Murton getting benched again for lesser player

[BigSlick]

like omg, floyd isnt hitting for enough like power to like play leftfield.

 

Don't you understand? Cubs fans have to be miserable about something. Why not a charismatic Redheaded guy that likes to take pitches?

 

I thought Lou called Murton the "adorable redhead."

 

I was shakin it up a bit. He certainly is charismatic though, look at this huge following.

 

Here are my feelings: As a guy that identifies with Murton, I feel bad for his situation, and I'd like to see him out there with an opportunity to better himself.

 

As a Chicago Cubs fan I realize that the difference between Murton and Floyd are marginal (offensively, Murton might be leagues ahead defensively) so in the end it doesn't really matter that much.

 

I'd love to have him out there, but we have worse problems at the moment, and aside from the goodday at the plate today, he hadn't really seem to be real comfortable with the bat, swinging awkwardly and often.

[hardcorecubfan]

Is there a reason for not playing Murton in CF now? Must have been a slap to him when he heard the Levin comment today.

[CubColtPacer]

Is there a reason for not playing Murton in CF now? Must have been a slap to him when he heard the Levin comment today.

 

Murton in CF? Yeah, there's a reason-he would be a disaster defensively in CF right now.

[Flames24Rulz]

The latest data in the ongoing debate............

 

04/02 - 04/16      AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP
Murton             21    4    6    0    0    0    6    2    2    5  0.286  0.348  0.286  0.634  0.375
Floyd              32    6   10    2    0    1   15    6    1    3  0.313  0.333  0.469  0.802  0.321

 

They both need to play.

[hardcorecubfan]

Is there a reason for not playing Murton in CF now? Must have been a slap to him when he heard the Levin comment today.

 

Murton in CF? Yeah, there's a reason-he would be a disaster defensively in CF right now.

 

that's right soriano's defensive skills will be missed. At least Murton plays the outfield.

[CubColtPacer]

Is there a reason for not playing Murton in CF now? Must have been a slap to him when he heard the Levin comment today.

 

Murton in CF? Yeah, there's a reason-he would be a disaster defensively in CF right now.

 

that's right soriano's defensive skills will be missed. At least Murton plays the outfield.

 

Soriano's defensive skills would be missed if Murton was stuck out there. You can't stick a guy who has played LF his entire career and doesn't have unbelievable range at that position (average to above average) into CF cold and expect them to cover it. If Murton trained all winter to play CF, he maybe could play it at a below average to average level, but sticking him out there in the middle of the season with no work there would be awful.

[Mephistopheles]

so for a few days Murton will be replaced by Pie (by way of not having JJ in CF).

[hardcorecubfan]

Is there a reason for not playing Murton in CF now? Must have been a slap to him when he heard the Levin comment today.

 

Murton in CF? Yeah, there's a reason-he would be a disaster defensively in CF right now.

 

that's right soriano's defensive skills will be missed. At least Murton plays the outfield.

 

Soriano's defensive skills would be missed if Murton was stuck out there. You can't stick a guy who has played LF his entire career and doesn't have unbelievable range at that position (average to above average) into CF cold and expect them to cover it. If Murton trained all winter to play CF, he maybe could play it at a below average to average level, but sticking him out there in the middle of the season with no work there would be awful.

 

I just expect all my outfielders to be professional and be able to play any field, maybe not well but in a pinch he should be able to, Murton has decent speed. Maybe it something he should work on so he can get into a game once in a while

[Fred Hornkohl]

As the numbers approach statistical significance, this is looking less and less like a viable choice.........

 

04/02 - 04/20      AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP     RC  
Murton             31    4    8    0    0    0    8    2    3    6  0.258  0.324  0.258  0.582  0.320    2.6
Floyd              40    6   11    2    0    1   16    6    1    3  0.275  0.293  0.400  0.693  0.278    4.7

[Banedon]

Is there a reason for not playing Murton in CF now? Must have been a slap to him when he heard the Levin comment today.

 

What Levin comment?

[TruffleShuffle]

This debate would be settled a lot more easily if Murton were actually a good player. I'm not saying he's bad, but he's no better than average, which makes it hard for me to wholeheartedly endorse him.

[Flames24Rulz]

This debate would be settled a lot more easily if Murton were actually a good player. I'm not saying he's bad, but he's no better than average, which makes it hard for me to wholeheartedly endorse him.

 

I believe that Murton is a good player, but he really needs to take pitches. Enough with the first pitch swinging crap.

[ConstableRabbit]

This debate would be settled a lot more easily if Murton were actually a good player. I'm not saying he's bad, but he's no better than average, which makes it hard for me to wholeheartedly endorse him.

 

I believe that Murton is a good player, but he really needs to take pitches. Enough with the first pitch swinging crap.

 

That's been absolutely KILLING me. Don't get me wrong, I do like Floyd, but I also want Murton to get some playing time. He's really not helping his case by swinging at the first pitch at every opportunity he gets! Patience is a big part of what makes him a valuable player.

[Drew Doughty]

This debate would be settled a lot more easily if Murton were actually a good player. I'm not saying he's bad, but he's no better than average, which makes it hard for me to wholeheartedly endorse him.

