Boy, is this nice to read... (Lou on BBs)

[Guest]

Murton hasn't exactly had the best pitch selection this year at the plate either.

 

Murton needs to play regularly to get comfortable, rather than being jerked around with pinch hits and spot starts.

 

and how long do you put a guy in and watch him flail away?

 

You're not serious are you?

[TruffleShuffle]

Murton hasn't exactly had the best pitch selection this year at the plate either.

 

Murton needs to play regularly to get comfortable, rather than being jerked around with pinch hits and spot starts.

 

and how long do you put a guy in and watch him flail away?

 

You're not serious are you?

 

yeah, I am. Murton wasn't great last year and he's been bad this year. My bigger problem with him is not that he's hitting poorly, but that his approach sucks. I don't care that he's not hitting great, but he's just going up and hacking at everything. The problem is that Pie and Floyd are doing the same crap.

 

I'd be playing Murton regularly, but I'd tell everybody that if they don't start seeing more pitches and getting on base more, then I'll find somebody else who will. Murton can be a nice player, but he's not talented enough to hack away at everything and still be productive.

[jersey cubs fan]

Murton hasn't exactly had the best pitch selection this year at the plate either.

 

Murton needs to play regularly to get comfortable, rather than being jerked around with pinch hits and spot starts.

 

and how long do you put a guy in and watch him flail away?

 

You're not serious are you?

 

yeah, I am. Murton wasn't great last year and he's been bad this year. My bigger problem with him is not that he's hitting poorly, but that his approach sucks. I don't care that he's not hitting great, but he's just going up and hacking at everything. The problem is that Pie and Floyd are doing the same crap.

 

I'd be playing Murton regularly, but I'd tell everybody that if they don't start seeing more pitches and getting on base more, then I'll find somebody else who will. Murton can be a nice player, but he's not talented enough to hack away at everything and still be productive.

 

That's fine and all, but it's hard to draw conclusions about the approach of a guy who had a nice approach last year when playing very often, who is now a 5th outfielder that rarely plays. He's got the 10th most at bats on the team, and will be passed soon by Pie, who is playing far more frequently.

 

I'd have to throw him out there for a month before I decided his approach was unacceptable.

[Guest]

Its a pretty lousy conclusion considering the other options are doing nearly as bad or worse than murton and have never been known for having any sort of plan at the plate. Murton has the potential to be really good and has historically shown he can have a great approach. I really don't understand why anyone would give up on him after two weeks of what they perceive to be bad at-bats.

[TruffleShuffle]

Its a pretty lousy conclusion considering the other options are doing nearly as bad or worse than murton and have never been known for having any sort of plan at the plate. Murton has the potential to be really good and has historically shown he can have a great approach. I really don't understand why anyone would give up on him after two weeks of what they perceive to be bad at-bats.

 

I think that's hyperbole, but I don't disagree that he should be playing more.

[jersey cubs fan]

Its a pretty lousy conclusion considering the other options are doing nearly as bad or worse than murton and have never been known for having any sort of plan at the plate. Murton has the potential to be really good and has historically shown he can have a great approach. I really don't understand why anyone would give up on him after two weeks of what they perceive to be bad at-bats.

 

I think that's hyperbole, but I don't disagree that he should be playing more.

 

It's hyperbole to say Murton has the potential to be really good, and that he's had a great approach in the past?

 

It can't be argued that he hasn't had a great approach in the past.

 

As for very good potential, I guess that depends on what you think very good is. But it seems pretty clear that he's got the potential to be a 850-900 OPS kind of hitter. I'd call that very good. Not great, for certain. And not somebody you would want to end up giving an extremely huge contract to down the road. But that's still very good.

[Guest]

Hyperbole? Huh? Hyperbole would be saying he could be the next ARod or Barry Bonds. Saying he could be very good is deliberately understated.

[TruffleShuffle]

Hyperbole? Huh? Hyperbole would be saying he could be the next ARod or Barry Bonds. Saying he could be very good is deliberately understated.

 

I don't think so. I don't believe that he has enough power to be "very good" among leftfielders. I think he can be a little above average at the position.

[jersey cubs fan]

Hyperbole? Huh? Hyperbole would be saying he could be the next ARod or Barry Bonds. Saying he could be very good is deliberately understated.

 

I don't think so. I don't believe that he has enough power to be "very good" among leftfielders. I think he can be a little above average at the position.

 

There were 11 teams that had an OPS over 800 out of LF last year. 9 who were over 850 and 6 over 900.

 

850 is probably on the low end for Murton's future OPS.

 

But as we all know, OBP is the more important of the stats in OPS, and Murton is OBP heavy. That's a good thing. He's already above average, he could easily be very good. He'll probably never be great, but he could do what Matsui was doing at his best, 125 or higher OPS+.

[CubColtPacer]

Well, this is a Lou quote about pitching walks-it's quite funny when you think how similar it is to a quote that everyone has heard and yet how different it is.

 

"Cotts has got to trust his stuff," Piniella said. "He's got a good arm, a good breaking ball. He doesn't need to nibble. He needs to go after the hitters and trust himself and trust his stuff. If they hit him, well, the other team is getting paid to hit. They're not getting paid to walk."

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070505&content_id=1947332&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc