Last night game was all about miss opportunities. That 6th inning show why its being so frustrating watching our team and shows why I've been crying for a bat in that 3 hole. What is needed? A Jason Kendall type player would be perfect on this team, a gamer...a tireless worker that would blend in beautifully with what made this team go last year. Plus did anybody notice, how much more comfortable Miggy was in that 6th hole? Kendall a career .300 hitter with OBP of .385(which by the way JP's career OBP is .365) would give the fish production from a position that is sorely missed. Also Kendall puts the ball in play averaging 50 SO per season(compare to 40 SO by JP) Castro is just not getting it done, neither at the plate or behind it(throwing out base stealers) Why not replace Alex instead? At least Gonzo's defense is outstanding, which makes you live with whatever he gives you at plate. If the pitchers aren't throwing shut out or Lowell isn't hitting the ball out, the team wouldn't win. I understand that state is a little narrow minded and not fair to those other guys, but it's a fact. The organization needs to wake-up and shake it up. If not this team will be on the downside heading into the summer and won't be there come August. Remember the team won it all with speed and defense.

 

Another thing too many slow foot base runner on the base path. Castro, Miggy, Niner don't create problems for the opp when they get on base. Kendall by the way averages 15 steals a year and has 4 already this year. Abe Nunez is another guy who should be in the line-up more. Just a few things I've notice

 

I hope management see what I see :confused

....OR you could go out and trade one problem for another. trade Castro for Ben Davis from seattle. This former Padre might need a change and will probable feel more comfortable in NL instead of the AL.

 

just a thought :hat

Last night game was all about miss opportunities. That 6th inning show why its being so frustrating watching our team and shows why I've been crying for a bat in that 3 hole. What is needed? A Jason Kendall type player would be perfect on this team, a gamer...a tireless worker that would blend in beautifully with what made this team go last year.

Personally I don't like the idea of Kendall batting 3rd. He has absolutely no power; I think a team needs some power out of the #3 position. Kendall should be batting first or second in a lineup. If we had Kendall and batted him third, we'd have three straight leadoff guys at the top of the order. It would turn us into more of a smallball team and smallball doesn't really work (we weren't a smallball team last year when we were winning).

 

However I do love the idea of replacing Castro with Kendall, even though I'm not a big Kendall fan. Unfortunately we can't afford that.

 

 

Plus did anybody notice, how much more comfortable Miggy was in that 6th hole?

Miggy was batting 5th. But he did look comfortable. Smart move by McKeon to ease the pressure on him a little.

 

Another thing too many slow foot base runner on the base path. Castro, Miggy, Niner don't create problems for the opp when they get on base.

I don't have much of a problem with the speed on the bases. Castro's speed on the bases isn't much of a problem because he's never actually on base. Niner isn't that slow. Miggy and Lowell are but that's something you accept. The only guy who seems to clog up the bases is Redmond, and Kendall would fix that.

....OR you could go out and trade one problem for another. trade Castro for Ben Davis from seattle. This former Padre might need a change and will probable feel more comfortable in NL instead of the AL.

 

just a thought :hat

Ben Davis already had a change of scenery and it didn't work.

 

In 845 lifetime NL ABs, he's batting .238 with an OBP of ~ .322 and a SLG of .355. I'd rather play Mike Redmond.

I don't think Pitt would trade Kendall now simply because they're playing too well. As far as obtainable catchers go, there really isn't that much out there, and as far as guys who would fit our 'need,' there isn't a single catcher available, and there are really only 3 in the majors who are three-hole hitter quality.

 

I think a trade needs to be made sooner rather than later for a hitter who can get the job done, but as it stands right now, there isn't anyone that fills exactly what we need...

Last night game was all about miss opportunities. That 6th inning show why its being so frustrating watching our team and shows why I've been crying for a bat in that 3 hole. What is needed? A Jason Kendall type player would be perfect on this team, a gamer...a tireless worker that would blend in beautifully with what made this team go last year.

Personally I don't like the idea of Kendall batting 3rd. He has absolutely no power; I think a team needs some power out of the #3 position. Kendall should be batting first or second in a lineup. If we had Kendall and batted him third, we'd have three straight leadoff guys at the top of the order. It would turn us into more of a smallball team and smallball doesn't really work (we weren't a smallball team last year when we were winning).

 

However I do love the idea of replacing Castro with Kendall, even though I'm not a big Kendall fan. Unfortunately we can't afford that.

 

 

Plus did anybody notice, how much more comfortable Miggy was in that 6th hole?

Miggy was batting 5th. But he did look comfortable. Smart move by McKeon to ease the pressure on him a little.

 

Another thing too many slow foot base runner on the base path. Castro, Miggy, Niner don't create problems for the opp when they get on base.

I don't have much of a problem with the speed on the bases. Castro's speed on the bases isn't much of a problem because he's never actually on base. Niner isn't that slow. Miggy and Lowell are but that's something you accept. The only guy who seems to clog up the bases is Redmond, and Kendall would fix that. * Small ball? well wasn't that what we played last year? I understand the power debate, but Pudge isn't hitting 30/35 HR a year. He only hit 16 and they manage to win it all. A pure hitter in that spot is not all that bad, it also suits the park they play in. You have three guys who are .300 career hitters. 9 times out 10 Lowell or Miggy will come up with runner on base. That what happen last year when Pudge was here. Also the make-up of this team is suit more for a pure hitter in that #3 hole.

 

*Boy I guess I'm getting old, your right Miggy was in the #5 hole

 

*$$$ should be a problem, when the Pirates have stated for the right price they would take half, if not more for Kendall's contract.

Would it make any sense to move a Vet like Conine into the third hole?

 

He can still hit even though he is getting old....

* Small ball? well wasn't that what we played last year? I understand the power debate, but Pudge isn't hitting 30/35 HR a year. He only hit 16 and they manage to win it all.

I don't think we played smallball last year, not after McKeon took over. Once McKeon took over, we played fairly standard baseball from the pre-homer days - get guys on base and drive them in with extra base hits. We were 6th in the league in SLG last year.

 

16 HRs is not a lot. However, it's more HRs than Kendall has hit since 2000. I don't think you need 30 HRs out of the #3 hole. I think you need more than 6 and you need a SLG greater than .416 (Kendall last year, .420 lifetime); Pudge's SLG last year was .474 (.489 for his career). Pudge was also excellent in clutch situations last year; Kendall has always been pretty average. I don't this it's fair at all to compare Pudge to Kendall by looking at HRs (even though Pudge was much better there) - Pudge beat Kendall in many many other ways.

Would it make any sense to move a Vet like Conine into the third hole?

 

He can still hit even though he is getting old....

Before the season, I wanted to bat Conine 3rd. He had a decent enough OBP and a good enough SLG (.450 or so) to drive in runs. Then I wanted to bat Cabrera cleanup and Lowell 5th. I think Lowell is a perfect #5 hitter and could protect Cabrera. But Lowell has been excellent batting cleanup so I wouldn't want to mess with that right now.