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Thread: Bats and Gloves

  1. #1
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    Bats and Gloves

    Rick Sweet had some strong words the other night about the shortcomings of the Bats on defense, how it's awfully hard on their pitchers. Goya alluded to the same thing last night in the game thread. Can he or somebody be a little more specific about what and where the problem is? Does it have to do with missing Valaika?


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  3. #2
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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    The entire IF defense has been horrible, as have the corner outfielders. The two bright spots, really, are Tatum and Stubbs.

    The reason they're so bad is that most are playing out of position. Bankston isn't a 3B. At all. I'm assuming the front office hadn't planned on moving Rosales so soon and that weakened the D across the field. Then, Valaika gets hurt and SS isn't exactly a defense-first position. Dorn's learning 1B on the fly, while struggling offensively and Gomes, Bankston, and the rest aren't exactly known as Gold Glovers. Plus, the new emphasis on D has got to be in their minds.

    In short, there's a bunchb of stuff they're dealing with.

  4. #3
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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    Bats errors

    Code:
    Stubbs	   0
    Hopper	   0
    Gomes	   3
    Rosales   3
    Bolivar	   6
    Richar	   3
    Barker	   3
    Griffin	   1
    Bankston  6
    Sutton	   3
    Tatum	   2
    Castillo  5
    Dorn	   4
    Valaika   4
    Peterson  1
    It doesn't have much to do with Valaika because he was committing errors too. Consider the playing time of Griffin, Peterson and Sutton and they are no better than anyone else. Bolivar is the worst of the team. He is playing a position he is supposed to be able to play. Bankston at 3rd and Dorn at 1st are new positions. Tatum was to be called out for allowing way too many steals.

    Stubbs and Hopper are the only ones who really doing well. But generally, the whole outfield wasn't been bad.

    I like Bolivar and he can hit fairly well but he is now in journeyman territory and I wouldn't mind seeing a MI come up from Carolina to replace him. Bankston has played a little bit at 3rd base but not enough and not recently enough to say he ought to be comfortable there.

    If you weren't aware of it, the Bats lead the league in errors. From my memory, the vast majority of the errors are fielding, not throwing.
    Last edited by GOYA; 05-25-2009 at 12:33 PM.

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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    Thanks. Sounds like Bolivar might not be a true SS. I notice that Richar was somewhat spared in both assessments. But in general it sounds like a case of a bunch of infielders not particularly suited to their positions.

  6. #5
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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    Cozart is the only MI in the upper minors who actually should be playing there. The Reds MI group is generally made up of guys who don't hit enough to be a corner player.
    All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!

  7. #6
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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    Quote Originally Posted by mace View Post
    I notice that Richar was somewhat spared in both assessments.
    I tend to slag on Richar quite a bit. Both for hitting and fielding. So far, he has shown improvement in both aspects. I hope it sticks and until he proves that that improvement was an aberration, I plan on cutting him some slack.

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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    I also think Valaika looked pretty solid at SS. I realize everyone assumed he couldn't play there, but he looked well above average with the leather in the 15 or so games I saw this year.

    Now, he looked lost with the bat, but I figure that's just learning the new league. I'm guessing there will be even more questions after he comes back from his broken leg. If he comes back from his broken leg.

  9. #8
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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    Valaika has 4 errors in 23 games. I agree that it looks like he belongs at SS because of athleticism but he's got to cut down on the errors. He also needs to stop punching watercoolers.

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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    Quote Originally Posted by GOYA View Post
    Valaika has 4 errors in 23 games. I agree that it looks like he belongs at SS because of athleticism but he's got to cut down on the errors. He also needs to stop punching watercoolers.
    is that why he is on DL?

  11. #10
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    Re: Bats and Gloves

    Yep, broken hand from an unwinnable fight.


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