Chris Heisey

[mth123]

While I'm open for an upgrade, I don't think any of the 4 OF needs to go.
Rolen comes back and displaces Negron (or maybe Stubbs goes on the DL, but eventually Negron goes).

Since Rolen got hurt, the 25th man on the roster has been a black hole (Negron, Constanzo).. IMO, Valdez is worth keeping. The bench will be a lot better when Rolen comes back.. if Frasier ends up seeing time in LF, then both Heisey and Ludwick are available off the bench.

Still a shortage of LH hitting, but Rolen coming off the DL will help us (hopefully he will hit adequately.. with his defense, he can hit at Ludwick/Hiesey levels if Frasier plays LF, then it's an upgradE).

I'm assuming that the Reds add a LH bat as the post I was responding too suggested. In that case, you'd need a spot for both the acquisition and Rolen. So Negron goes, but who else? I say Ludwick is the best guy to go (but I could be talked into Stubbs)

IMO, the need to acquire a lefty is pretty clear. Using .725 OPS as the line that separates adequate from inadequate, here is how things shake out:

Against LHP the guys on the adequate list (limiting to the main 13 position players so far): Frazier 1.049, Votto .998, Ludwick .952, Hanigan .878, Cozart .872, Stubbs .822, Cairo .818, Bruce .794, Heisey .780, Mesoraco .736 and Valdez .727. The inadequate list would be only Phillips .607 and Rolen .486. So against LHP, the Reds keep coming at you over and over with 11 of the 13 guys threats and the 2 that aren't have traditionally killed LHP.

OTOH, against RHP the adequate list is limited to Votto 1.214, Phillips .873, Bruce .854 and Frazier .848. Two of those are a bit iffy going forward. Frazier has a pretty big weakness on the ball running or breaking away to the outside part of the plate (i.e. a breaking ball from a RHP) and Phillips has traditionally struggled against RHP. I think the league will adjust to Frazier and just don't want to count too heavily on Phillips continuing to buck his career trends. The line-up is pretty thin against RHP.

The inadequate guys include Hanigan .693, Cozart .685, Mesoraco .675, Heisey .653, Ludwick .634, Stubbs .619, Rolen .566, Valdez .405 and Cairo .343.

Since they face RHP about two-thirds of the time, I think they need to even this out. It means adding a guy who hits against RHP and removing one of the redundant lefty killers. My vote is Ludwick since he's the most likely to have his PAs taken by Frazier when Rolen comes back.

[dfs]

The lack of power this year is what's been perplexing to me. I keep thinking that will change, but it's halfway through June.

It's a game of adjustments. If Heisey ever starts to hit the curveball/slider, they will have to start throwing him fastballs over the plate again and his power will return.

Big if in that sentence.

[mdccclxix]

I'm far from an expert on swings, but I remember last year looking at Heisey's, which I have always disliked. His hands are way up there. Well in my cursory look I found in 2010 his hands started into the plane of the swing later than in 2011. At the time I thought that was helping him avoid K's and make better contact. Anyway, this year his hands are way up there late again and that's my take on why he's taken a step back this year. It's probably something else. I think we all assumed he just pick right back up and keep hitting HR's all the time, but that is not the case at all. You have to wonder if he will adjust to how he's being pitched.

[redsmetz]

I came across this interesting piece on Chris Heisey. Since this thread was already started, it seemed like a good place to put it. It talks about Heisey coming out of a D III school (one of only 7 players in MLB who have come from D III schools).

http://www.d3baseball.com/notables/2012/05/Heisey

[Mario-Rijo]

Chris is one of my favorites because I can see good starter potential in him. The plate discipline and mechanics are a mess right now though. I think he is already very similar to a Scott Hairston type of guy (classic 4th OF) but I think there is potential in that swing if he can ever get it figured, ala Jose Bautista. He once was taught in the minors to get his foot down sooner and he blossomed, his timing is still off for one and he has a crazy loop in his swing. He and Bruce are very similar in their flaws and their talents IMO. Just seems to me that the hitting coach ought to be getting better out of both of these guys.

[fearofpopvol1]

I like the way he plays the game. He's not a perfect player, but he plays hard and is fun to watch.