Baseball thread No. VII

(didn't have the patience to scroll through pages and find the most recent one, so I'm starting a new one ...

So, now that the Nats have bolstered their outfield with Kearns, what's the over/under on how long before Soriano is dealt? Or, do they just keep him and ride his bat wherever it will take them?

Now, for restoking the Jeff Francoeur debate ... SI says he's in the midst of the worst 30 homer, 100 rbi season in history. And that his obp is killing the Braves. To which I respond: The Braves' bullpen is killing the Braves. And the fact that Francoeur leads the majors in two-out RBIs tells more about him as a player than his OBP does. The guy is a clutch hitter. Plus, with young players there are certain shortcomings you're going to accept. If you'd have told any Braves fan (or for that matter, front office official) before the season that he would hit 30 homers and drive in 115, but only bat .260, they'd have taken it in a hearbeat. Also, if you compare his season with Andruw Jones' first full season, he's lkely going to come out ahead. I will say this about his plate discipline, though: He should be given honorary citizenship to the Dominican Republic.

Edit: Thought I'd at least put a number in there since Hank Scorpio was nice enought to bump the previous one and needle me at the same time. Fair game I suppose, but hey, I was in a hurry.

 

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unless you're a doctor, you're out of patience, too. ;D ;D ;D

 

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As for Francoeur, the kid got four walks in June alone! That's a record!

In fact, it more than doubled his season output. He now has 8 after adding one on July 5.

And yes, he's come through in the clutch a couple dozen times this year. It's certainly not his fault the Braves suck. Blame the 12th-ranked pitching.

Point of comparision with Andruw is a decent one. In Andruw's first full season, granted at age 20, he hit .231-18-70. He did steal 20 bases and walk 56 times, whereas Frenchy is 1-for-7 in SBs this year and is 8-73 in BB-K ratio. But give the kid some time. He's not the next Dale Murphy yet, but he's just 22.

(And as another comparision, Murphy, in his first full season (at age 22 like Francoeur is now), hit .226-23-79. His OBP was .284 (Frenchy is at .281 right now.) ... And Murphy seemed to do alright for himself in the end. Patience, people.

 

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It's nice to see Liriano is human -- five runs allowed (four earned) through five at the dome.

Mauer, meanwhile, is 0-for-1, dropping his average to .376. What a softie.

 

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Don't tell that to the East Coast-biased, Pin-stripe loving, Red-Sox wearing, steroid-ignoring Hall of Fame voters who won't give a sniff to the guy who single-handedly kept baseball alive in the South for about a decade by bridging the gap between Hank's heroics and the Chipper Era.

 

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Every time I watch Francoeur swing at two sliders off the plate in the first two pitches, I think, "you know, you can't walk your way off the island." The milkman must have been un caribe

 

Mark Teixeira starts the second half (after a shit first half) with a bang-- 3 HR, 7 RBIs.

 

Anybody with a better grip on the Astros know how they're going to work Huff, Burke, Berkman, Ensberg, and Biggio in regularly?

 

Forget that, I like seeing the numbers DeRosa keeps putting up since he got in the lineup. He's been huge for them.

 

Kinsler's been money too -- .320 BA, .932 OPS, 7 HR in 150 AB.

 

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Nor does it have a Heistman vote, either!

[/Peyton appologist]