Izturis likely to bat 8th; Murton and DeRosa #2 Hitter

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Bruce reported this nugget in his article today.

 

Link,

 

Taking shape: Although shortstop Cesar Izturis singled and walked twice while hitting second Friday, Lou Piniella said Izturis would probably be his No. 8 hitter. Matt Murton and Mark DeRosa could be the No. 2 hitters during the season.

 

:cheers:

 

Another good decision by Lou.

[Magnetic Curses]

Bruce reported this nugget in his article today.

 

Link,

 

Taking shape: Although shortstop Cesar Izturis singled and walked twice while hitting second Friday, Lou Piniella said Izturis would probably be his No. 8 hitter. Matt Murton and Mark DeRosa could be the No. 2 hitters during the season.

 

:cheers:

 

Another good decision by Lou.

 

i'm suspicious of the reason why they will be sharing, though.

 

murton needs to play everyday, lou! hendry, please, give jones away if you have to.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Hopefully, Murton will play well enough that he gets 2/3 of the AB's in left and Floyd picks his up in other places.

[Electron Blue]

Excellent news.

 

I gotta ask, though, 'cause I just don't understand . . . what rationale would there even be for Izturis to bat 2nd? Even in an old'schooler's mind? It's not like he's Juan Pierre, who could be deceptively valuable.

[rocket]

Excellent news.

 

I gotta ask, though, 'cause I just don't understand . . . what rationale would there even be for Izturis to bat 2nd? Even in an old'schooler's mind? It's not like he's Juan Pierre, who could be deceptively valuable.

 

probably because he's the 2nd fastest runner. or he's a good bunter.

[E.J.]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

[RichHillIsABeast]

Excellent news.

 

I gotta ask, though, 'cause I just don't understand . . . what rationale would there even be for Izturis to bat 2nd? Even in an old'schooler's mind? It's not like he's Juan Pierre, who could be deceptively valuable.

 

Because he can situationally hit, bunt, steal a base, and hit the fastball better than offspeed stuff.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

Theriot would be an option.

[CubColtPacer]

The interesting thing is that DeRosa hasn't batted 2nd all spring-it will be interesting to see if when Floyd gets back Piniella goes through with his idea of putting Jones in the 2 slot when Jones and Floyd are playing-if he does, then it could be that Murton and Jones share the 2 spot.

[E.J.]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

He's got a career .295 OBP. Not really setting the world on fire.

[BigbadB]

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

You laugh, but Cedeno IS Izturis when Izturis was breaking into the bigs.

 

Izturis at 22: .232 .253 .303

Izturis at 23: .251 .282 .315

 

Cedeno at 23: .245 .271 .339

[CubColtPacer]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

He's got a career .295 OBP. Not really setting the world on fire.

 

Career numbers don't mean much, especially when he was brought to the majors 2 1/2 years before his bat was ready for the majors because of his defense. If you look, you'll see that his bat improved every year from age 17 until age 25 when he got hurt (look closely at the splits on age 25, he got hurt at the beginning of June and continued to play hurt, which changed his total year numbers completely), and his OBP had improved into something managable (.330-.350) by then. If he's healthy again, wouldn't you expect his bat to be closer to how he was hitting when he was healthy last than what it was when he was a young kid?

[CubColtPacer]

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

You laugh, but Cedeno IS Izturis when Izturis was breaking into the bigs.

 

Izturis at 22: .232 .253 .303

Izturis at 23: .251 .282 .315

 

Cedeno at 23: .245 .271 .339

 

That is true-the only reason I'd want Izturis over Cedeno is that he is further along in his development-I can see Cedeno's bat developing in the same way, but it probably won't develop enough this year to be worthwhile in the majors.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

Theriot would be an option.

 

Theriot should be a better offensive player, if only slightly, but he can't touch Izturis in the field.

 

If there is one position on the field where defense matters, it's SS. Theriot might be able to handle everyday SS defensively at the ML level. Izturis is a wizard defensively at the ML level.

 

Theriot had a great ML debut, but it was a fluke. Don't expect that kind of offensive performance, or anywhere near it, over a full season.

 

Theriot will be a good supersub in the Ryan Freel mold (although not as good), but he's not a ML starter.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

He's got a career .295 OBP. Not really setting the world on fire.

 

He has improved. Why would career numbers refute/contradict that?

[Sammy Sofa]

OK, we're getting lost here...MURTON IS GONNA BAT AT #2 OFTEN. FOCUS.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

Theriot would be an option.

 

Theriot should be a better offensive player, if only slightly, but he can't touch Izturis in the field.

 

If there is one position on the field where defense matters, it's SS. Theriot might be able to handle everyday SS defensively at the ML level. Izturis is a wizard defensively at the ML level.

 

Theriot had a great ML debut, but it was a fluke. Don't expect that kind of offensive performance, or anywhere near it, over a full season.

