Hernandez vs Hanigan

[TRF]

well for today, the latin speaking catcher has no clear advantage receiving pitches from Leake. So, it probably SHOULD be Hanigan. He is hitting the ball, and his hitting hasn't cooled off in the last 7 days. Hernandez hasn't been bad over that period either, posting an .855 OPS. But Hanigan's 1.695 OPS over the same time period, with the same number of AB's suggests his bat might be a tad hot right now.

So why not ride it?

But its not like Hernandez .855 is a bad thing. Hand wringing i guess.

[westofyou]

29 ab seasons don't usurp the annoited starter, it's the way the game is played in 30 MLB stadiums across the continent.

[Spring~Fields]

With only 29 ABs compared to the 50+ ABs that everyday starting catchers around baseball have,Hanigan still manages to be 3rd in RBIs,top 10 in hits along with 3rd in doubles and that's among all catchers in baseball.No one is even close to Hanigan in any major stat based on a percentages.There's isn't one good reason not to play a guy putting up those kind of numbers when his competition is an aging veteran that's was nothing special to begin with.

That’s been a problem with this team that has been mentioned on various occasions over the past couple seasons. The hot hand doesn’t always earn respect and appreciation during their nice spurts of production at the plate or in the field as each of them go through small samples throughout the season of ups and downs.

Many of them are often relegated to polishing the bench in lieu of the contracted experienced player. Then they get some of that irregular and spot play taking them from what some might call being in a groove from regular play, and all of sudden, they just don’t have it, and there are some small samples naturally, to support it.

Some things they can't correct, there are barriers, and issues that block certain goals and their achievement. What you speak of here has been and is within their control to adjust, adapt and correct in the present.

Tradition and old paradigms of baseball thinking often take precedence and supersedes current production and output in lieu of the declining and regressing.

Good thing they run into poor pitching and weak offenses, or our favorite team would really be in a pickle.

[TRF]

29 ab seasons don't usurp the annoited starter, it's the way the game is played in 30 MLB stadiums across the continent.

Its not how its not played either. Or incumbents would never get supplanted. Votto took over the 1B job in this way, but he was seen as a "real" prospect, where Hanigan is not. It took LaRue forever to get the starting catcher's job in Cincinnati for pretty much the same reason.

To go back to St. Louis, they seem willing to give a chance to late bloomers like Ludwick and this year Freese. JimBo has been gone 7 years now and it seems the system is still looking for his 5 tool players that are under 23 years old.

[westofyou]

Its not how its not played either. Or incumbents would never get supplanted. Votto took over the 1B job in this way, but he was seen as a "real" prospect, where Hanigan is not. It took LaRue forever to get the starting catcher's job in Cincinnati for pretty much the same reason.

To go back to St. Louis, they seem willing to give a chance to late bloomers like Ludwick and this year Freese. JimBo has been gone 7 years now and it seems the system is still looking for his 5 tool players that are under 23 years old.

29 ab's is the key, gloss over that and miss the point. vets don't lose their jobs on 29 ab's.

[Spring~Fields]

How is a partial season any kind of true indicator?

Filtering with selective reasoning and from a motivation of confirmation bias.

Oh you didn't ask why.

[TRF]

29 ab's is the key, gloss over that and miss the point. vets don't lose their jobs on 29 ab's.

true.

But a lot of managers would play the hot hand. Hanigan was 2-3 last night. And He's had a good week. I also think he's the likely starter next year.

But I'm not hand wringing over Hernandez in there tonight. He's been hitting well lately.

[dougdirt]

29 ab's is the key, gloss over that and miss the point. vets don't lose their jobs on 29 ab's.

Sure, but Hanigan should have been the starting catcher two years running now.

[westofyou]

Sure, but Hanigan should have been the starting catcher two years running now.

Well that and a buck can buy him a USA Today.

[Spring~Fields]

Veteran catcher with rookie pitcher. Plus Razor makes much more than Hanigan.

Plus a lot of thinking and decision making in addition to the money went into selecting players such as Hernandez over Hanigan and other’s. That would not look good upon those decisions if it appeared that ……well you know that.

Sometimes I wonder how long one has to play that game, called baseball before one is sufficiently experienced.

Cost accounting and finance always seems to be a part of the process. Even when cost benefit analysis might indicate something as being a better choice, tonight.

[nate]

That was over 40 games and 121 PA's.

I'm not arguing that he was "exposed", more like tired. And remember he played almost everyday when Votto was out. He actually caught more than Hernandez last year, 72 games to 55.

I say there's a third way that makes the most sense to me: it's simple variation. I would guess I could find poor stretches like that in just about any .700-ish OPS dude with less than 500 PAs. It happens.

And Hernandez isn't playing bad enough to be dropped. He's right around his projections. If he had two more hits, he be OPS'ing .700. And at the end of the season, that's where I see Hanigan hitting as well.

I'm not saying Hernandez should be dropped. I'm saying that Hanigan should be getting the bulk of the playing time and hitting higher in the order.

My point is that Hanigan seemed to wilt from playing every day, and Hernandez is really not much worse than he is, so why not have them split the catching duties. And for the record, that is what is happening. Hernandez 12 starts, Hanigan 8 starts so far, and Hernandez has not caught more than two days in a row yet. Sure, I'd like to see Hanigan get about one more start a week, but that's about it.

I don't buy that because he had a poor 120-odd ABs, he's "wilt-prone."

I think he should be starting 75% of the time and hitting in the middle 3rd of the lineup. Well...I'd put him in the top 3 and see how that goes but that might "blow minds."

[nate]

How is a partial season any kind of true indicator? Small sample size especially when it was his 1st full season. Guys were quick to suggest he was a poor guy at driving in runs also, when it was clear he was just adjusting.

Or the tiniest of tiny small sample sizes while hitting 8th behind Adam Rosales.

[nate]

Hanigan isn't starting because he ain't the starter, he's a backup who is spot started at this juncture, if he was blowing the doors off with the glove or bat he'd have taken the job already.

I guess the "blowing the doors off" bar is pretty high then.

And yes part of Hernandez's presence is based on things fans likely never see, including the ability to speak spanish (despite it's unimportance to us english 1st folks)

I think "us English 1st folks" is a bit dramatic.

Hernandez can start when our one Spanish-speaking starter (who seems to be doing his best to learn English) takes the mound. Failing that, I believe Orlando Cabrera speaks Spanish. When Chapman comes up, if he does this year, those options remain.

and work with the plethora of young latino pitchers the team is leaning on in the future.

Cathers are not about hitting, it's pretty obvious 90% of the fan base doesn't get that whilst 90% of the league operates that way.

Hanigan's better with the glove and the bat.

Get him Rosetta Stone.

[Spring~Fields]

I think he should be starting 75% of the time and hitting in the middle 3rd of the lineup. Well...I'd put him in the top 3 and see how that goes but that might "blow minds."

Higher BA, OBP should be compatible with traditional thinking in those from older baseball era's. Hanigan would seem to fit where you are speaking. The guy plays pretty good defense too, doesn't he.

[westofyou]

OPS+ of 84 last year, a robust 97 in over 400 MLB ab's, Hanigan might be able to get on base, but that's pretty much his offense, he has Ecksteinian power.

Of course those 29 ab's this season are what really matter the most.