February 26, 200620 yr Cubs In Mesa Run and done? Not with Pierre Friday, February 24, 2006 By Jeff Vorva Staff writer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MESA, Ariz. ? There was a time when Cubs baserunners used to steal 60 or more bases in a season. That was in the late 1800s. Fred Pfeffer, Walt Wilmot and Bill Lange were swiping bases with ease back in the days when people were experimenting with an invention called radio. However, no Cub has reached 60 steals in a season since Frank Chance swiped 67 in 1903. Heck, since Chance stole 57 in 1906, only two Cubs have stolen as many as 50 in a season: Ryne Sandberg (54 in 1985) and Eric Young (54 in 2000). But when the Cubs traded for center fielder Juan Pierre in December, first baseman Derrek Lee made a huge statement. He guaranteed that Pierre, who will hit in the leadoff spot, would nab 60 or more bases in 2006. Cubs manager Dusty Baker doesn't think that's unrealistic. "He's done it before," Baker said. "He's a guy who has the green light. I think it's going to help him if (veteran nonroster outfielder Marquis Grissom, who has 429 career steals) makes the team. It will help him a lot learning more about leads and jumps and different things to pick up. "Stealing is not just speed. Stealing is knowing the pitcher. Knowing what a guy does. He may dip his head before he goes to the plate or he may drop his hands slightly before he goes to the plate. He might have his feet narrow when he goes to first or his feet wide when he is about to slide-step. There are a lot of little things that you can pick up, and we have guys here who can help him be even better." Pierre stole 65 bases in 2003 when he and Lee were teammates on the World Series champion Florida Marlins. Last season, Pierre stole 57 bases for the Marlins. Pierre is making no guarantees. He said he's not worried about how many bases he'll steal and will let each situation dictate when he will take off on the basepaths. The speedster will be counted on for more than just stolen bases. The Cubs haven't had a successful leadoff hitter since 2003, when they acquired Kenny Lofton for the final few months of the season and he helped spark their run to a playoff spot. Pierre owns a career .305 batting average and a .355 on-base percentage in 845 games with Colorado and Florida. "I know my goal is to score a lot of runs," Pierre said. "That's No. 1. Stolen bases and all that are nice, but they pay me to cross home plate a lot, to get on for these big guys. "It's a new role for me, definitely, as far as being the key to something. I usually just go out there and play, but I'm going to embrace it and just play the game like I know how." Lee said Pierre brings a lot more to the table than just an ability to steal bases and score runs. "His energy and enthusiasm and the way he plays the game and way he works at it is contagious," Lee said. "What he meant for the team that won the World Series in '03, I mean, we wouldn't have won it without him, no question." Pierre said he's been taken aback by all the media attention he's received in camp. "Personally, I'm like, 'Wow!' because I'm usually the guy that's not even looked at," Pierre said. "As far as getting the attention, I never had it before, and I'm comfortable with that. Now a little attention comes, but I'm going to approach it the same way." Pierre said he models his game after Lofton's. While Lofton had an edge to his demeanor, Pierre appears to be friendlier and more outgoing. Both are viewed as hard workers, but Pierre warns that hard work without results doesn't mean much. "I just prepare," Pierre said. "I'm not physically gifted and strong, so I've got to know a lot of the ins and outs of the game to be effective. That's the way I look at it. Other people label me as a hard worker. It's all about getting prepared. "In this game, you can be the hardest worker you want to be, but it's what you do between the nine innings. You can go out and take 1,000 swings, and (if) you go 0-for-5, nobody cares about how hard you work." Source -- http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/ds.../pro/241sd4.htm
February 26, 200620 yr Considering he stole 57 last year for the Marlins and wasn't even healthy all year, it's not really a bold prediction for him to steal 60 this year. Especially if Dusty lets him do what he wants.
February 26, 200620 yr I wouldn't be shocked to see his average climb thanks to the Wrigley infield, but the lack of a quality 2-hole hitter behind him like Castillo regarding strike-zone judgement and running protection (IE intentionally fouling off gun-him-down fastballs) might cut into his steal totals and stealing percentage. Still, I'd expect Pierre to be one of the top-3 leadoff men in the National League.
February 26, 200620 yr Author With the addition of JP, I expect Derrek will drive in at least 130 runs in 2006.
February 26, 200620 yr I don't want to make predictions as I'm not sure the long infield grass will produce as many bunt singles as much as they'll prevent deep infield hits and extra base hits to the gap, but one thing for sure, he's going to keep running.
February 27, 200620 yr Cubs fans (like me) are shuddering at the mention of Grissom making the team. It's not like Pierre really needs help from a guy who hasn't been a top base stealer since 1994 or so, and all he will do is take playing time away from a guy like Murton.
February 28, 200620 yr Pierre has one bad season and everyone throws him under the bus. I hope he hits .330 and steals 60 bases. I don't dis-like any of the Marlins that left and hope they all do good.
February 28, 200620 yr Pierre has one bad season and everyone throws him under the bus. I hope he hits .330 and steals 60 bases. I don't dis-like any of the Marlins that left and hope they all do good. Me too.
February 28, 200620 yr Everybody has their own opionion on who they are going to miss the most, but I have to say that I will miss JP the most. Im going to miss that hustle and legging out base hits and most of all I will missing sitting in the Fish Tank and having JP toss me a ball (and me making the nice catch of course). I hope that JP has a great year and it should be fun watching him and DLee together again.