 

I believe that Murton is a good player, but he really needs to take pitches. Enough with the first pitch swinging crap.

 

more fun with stats:

 

Murton is seeing 3.8 pitches per plate appearance compared to 3.7 last year. It seems bad right now because a few instances stick out, but for the most part he's being about as patient as normal. The issue is that he's not getting hits. Plus the aforementioned bad timing with his 1-pitch ABs.

[A New Era]

For Murton to get his legitimate shot this year, this OF needs to be stabalized. Pie needs to play CF. And Soriano needs to move to LF or RF. I'm thinking in what's best for the Cubs. And if Soriano is a better defender in LF because of last year, then he should move to LF. And Murton should be given a shot to see if he can handle RF where Floyd gets about 20% of the share in RF with Murton. We need to stop moving people around so the guys that are still here, can get more used to playing at whatever position you finally "stick" them in.

[NCCubFan]

Is there a reason for not playing Murton in CF now? Must have been a slap to him when he heard the Levin comment today.

 

What Levin comment?

He may have meant Levine (as in the other Bruce).

[A New Era]

I missed it. What is the "levine comment"?

[NCCubFan]

I missed it. What is the "levine comment"?

I have no idea; I was just speculating that he may have meant Levine rather than Levin (since I'm not familiar with any sportswriter or commentator named Levin).

[A New Era]

I missed it. What is the "levine comment"?

I have no idea; I was just speculating that he may have meant Levine rather than Levin (since I'm not familiar with any sportswriter or commentator named Levin).

 

Ok, it just sounded significant. You know what mag levine writes for? Maybe we can look it up ourselfs, while everyone else is asleep. I'm curious to find out.

[E.J.]

I missed it. What is the "levine comment"?

I have no idea; I was just speculating that he may have meant Levine rather than Levin (since I'm not familiar with any sportswriter or commentator named Levin).

 

Ok, it just sounded significant. You know what mag levine writes for? Maybe we can look it up ourselfs, while everyone else is asleep. I'm curious to find out.

 

Levine works for ESPN radio 1000.

[Banedon]

This debate would be settled a lot more easily if Murton were actually a good player. I'm not saying he's bad, but he's no better than average, which makes it hard for me to wholeheartedly endorse him.

 

I believe that Murton is a good player, but he really needs to take pitches. Enough with the first pitch swinging crap.

 

more fun with stats:

 

Murton is seeing 3.8 pitches per plate appearance compared to 3.7 last year. It seems bad right now because a few instances stick out, but for the most part he's being about as patient as normal. The issue is that he's not getting hits. Plus the aforementioned bad timing with his 1-pitch ABs.

 

While that may be true, I think it's more of a situational thing. It seems like he's swinging at the first pitch when there's either RISP, or in the 9th and we're down by one and need baserunners...those kind of things. It could be false perception, but that's what I've been noticing.

 

That said I still want him to get playing time because I think he's got a lot of potential.

[Soul]

I still think he has the potential to be good, but the current numbers are what they are. He's not all that great at the moment.

[frostwyrm]

As the numbers approach statistical significance, this is looking less and less like a viable choice.........

 

04/02 - 04/20      AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS  BABIP     RC  
Murton             31    4    8    0    0    0    8    2    3    6  0.258  0.324  0.258  0.582  0.320    2.6
Floyd              40    6   11    2    0    1   16    6    1    3  0.275  0.293  0.400  0.693  0.278    4.7

 

Murton's playing time has been way too sporadic to make a judgment. He got about 15 plate appearances before being kicked to the curb for Floyd, now he's understandably pressing. In his career thus far Murt has done fine when he's had steady PT and no reason to be paranoid about being benched at the first sign of a slump. Lou has pretty much set up Murt to fail.

[RegulusBlue]

Every bad outing is being used to sit him, whilst the better ones seem to earn him one start. Either that, or Murton is just a bench player/pinch hitter on the team this year.

 

The way it appears, Murton will only get to play if he has a multi-hit game on the previous day, or if Floyd can't stand up from the dugout. Even DeRosa is now ahead of Murton on the depth chart. This approach by our manager creates an environment where a young player has one AB a game in bigtime circumstances against a pitcher he's never seen.

 

In that situation, I'd be pressing, which is exactly what Murton is doing. We have all seen what Murton is capable of when given consistent starts, and know also that he will get better. However, with the current strategy in the clubhouse, Murton's career may only be jumpstarted by the inevitable injury to Cliff Floyd. Right now a young player who could be very good is being buried.

[cubfan1955]

I think Murton is way overrated around here but having said that I still think he should be playing the majority of the time.

 

I think the Cubs envisioned a Murton/Floyd platoon all along and when you are a RH hitter you're just not going to get the AB's that a lefty does in a RHP dominated world regardless of Murtons stats against RHP. Old school baseball people think RH hitter against LHP and LH hitter against RHP and no one here is going to change that mindset. But be patient, Floyd will be injured soon enough. Still though, Murton is only a #3 outfielder on a bad team and #4 on a good team. Average speed and below average defense with not much power do not equal superstar.