Heisey

[mikemo14]

Is it just me or does Heisey do something positive, whether it be offensively or defensively everytime Dusty puts him into the game. I for one would still love to see him everyday in leftfield hitting in the two hole.

[R_Webb18]

no he does not every1 just wants him to play so thats all u remember

[goreds2]

He will get his share of playing time. Dusty plays all 25. Bummed out that Gomes is going bad.

[davereds24]

he sucks when he starts.

[Carolina Red]

Gomes sucks when he starts and when he pinch hits. It was a mistake re-signing him. Heisey needs to play everyday. He'll only get better.

[xavr1]

Lewis or Heisey. Anybody but Gomes, at least for the time being. I would prefer he doesnt have another AB in this series. Last nights K was painful to watch.

[Fireball]

I do think that Gomes needs to play a little less for a while, but not be buried on the bench. He will get hot at some point, and that's when you ride that guy and throw him out there every day.

Heisey and Lewis should get more of the PT in left for now.

[GOBCU33]

Heisey hasnt seen the field in only 5 games this year believe it or not, but only has 56 ABs

[Maker_84]

i think Lewis might be better than Heisey, anybody but Gomes though. Lately it seems Baker is starting Gomes less and less which hopefully will continue or i'm gonna go crazy

[mu4103]

I guess I would say two things.

First, when you look at Heisey starts, they have been occuring on days when most of the Reds are not hitting, so it could be argued that he is playing on days when the other pitcher seems to have their best stuff. I recall Heisey being only the second baserunner (in the 7th) against the Padres a couple of weeks ago before scooring the tying run in the 3-2 comeback. Last year I remember he broke up a no-hitter late in a game.

The second thing I would say is that, it obviously takes a different approach to pinch hit than start. Juggling back and forth would be difficult. I would like to see him get a real prolonged chance to start and see what he can do. I don't think anyone would argue that he has been given a real chance to succeed as a starter. We know what Gomes can do. We know what Lewis can do. Heisey has not done worse, let him have a chance and if he fails then you can look at other options. He has shown he can do it in the minors and in the spring. Let's see if he can do it in the regular season. There seems to be no downside to giving hiim a shot.

If the Reds don't give him a chance, some other team will and they might regret it.

[Fullboat]

Originally Posted by mu4103

I guess I would say two things.

First, when you look at Heisey starts, they have been occuring on days when most of the Reds are not hitting, so it could be argued that he is playing on days when the other pitcher seems to have their best stuff. I recall Heisey being only the second baserunner (in the 7th) against the Padres a couple of weeks ago before scooring the tying run in the 3-2 comeback. Last year I remember he broke up a no-hitter late in a game.

The second thing I would say is that, it obviously takes a different approach to pinch hit than start. Juggling back and forth would be difficult. I would like to see him get a real prolonged chance to start and see what he can do. I don't think anyone would argue that he has been given a real chance to succeed as a starter. We know what Gomes can do. We know what Lewis can do. Heisey has not done worse, let him have a chance and if he fails then you can look at other options. He has shown he can do it in the minors and in the spring. Let's see if he can do it in the regular season. There seems to be no downside to giving hiim a shot.

If the Reds don't give him a chance, some other team will and they might regret it.

+1
Each player should be given a series to play

[Kevin1476]

I would like to see Heisey get more PT, and would love to get Yonder some PT out in left as well, defensively he may need more time, but he cannot be any worse then Gomes in left.

[UPRedsFan]

Before Gomes k'd last night I knew the pitcher would throw him nothing but breaking balls on the outside corner. That's exactly what happend and Gomes chased them all. Makes me think Gomes doesn't have the eye sight he needs to recognize the breaking pitches. That last one he swung a missed was rediculous.

Left field should be Lewis/Heisey until they prove they can't handle it. Gomes has proven he can't handle it from about July of 2010 on.

[Vottomatic]

Originally Posted by UPRedsFan

Before Gomes k'd last night I knew the pitcher would throw him nothing but breaking balls on the outside corner. That's exactly what happend and Gomes chased them all. Makes me think Gomes doesn't have the eye sight he needs to recognize the breaking pitches. That last one he swung a missed was rediculous.

Left field should be Lewis/Heisey until they prove they can't handle it. Gomes has proven he can't handle it from about July of 2010 on.

Yeah, Jonny is a straight fastball hitter. Can't hit the breaking pitch. They rarely throw him a fastball he could hit. I did see him take a few good pitches yesterday and then swing at the bad offspeed stuff. Go figure.

[mu4103]

As of May 16 Chris Heisey has 57 ABs. Joey Votto has 139, Stubbs has 156, Bruce has 144, Phillips has 142, Gomes has 113. I prorated Heisey's numbers and gave him 135 ABs to see how he would compare with the regular starters.
Given 135 ABS at Heisey's present rate, he would be 1st in HR and RBI, 2nd in SB, and 3rd in runs (the other numbers are below as well).

135 ABs
Home Runs: 9 (First: One more than Bruce)
Runs 28 (Third: Behind Stubbs and Votto)
RBI 36 (First: 11 more than Brandon Phillips who is second)
SB: 5 (Tied for second)
AVG: .263 (Sixth among regular starters)
OBP: .338 (eighth among regular starters
OPS: .847 (4th among regular starters behind Votto, Phillips, and Votto)

Here are some thoughts:

1. The RBI numbers could be skewed because pinch-hitters come in most often with people on base.
2. Really some of the numbers are impressive because when he pinch hits the other team usually has one of their best pitchers in.
3. If Heisey is a great pinch-hitter than give him a chance to play on a regular basis - has Gomes shown he deserves it.
4. I am convinced that the numbers are not Dusty's playing the match-up game that he says he plays.
5. Considering that he would be top three in every power category, he should be given an extended period of time to show what he can do. Aren't we looking for a LFer.