disturbing comments coming from Stubbs and Bruce

[icehole3]

Maybe I'm over reacting, but doesnt it sound like he doesnt care what people think, he's going to try to jack the ball out no matter what. Bruce's comment about the player is the player sounds weird too, shouldnt you be a better player by year 3 or 4 and not be settle with the player being the player.

I didnt post the whole article, didnt want to cause problems with the mods.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...|topnews|text|

Doc: Same swing, fewer misses?
Stubbs won't change approach just to cut Ks

GOODYEAR, ARIZ. — Drew Stubbs isn’t as concerned with his strikeouts as you are. Nor are the Reds. Stubbs would prefer not to strike out every third at-bat. But that concern isn’t going to keep him from hacking at every pitch he finds attractive. And he sees a lot of lookers up there.

Stubbs is OK with Stubbs. Striking out 205 times is too much, he knows. He also believes striking out is part of doing business. He’s entirely adamant about this. “You don’t want to give away some of the damage you can do, just to try to punch the ball around,” he says.

Baker says pitchers pitched Stubbs tougher. Now, it’s his turn to adjust. But the manager concedes, “Most of the guys who strike out have been striking out most their life.” Or as Bruce put it, “The player is the player. Drew can hit 20 home runs. You don’t want to change him too much.”

[Cooper]

Nothing to react too....he is what he is....I'll take that.

[durl]

Agreed. He is what he is...or what he wants to be. The question is, is the player what the Reds need?

[MikeThierry]

Maybe I'm overreacting to Stubbs comments but if I was the Reds management, I would trade him while his stock was still high. I cannot stand players who are OK with the status quo and won't do things to better themselves. It's one of the reasons why I was ok with the Cardinals trading Rasmus. Rasmus wouldn't follow coaches advise and wouldn't do things to better himself. I'm afraid that I can see the same sort of mentality with Drew Stubbs. Yeah he is a heck of a talent but whats the point of keeping a player if he isn't going to get the most from that talent? I just get annoyed at pro-athletes that waste their natural talent and ability.

[icehole3]

Maybe I'm overreacting to Stubbs comments but if I was the Reds management, I would trade him while his stock was still high. I cannot stand players who are OK with the status quo and won't do things to better themselves. It's one of the reasons why I was ok with the Cardinals trading Rasmus. Rasmus wouldn't follow coaches advise and wouldn't do things to better himself. I'm afraid that I can see the same sort of mentality with Drew Stubbs. Yeah he is a heck of a talent but whats the point of keeping a player if he isn't going to get the most from that talent? I just get annoyed at pro-athletes that waste their natural talent and ability.

thats how I took it, it was like he knows better than everyone type of feel, IMO if Im feeling like that I would just keep quiet about it, thats just me. It sounds a little like something Jr might say.

[WildcatFan]

That's a very Spring Training answer from Stubbs. I'd wager he's not taking the 205 strikeouts as lightly as that quote suggests. Every hitter in the game tries to improve his hitting from year to year, and improved hitting will mean fewer strikeouts. The real issue is whether or not his hitting actually improves. If not, he's still a perfectly fine hitter who will live in the lower half of the lineup and be a very solid defensive centerfielder. My guess is you will see the strikeout total go down a little while Stubbs hits 15-20 homeruns and puts up a .330ish OBP while stealing 40-45 bases.

Then again, it'll be his third full season, and maybe he breaks out and bats .270/.350./.450. I don't think that's out of the realm of possibility, either, in which case even another 190 strikeouts isn't going to bother me a bit.

[klw]

thats how I took it, it was like he knows better than everyone type of feel, IMO if Im feeling like that I would just keep quiet about it, thats just me. It sounds a little like something Jr might say.

Well lets see here is a piece that he has been working on his bunting
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/201...tubbs-bunting/

And then here is Fay's recent entry about all the work he has been doing on his hitting.
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/201...-back-to-work/

After a year like Stubbs had — he hit .244 and struck out a team-record 205 times — he was anxious to get back to work.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I think whenever you go through a tough year as a competitor, as an athlete, you want to get out and get yourself back on the right track. It’s a long wait sometimes. You spend a few months thinking about what you’ve been through.

“It does make you anxious and excited at a new opportunity to help the team to hopefully a successful year.”

Stubbs’ strikeouts get the attention. He hopes to cut them down but that wasn’t his only problem.

“That’s part of it,” he said. “But that was just a byproduct of a lot of other stuff going on. That’s part of the game. It’s going to happen with everyone. With me last year, it was amplified a lot more. If I’m able to do some things to help my approach and my overall at-bats, those will take care of themselves.”

[Cooper]

The difference between Colby and Stubbs is that Stubbs is doing what Baker wants --Baker is ok with what he is.

It's a terrible article that makes silly assumptions. There's nothing there that sticks. It's not disturbing in any way.

[Vottomatic]

Reminds me completely of the Austin Kearns ordeal. Kearns wouldn't work on things management asked and the next you know, he was traded.

If Stubbs has a good season and raises his value, I can see him gone quickly while his value is high.

I don't ever see him being a premier player, ever.

[Hoosier Red]

But he is working on things that management wants him to work on.

I think there's also a difference between changing approach and changing results. Obviously, no one wants to strike out 200 times. But if he did nothing but make sure that he only struck out 100 times, I can almost guarantee you that he'd be a worse hitter. After all, if he wanted to, he could simply bunt every time at the plate and he'd strike out fewer than 100 times.

Of course he'd also likely bat aboout .150.


He should approach the plate confident that the small adjustments he's going to make will lead to bigger results. If he focuses too much on the results, he's not likely ever going to get there.

[MikeThierry]

The difference between Colby and Stubbs is that Stubbs is doing what Baker wants --Baker is ok with what he is.

Is what Baker OK with, something that will elevate a player to achieving his full potential?

[Cooper]

Vottomatic _ you got both sides of the aisle covered there...if he does perform well he'll be traded, but just in case he doesn't he won't be a premier player....ever.

[lollipopcurve]

I want Stubbs to be confident in his abilities. The danger with him, I thought, is that he would be listening to a million different bits of advice and would end up not being able to fully focus on which skills he wanted to work on.

Proof will be in the pudding. If he is more the 2010 Stubbs than the 2011 Stubbs in 2012, that's a win for him and the organization.

[Cooper]

Thierry: and what would that be --what does Baker want him to change...is he asking him to bunt more? if so, that's fine ...yesterday Stubbs said he was working on it. The article is written with major assumptions that add up to Doc's opinion.

[dougdirt]

Stubbs is saying what most of us say: Trading strikeouts for power rather than slap hitting for less power is what you want to do.