Drew Sutton to be promoted to the bigs?....it's just a matter of when, not if...

[Kingspoint]

Drew Sutton for Jeff Keppinger.

I still can't believe we got that much for Keppinger.

A switch-hitter that brings positive at-bats from both sides of the plate and plays 1B/SS/2B/3B, and probably could play any of the outfield spots, too. The ulitmate Utility Infielder.

In 37 games in Louisville so far:

vs. Left-handers: .341/.404/.585/.990 in about 48 PA's.
vs. Righthanders: .212/.380/.459/.838 in about 108 PA's.

Last year at AA Corpus Christi in about 686 PA's he hit .317/.408/.523/.931

Tomorrow, June 30th, is his 26th birthday. He's entering the peak of the 4 or 5 best years of his career. He's maturing very fast right now....like Dickerson did this time last season.

He's never been injured as a pro. He went to College at Baylor, so it's not like he's spent a lot of time in the minors. But, his 3000 career minor league plate appearances plus College experience makes it so that there just isn't a lot left for him to learn in the minors.

He's either ready for the Majors or he'll never be.

He's not tearing it up his last 10 games: .270/.357/.459/.816

But, his June numbers are: .272/.410/.568/.978

Not bad. When EE gets promoted, and I assume it's for Danny Richar, the next infielder I'd like to see promoted would be Sutton. By then, he will have had another 50+ PA's in Louisville, perhaps honing some more skills as he sees pitchers for the second or sometimes third time this season.

Jerry Hairston, Jr. is a career .259/.328/.371/.700 hitter. He's proving last season was a career fluke as this year he's right where he should be at .249/.307/.394/.701, nearly identical to what one could have expected from him at the beginning of the season.

But, Hairston is a veteran and an ex-Cub, two things Dusty continues to burden this team with.

I'd much rather have the younger, more energetic, and probably better defender, switch-hitter in Sutton.

I hope Walt can see this, too, and make the move.

Hairston is a commodity this team doesn't need any more. DFA him.

[GOYA]

I'd much rather have the younger, more energetic, and probably better defender, switch-hitter in Sutton.

He's about the same as Kepp defensively. He's OK anywhere but SS.

I want to see more of him before I make a call about moving him up.

[RedsManRick]

Seems like the kind of guy who is on the cusp of losing trade value. After this year, he starts getting that same AAAA label Keppinger had. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him traded if the Reds acquire a bat this season; though he does seem to be in the DeRosa type mold. He'll be an interesting guy to follow.

[Benihana]

Seems like the kind of guy who is the cusp of losing trade value. After this year, he starts getting that same AAAA label Keppinger had. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him traded if the Reds acquire a bat this season; though he does seem to be in the DeRosa type mold. He'll be an interesting guy to follow.

True. Between Sutton, Rosales, Valaika and Janish- there's only room for two, maybe three of them on the big league club. Might as well trade one or two of them off in a package to get something more valuable.

[Pony Boy]

Sutton's numbers look very similar to Keppinger's minor league numbers.

[nemesis]

Sutton's numbers look very similar to Keppinger's minor league numbers.

Not so much. Sutton walks more, makes less contact, but, hits for way more power. His OBP is not BA driven. He is a switch hitter. The only similarities is neither can hit RHP and both play below avg defense at multipule positions.

[Kingspoint]

But, I can live with his BA against RH's if he can pull off a .380 OBP against them and an OPS of over .800 against them.

[Kingspoint]

Guess that time is now.

[Kingspoint]

Happy Birthday, Drew Sutton. I wonder if he got the call last night while it was still his birthday or today.

[Ron Madden]

Not so much. Sutton walks more, makes less contact, but, hits for way more power. His OBP is not BA driven. He is a switch hitter. The only similarities is neither can hit RHP and both play below avg defense at multipule positions.

You nailed it Nemesis, that's exactly how I see it.