 

Theriot will be a good supersub in the Ryan Freel mold (although not as good), but he's not a ML starter.

 

Regardless of what defensive position it is, it's not of equal weight as their offensive contributions. Whether that means Theriot is a better SS option than Izturis remains to be seen, but offense and defense are not of equal importance, not even at SS.

[RichHillIsABeast]

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

You laugh, but Cedeno IS Izturis when Izturis was breaking into the bigs.

 

Izturis at 22: .232 .253 .303

Izturis at 23: .251 .282 .315

 

Cedeno at 23: .245 .271 .339

 

And when Cedeno's glove comes anywhere close to Izzy's, I'll show him some love. Right now Cedeno's glove and throws are inconsistent.

 

Cedeno's problem isn't his offense - that will come. It's his defense. He has all the potential in the world with his range and arm, but the consistency just isn't there.

[BigbadB]

If he's healthy again, wouldn't you expect his bat to be closer to how he was hitting when he was healthy last than what it was when he was a young kid?

 

I don't. Izturis was leading off the year he had his best OBP. It was a long time ago and he won't be expected to show the patience he did as a lead off hitter.

 

I'll be pleasantly surprised if he gets back to the numbers he put up in 2004. But, I'm not counting on it at all.

[CubColtPacer]

If he's healthy again, wouldn't you expect his bat to be closer to how he was hitting when he was healthy last than what it was when he was a young kid?

 

I don't. Izturis was leading off the year he had his best OBP. It was a long time ago and he won't be expected to show the patience he did as a lead off hitter.

 

I'll be pleasantly surprised if he gets back to the numbers he put up in 2004. But, I'm not counting on it at all.

 

Well, his best numbers were really in 2005-throw out the numbers he did after he got hurt. I think he'll be somewhere in between 2004 and 2005, but probably closer to 2004 than 2005 (2005 would still have been his career year if hadn't gotten hurt, I don't think he can sustain that level).

His patience has gotten better every year and he's got good coaching that encourages patience-I think his patience will just continue to get better, and his taking pitches in ST would seem to give a slight indicator of that as well.

[CubColtPacer]

BTW, as soon as I said that DeRosa hasn't batted 2nd all spring, Lou bats him 2nd today.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Thank god. Now if we can just work on getting him out of the lineup completely...

 

What's wrong with Izturis? He was promoted through the minors b/c of his defense and his bat is still catching up. His hitting has improved, especially his plate discipline.

 

Izturis has speed and plays ridiculously well at SS. He's not Tejada at the plate, no question, but he can be very useful.

 

What's our other option? Ronny Cedeno? lol

 

Theriot would be an option.

 

Theriot should be a better offensive player, if only slightly, but he can't touch Izturis in the field.

 

If there is one position on the field where defense matters, it's SS. Theriot might be able to handle everyday SS defensively at the ML level. Izturis is a wizard defensively at the ML level.

 

Theriot had a great ML debut, but it was a fluke. Don't expect that kind of offensive performance, or anywhere near it, over a full season.

 

Theriot will be a good supersub in the Ryan Freel mold (although not as good), but he's not a ML starter.

 

Regardless of what defensive position it is, it's not of equal weight as their offensive contributions. Whether that means Theriot is a better SS option than Izturis remains to be seen, but offense and defense are not of equal importance, not even at SS.

 

When you have two groundball pitchers (Z and Marquis) on your staff, it sure is. Aramis has mediocre range at best. Izzy makes up for that in a big way. DeRosa has good, but not spectacular range at 2B.

 

Izzy is going to prevent a lot of hits from getting through the infield. That's worth as much as getting the hit yourself as far as I'm concerned.

[BigbadB]

Cedeno's problem isn't his offense - that will come. It's his defense. He has all the potential in the world with his range and arm, but the consistency just isn't there.

 

Cedeno has shown fine range. It's the routine plays he's struggled with more than anything, and that too can be rectified with regular playing time. Cedeno has shown more pop in his bat. I can't really define the managing style of Tracy in LA, but we know that Dusty preached aggressiveness, which in my opinion, stunted Cedeno's development at the plate. This may be the case with Izturis as well, but the only year he had more than 40 walks was when he was leading off for the Dodgers in 2004.

[BigbadB]

Well, his best numbers were really in 2005-throw out the numbers he did after he got hurt. I think he'll be somewhere in between 2004 and 2005, but probably closer to 2004 than 2005 (2005 would still have been his career year if hadn't gotten hurt, I don't think he can sustain that level).

His patience has gotten better every year and he's got good coaching that encourages patience-I think his patience will just continue to get better, and his taking pitches in ST would seem to give a slight indicator of that as well.

 

Izturis in the first half of 2005: .275 .322 .338

 

That is not better than his 2004 season.