Very ugly, in fact.
And we survived. But the Yankees and Toronto and TBR got hot when we got cold. Ain't it always that way....
Morales has to hit, hasn't he? Nothing in his past indicates that he's a slow starter, hitting in April for example, and he's well past that stage of his '14. Man, he probably hit as a roly-poly 6 year old playing agains all the 11 year old on the sand lot. Jackson doesn't "have to hit" but he should. Did Lou Brock ever have a prolonged slump? He's #1 on the Comp through Age 26 list. Bernie Williams is #4. Both of those guys got better WELL into their careers. Brock made a hitting leap at AGe 30, Williams at age 28. Jackson isn't there yet.
Jackson did have a July '13 that was only .223-.273-.366. We could see one of those months.
Seager OPS'ed .887 in June and .853 in July. He's at .000 in August. Well, it's early.
If we had Saunders 110 OPS bat in RF right now (assuming Ackley remains decently warm) then we would begin to have something.
I am very concerned about Morrison. I will go read the James' article but I think there are some players who do get hammered by the shift. Overall, it might not show in BABIP (but the 2B in a "Rover" position in short right field and the now depper RF would sure seem to hurt a topspin guy like Morrison) but it could show in K rate. Remember that part of the shift is also a pitching approach. You pitch into the shift and THAT may impact a batter.. Morrison is K'ing at a career high rate, but only marginally so. His BABIP is only .237, but except for a "lucky" rookie season (.351) hes's never been a BABIP guy: .265-.248-.281. Doesn't that seem odd for a guy who seems to hit the ball so hard when he's on? He's actually running a career high LD% rate! Who would have figured that. He's at 21.1% this year. He was between 18% and 20.4% in his previous seasons...so he's pretty stable here. His GB% is at a career low, but just 5% below his career #. His FB rate is at his career norms, too. But his IFB% now comprises almost 1/2 of his FB's. He nearly hits as many IFB's as he does LD's. Whew! That'll kill a BABIP!
I wonder if 3 seasons of watching Morrison hit 20% LD's but get declining performance (and unimpressive BABIP's) convinced the Marlins that he was "flawed" in some quasi-fatal way. Or in some way that made him a limited offensive player. But he's generally hit RHP well enought to have value. The trade is still odd, but perhaps the fish were crazy like foxes.
On the otherhand, he's running a .209 BABIP against RH this year. That can (may?) not continue so he will (likely?) get better.
BTW, he's seen progressively fewer fastballs and sliders since his rookie season. He's seeing more curveballs and changeups. That may be part of the "shift" plan. If the shift is hurting him he'll see more and more of it. I'm not waiting too long on his bat. Not long at all.
And I would still like to see Kelly, with his ability to walk and now slug (especially against RHP), to be getting RF time, perhaps with Denorfia in platoon. At least until Saunders is ready, anyway. The cost would be to DFA Chavez. But Endy does not get on base and he has no pop. He's not good on the field. In his last 16 starts he's been on base 19 times (17 hits---all singles/2 BBs). He's had 70 PA's in those starts. An OBP of .270 with zero mash is well below Brendan Ryan country. Denorfia can pay CF when (if) we sit Jackson. Kelly is more flexible, as well. We have a team OBP that is south of .300, it would see to make since to use the (seemingly) OBP weapons that we have on the farm....or at least give them a run.
Doc, I'm with you. (Other than with Morrison) I'm trying to be patient. We've upgraded our bats and although it was slower than I would have liked the results will begin to show. At least in stretches and that's what we need. Give me a dozen games of hot bats and we go 9-3 or 10-2.
That'll get us optimistic again.
moe
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