Pie to get RF call-up this year??

[AramisRamirez]

our options are looking bleak. tejada is a long-shot for SS (which would make RF not important). jacque jones or juan encarnacion is likely. neither gets up higher than 85 wins. this year we need to know what murton, cedeno, and hopefully pie can do.

 

it may be too early for pie but if he's playing well and we're struggling put him in RF. pierre has CF on lock but why not let pie play RF?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Because he's miles ahead of Pierre in terms of CF defense? If this has to happen, you move Pierre to RF.

[Warpticon]

But I'm pretty sure he's even more miles ahead of Pierre in terms of RF defense, considering Pierre's arm is weak and Pie's arm is strong. I don't forsee Pierre playing RF in any scenario.

[Tim]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

[CuseCubFan69]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

 

Hey that's what I said if the Cubs got Damon! :D

[Diffusion]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

 

Hey that's what I said if the Cubs got Damon! :D

 

Makes sense. If we got Damon, we'd definately want our outfield to be Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

[10man]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

 

Hey that's what I said if the Cubs got Damon! :D

 

Makes sense. If we got Damon, we'd definately want our outfield to be Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

So if we got Damon, he becomes the DH? :wink:

[CuseCubFan69]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

 

Hey that's what I said if the Cubs got Damon! :D

 

Makes sense. If we got Damon, we'd definately want our outfield to be Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

So if we got Damon, he becomes the DH? :wink:

 

Macias. :D

[frostwyrm]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

 

Dusty would definitely put Pie in RF. Dusty is very picky about RF defense, particularly throwing, and I'm certain he will never put Murton in RF while there is any alternative. Pierre would stay put because he is a "proven" CF.

[1908]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

I agree from a range standpoint but Pie's the only one with the arm for right.

[Mizzou]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

I agree from a range standpoint but Pie's the only one with the arm for right.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. Wouldn't it make more sense to have your strongest arm in left field? There are a lot more right handed hitters in baseball, and batters pull the ball more than they go the other way, so the left fielder would get more chances... or so it would seem. I know conventional wisdom has the strongest arm in right, but doesn't it make sense to have your strongest arm in left? Am I missing something here?

[1908]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

I agree from a range standpoint but Pie's the only one with the arm for right.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. Wouldn't it make more sense to have your strongest arm in left field? There are a lot more right handed hitters in baseball, and batters pull the ball more than they go the other way, so the left fielder would get more chances... or so it would seem. I know conventional wisdom has the strongest arm in right, but doesn't it make sense to have your strongest arm in left? Am I missing something here?

It's the throw from right to third that makes all the difference. How often does a left fielder need to throw to first base?

[Mizzou]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

I agree from a range standpoint but Pie's the only one with the arm for right.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. Wouldn't it make more sense to have your strongest arm in left field? There are a lot more right handed hitters in baseball, and batters pull the ball more than they go the other way, so the left fielder would get more chances... or so it would seem. I know conventional wisdom has the strongest arm in right, but doesn't it make sense to have your strongest arm in left? Am I missing something here?

It's the throw from right to third that makes all the difference. How often does a left fielder need to throw to first base?

 

True. It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

[1908]

It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

In order for that study to be of use, seems to me you'd have to figure out a way to account for the times a strong arm kept an outfielder from having to make a throw. On a shallow sac fly, I suspect a runner on third is a lot more likely to run on Manny than Ichiro.

[frostwyrm]

It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

In order for that study to be of use, seems to me you'd have to figure out a way to account for the times a strong arm kept an outfielder from having to make a throw. On a shallow sac fly, I suspect a runner on third is a lot more likely to run on Manny than Ichiro.

 

It's true that when facing a competent 3rd base coach a strong OF arm's greatest value is as a deterrent.

[Soul]

We'll see what the next two months bring.

 

If spring training comes and there's no real option, and Pie is looking good, I would have trouble coming up with a good reason not to bring him up.

[snoodmonger]

It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

In order for that study to be of use, seems to me you'd have to figure out a way to account for the times a strong arm kept an outfielder from having to make a throw. On a shallow sac fly, I suspect a runner on third is a lot more likely to run on Manny than Ichiro.

 

It's true that when facing a competent 3rd base coach a strong OF arm's greatest value is as a deterrent.

 

Wendell Kim.

[abuck1220]

I'd probably align them Pierre, Pie, Murton from left to right.

 

wow...worst offensive OF (by far) in baseball. let's hope it doesn't come to that w/ a payroll over 100 mil...embarrassing.

[Mizzou]

It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

In order for that study to be of use, seems to me you'd have to figure out a way to account for the times a strong arm kept an outfielder from having to make a throw. On a shallow sac fly, I suspect a runner on third is a lot more likely to run on Manny than Ichiro.

