating like a dominating player is supposed to dominate. This is what I want Bruce's norm to be.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Good points!!
Bruce needs time to develope. As I have said many times. He needs to cut down his outs by walking more consistantly.
Right now he should stay in high A the whole year.
Bruce has the highest batting average/slugging percentage/OPS of any player his age in the FSL since 2002, which is as far as I looked back. There is no reason he should finish the season in the FSL. There is no reason he should be there still. What does he have left to prove other than he is better than everyone in the league on a consistant basis?
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