Alex Gonzalez - 0 BBs in June

[Puffy]

Alex Gonzalez's last walk was May 25. He has now gone exactly 100 at bats without a walk.

However, he has been hit by a pitch in that time (at around at bat 98 or 99), so wooooohoooooo!

[RedsManRick]

I bet he has more productive outs than Adam Dunn though!

[Falls City Beer]

You are what you is.

[M2]

Gonzalez by month:

April - .329/.372/.519
May - .228/.285/.482
June - .236/.247/.375

The OB went and the SLG followed. What he does in the second half of the season is likely to be hideous.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by M2

Gonzalez by month:

April - .329/.372/.519
May - .228/.285/.482
June - .236/.247/.375

The OB went and the SLG followed. What he does in the second half of the season is likely to be hideous.

... but he is a Gold Glove caliber SS. :

[NJReds]

He also had more runs, RBI and extra base hits than Jose Reyes. Oh and five less walks.

[Ltlabner]

Yep, can't take a walk to save his life. However, for a guy predected to be a black hole at the plate, I'll take 12 homers, 16 doubles 1 triple and a .765 OPS all day long.

I'll also take his 1.199 OPS in 41 AB's against Pittsburg. The 1.666OPS in 15 AB's against St. Louis. And .771 OPS against Houston in 46 Ab's. For a "weak stick" that's pretty nifty production against division rivals.

Now, if he can get that hammy healed, his son over being deathly ill and figure out how to give it his all in the field when he's surrounded by a craptastic team, life would be a little nicer.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the course of the year. On the one hand, he gets the boost of being in GABP for 1/2 the games. OTOH, he's got a track record of leveling out over the season. Especially as the NL pitchers dial in on him.

[registerthis]

Originally Posted by Ltlabner

Yep, can't take a walk to save his life. However, for a guy predected to be a black hole at the plate, I'll take 12 homers, 16 doubles 1 triple and a .765 OPS all day long.

Yep. We can't all be .900 OPS'ers.

Would be nice if he could get on base once in awhile, though. That .765 OPS could quickly become a .665 OPS if the power goes away.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by M2

Gonzalez by month:

April - .329/.372/.519
May - .228/.285/.482
June - .236/.247/.375

The OB went and the SLG followed. What he does in the second half of the season is likely to be hideous.

Did you hear that? It's the sound of $14 million being flushed down the toilet. Man, there is a lot that could have been done with that money. Instead, Wayne decided to lockdown the SS position of the worst team in baseball. Nice work, once again.

[MrCinatit]

With that kind of plate patience, it almost makes sense for him to be batting lead off.

[Kc61]

Originally Posted by M2

Gonzalez by month:

April - .329/.372/.519
May - .228/.285/.482
June - .236/.247/.375

The OB went and the SLG followed. What he does in the second half of the season is likely to be hideous.

Is this the same calculus that folks used to predict that Hatteberg would have a bad 2007? I was going to write to Hatte in the off-season and suggest that he not show up this year, because Redszone predicted he would flame out.

Seriously, I think Gonzo is a very good ballplayer, not having his best year. Like most players, he fluctuates from month to month. But this guy is an upgrade at a key position, which he generally plays well defensively. He has done surprisingly well offensively, overall so far.

The Reds do have some very solid position players. But the pitching quality and usage is so fouled up that it is very hard to evaluate the team.

Not an accident that when Aaron Harang is on the mound, he wins a high percentage of his games with this team.

[Johnny Footstool]

Originally Posted by Kc61

Is this the same calculus that folks used to predict that Hatteberg would have a bad 2007? I was going to write to Hatte in the off-season and suggest that he not show up this year, because Redszone predicted he would flame out.

Clearly not, because Hatteberg has always been able to take a walk. Hat's predicted decline stemmed more from his age and his decline for two seasons prior to coming to Cincinnati. Comparing Hatteberg to Gonzalez is an apples and oranges argument.

Seriously, I think Gonzo is a very good ballplayer, not having his best year. Like most players, he fluctuates from month to month. But this guy is an upgrade at a key position, which he generally plays well defensively. He has done surprisingly well offensively, overall so far.

Not overall. He did surprisingly well offensively for one month. His overall numbers are unsurprisingly mediocre.

The Reds do have some very solid position players. But the pitching quality and usage is so fouled up that it is very hard to evaluate the team.

Agreed. But I don't see how that pertains to Gonzo's failings at the plate since May.

Not an accident that when Aaron Harang is on the mound, he wins a high percentage of his games with this team.

This is an odd statement. Harang tied for the NL lead in wins last season, pitching in front of the likes of Felipe Lopez and "Rolls" Royce Clayton. So other than Harang being excellent, what does this statement relate to?

[M2]

Originally Posted by Kc61

Is this the same calculus that folks used to predict that Hatteberg would have a bad 2007? I was going to write to Hatte in the off-season and suggest that he not show up this year, because Redszone predicted he would flame out.

Seriously, I think Gonzo is a very good ballplayer, not having his best year. Like most players, he fluctuates from month to month. But this guy is an upgrade at a key position, which he generally plays well defensively. He has done surprisingly well offensively, overall so far.

The Reds do have some very solid position players. But the pitching quality and usage is so fouled up that it is very hard to evaluate the team.

Not an accident that when Aaron Harang is on the mound, he wins a high percentage of his games with this team.

Actually, Gonzalez has been having his best year this season (in a horse race with his 2003 campaign), which undermines your whole "very good ballplayer" statement. We've seen his best, offensively speaking. He gets worse. We're just beginning to get to know Alex Gonzalez. He is NOT a very good ballplayer.

He's been a niche player, a defensively solid shortstop, though he's not having a particularly good season in that regard. He hasn't provided the defensive impact that was hoped for when he signed.

You can throw red herrings like Hatteberg and the pitching into the mix all you want, Gonzalez's out machine act is going to get tired.

[Kc61]

The statement about Harang relates to the fact that nit-picking the position players is, IMO, unimportant when the pitching is so awful. The Reds are good enough to win when a high caliber pitcher is out there.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by Kc61

The statement about Harang relates to the fact that nit-picking the position players is, IMO, unimportant when the pitching is so awful. The Reds are good enough to win when a high caliber pitcher is out there.

The Reds can't afford high caliber pitching, so they took the cheap route and went for an upgrade on defense. The result? The worst record in baseball.

Remember the laughter when Lilly, Meche and Marquis were signed?