 

You're absolutely right... however, you could account for that by simply changing the number of throws to number of opportunities. Runner on first, see how many times a ball was hit to right vs. the number of times it was hit to left. I might be way off base, but I'm willling to bet that my theory is pretty accurate.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

In order for that study to be of use, seems to me you'd have to figure out a way to account for the times a strong arm kept an outfielder from having to make a throw. On a shallow sac fly, I suspect a runner on third is a lot more likely to run on Manny than Ichiro.

 

You're absolutely right... however, you could account for that by simply changing the number of throws to number of opportunities. Runner on first, see how many times a ball was hit to right vs. the number of times it was hit to left. I might be way off base, but I'm willling to bet that my theory is pretty accurate.

 

That assumes all hits to the OF are the same. A harder-hit-than-normal single isn't as likely to advance a runner as a weaker one. And the odds are higher that a blooper with less than 2 outs will keep things station to station, regardless of where in the OF it was hit.

[Mizzou]

It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

In order for that study to be of use, seems to me you'd have to figure out a way to account for the times a strong arm kept an outfielder from having to make a throw. On a shallow sac fly, I suspect a runner on third is a lot more likely to run on Manny than Ichiro.

 

You're absolutely right... however, you could account for that by simply changing the number of throws to number of opportunities. Runner on first, see how many times a ball was hit to right vs. the number of times it was hit to left. I might be way off base, but I'm willling to bet that my theory is pretty accurate.

 

That assumes all hits to the OF are the same. A harder-hit-than-normal single isn't as likely to advance a runner as a weaker one. And the odds are higher that a blooper with less than 2 outs will keep things station to station, regardless of where in the OF it was hit.

 

What's your point?

 

I'm not saying definitevely that either LF or RF gets more opportunities and that therefore one's arm in either position is more important... I'm just speculating that LF is where your best arm should be. And until I see a study that proves otherwise, I'm sticking with my notion that LF should have the best arm. I'm sure others disagree, and that's the beauty of message boards, but until someone proves me wrong, I'm sticking with my assertion.

[CubmanPi]

We'll see what the next two months bring.

 

If spring training comes and there's no real option, and Pie is looking good, I would have trouble coming up with a good reason not to bring him up.

 

Pie in the minors playing everyday is better than Pie in the majors to "fill the gap" in RF by being Macias' backup 4 or 5 days out of 7.

[Guest]

It'd be interesting to see a study done on how many times a left fielder had to throw home vs. how many times a right fielder had to throw home or third.

In order for that study to be of use, seems to me you'd have to figure out a way to account for the times a strong arm kept an outfielder from having to make a throw. On a shallow sac fly, I suspect a runner on third is a lot more likely to run on Manny than Ichiro.

Here's a little test based on sac fly opportunities from 2004 and 2005. (Basically defined as a putout recorded by a corner outfielder with less than two outs and a runner on third. PO = total putouts, SA = scoring attempts, R = runs from successful scoring attempts.)

 

           PO     SA      R
LF2004    524    409    393
LF2005    486    371    359
RF2004    532    399    382
RF2005    563    437    424

During the past two years, runners have tested left fielders' arms 76-78% of the time and scored on 96-97% of those attempts. Over the same span runners tested right fielders' arms 75-78% of the time and scored on 96-97% of those attempts. As far as sac flies are concerned, at least, there doesn't appear to be a big difference between the current generation of left fielders and right fielders. Third base coaches test them with nearly equal regularity and are almost always right when they do. (Which surprises me, though maybe I just watched Wavin' Wendell fail one too many times.) It would also appear that there's not a huge difference between how many balls each position fields (at least in the air) though it looks as if right fielders may get slightly more opportunities.

 

This doesn't address the biggest reason to put your best arm in right; as 1908 pointed out, right fielders need to throw to third quite a bit to keep a runner on first from going to third, whereas a left fielder's main use for his arm is all those throws home.

[Soul]

We'll see what the next two months bring.

 

If spring training comes and there's no real option, and Pie is looking good, I would have trouble coming up with a good reason not to bring him up.

 

Pie in the minors playing everyday is better than Pie in the majors to "fill the gap" in RF by being Macias' backup 4 or 5 days out of 7.

 

I can't believe anyone is even considering Macias as an RF starter.........on ANY day.

 

But it appears we have sunk to that low a level.

[Blueheart05]

We'll see what the next two months bring.

 

If spring training comes and there's no real option, and Pie is looking good, I would have trouble coming up with a good reason not to bring him up.

 

Pie in the minors playing everyday is better than Pie in the majors to "fill the gap" in RF by being Macias' backup 4 or 5 days out of 7.

 

 

Macias was DFA so thankfully he isn't an option at this point.