February 28, 200620 yr Pierre has one bad season and everyone throws him under the bus. I hope he hits .330 and steals 60 bases. I don't dis-like any of the Marlins that left and hope they all do good. Pierre has had more than one bad season. I've never liked his style of play. He's very high risk, low return.
February 28, 200620 yr Pierre: 2000 .310 2001 .327 2002 .287 2003 .305 2004 .326 2005 .276 Three of five full seasons finished with 200+ hits. Yeah, he looks pretty bad.....alot of guys walking around with .305 career batting averages out there.
February 28, 200620 yr There aren't, but there's a lot of guys with .250-.290 averages who contribute much more than a guy with an empty .300 average. And whose main asset is more susceptible to injury than most.
February 28, 200620 yr Funny how everyone agreed that he was the catalyst for the 2003 World Championship team... I will always remember him for that. Plain and simple, the Marlins don't win the Series in 03 without him. He's one of my favorite players and always will be.
February 28, 200620 yr Maybe the media did. He was a great player that helped our team a lot, but there were a bunch of players who helped, even more than JP did in the 2003 season. We would have been lost with Lowell, Lee, Luiy, Pudge, Willis or Beckett. Throw in your average leadoff batter and centerfielder and we're not substantially worse off.
March 1, 200620 yr Is that what that was? I thought it was the Yankees' batters being flustered and losing their plate discipline over the second half of the series. Or the battle of the bullpens, which the Marlins' starters turned relievers won.
March 1, 200620 yr Author I have to admit I am perplexed, rferry, by your insistence now and in the past that Juan was/is an "empty" .300 hitter. Most people will conceed he has a sub-par arm, but he could track down balls in the outfield well. Just because a Pierre has a sub-par arm does not make his game empty. Is there more to your saying he has an "empty .300 average"?
March 1, 200620 yr I think he's referring to lack of power and rbi.....both ridiculous notions to judge a lead-off hitter on. RFerry probably doesn't like Castillo either if that's how he's judging things.....because Luis power numbers are close to Pierre's. In fact, Pierre has a higher SLG % for his career than Luis does.
March 1, 200620 yr Almost all statistical models suggest that he didn't track down balls well though. Everything from Zone Rating to UZR to Win Shares. Things that ignore any conceptions one may draw from Pierre's sprint speed and focus on measuring his defensive ability as he performed it. And, yes, it's the lack of power, walks or anything else but a high average and steals. Two things which help, but don't make someone a great player. Quality role player, maybe. The crux argument of his one-dimensional talent is very worrying sign for his future. More so than other type of players. A person's speed can be disrupted by the smallest of injuries and age. Without plate presence or truly excellent bat control, he will never be able to keep up his game as injuries take away his speed. It's like living on a cliff.
March 2, 200620 yr Author The crux argument of his one-dimensional talent is very worrying sign for his future. More so than other type of players. A person's speed can be disrupted by the smallest of injuries and age. Without plate presence or truly excellent bat control, he will never be able to keep up his game as injuries take away his speed. It's like living on a cliff. How does he not have great bat control? His strikeout ratio is one of the best in the league. And saying that his speed will affect his game negatively is saying nothing at all. You could say that about any player. If he was injured seriously enough to substaintally effect his ability to steal bases, he would of course not be able to run out as many bunts and infield hits, but if there is any player who would train himself to excel despite such an injury it is Pierre.
March 2, 200620 yr He has great bat control, but would often foul off pitches which were blatently balls, and put balls in play that were not really pitches to hit. I think RFerry is more refering to his low OBP, which last year was .326 and due to his low walk totals is highly susceptable to his avg, which was very low last year. If you compare him to Luiy who on average Ks slightly more, , but always puts up great OBP, who would you say had the better bat control? I would take Luiy's, I would also point out the effect that a leg injury to Luiy had over the last few years, if a similar thing were to happen to Pierre, without a high OBP, he would be well below league average.
March 2, 200620 yr No, I'm saying great bat control as in placing the ball where you want it. Think Tony Gwynn or Wade Boggs or Luis Castillo to a lesser degree. JP's attempts to break out of the defensive shift put on him are a clear sign of his lack of excellent bat control. Without power, speed, plate presence or bat control, there's no way you can be a .300 hitter in the majors, and JP is just one step away, whether it be a bruised hamstring that effects his play in the short time (see early 2005), a pulled muscle or broken ankle that would have long-term ramifications or wear and tear and age.
March 3, 200620 yr Pierre has one bad season and everyone throws him under the bus. I hope he hits .330 and steals 60 bases. I don't dis-like any of the Marlins that left and hope they all do good. Pierre has had more than one bad season. I've never liked his style of play. He's very high risk, low return. without juan pierre the marlins don't win the world series in 2003. and what high risk is there? you know he's going to give you 9 innings every game 162 games a year and hit close .300 with almost 200 hits. you get the award for the most ignorant commentn of the century.
March 3, 200620 yr Pierre has one bad season and everyone throws him under the bus. I hope he hits .330 and steals 60 bases. I don't dis-like any of the Marlins that left and hope they all do good. Pierre has had more than one bad season. I've never liked his style of play. He's very high risk, low return. without juan pierre the marlins don't win the world series in 2003. and what high risk is there? you know he's going to give you 9 innings every game 162 games a year and hit close .300 with almost 200 hits. you get the award for the most ignorant commentn of the century. Didn't you once claim to be black? Kind of hard to top that.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.