Anyone else less than impressed w/ Gerald Perry?

[Buford T Justice]

am I the only one who feels this way?

[Banedon]

How much impact does a hitting coach have? I think they probably mean a whole lot more on a younger team.

[CUBZ99]

Alot of it has to do with the talent he is given to work with. For example, no hitting coach is going to turn Soriano into a patient, top of the order type hitter.

 

Last year alot of us thought Rothschild should be fired. He got some decent and not so decent pitchers to work with and this year he had the Cubs staff 2nd in ERA.

[rocket]

cubs this year: .271/.333/.422

 

cubs 2006: 268/.319/.422

 

nearly identical to last year but with an improvement in patience. i don't think perry has hurt the cubs, but he hasn't made them an incredible offensive force, which no hitting coach could do.

[UK1679666180]

I really didn't have too much of a problem with their approach, obviously, he didn't Soriano to swing at bouncing curves or roll over every outside FB to SS.

 

He can't turn water into wine, you have a group of aggressive hitters, there will be a high amount of walks or OBP without hitting .280+ as a team.

 

I don't blame Perry for a line-up that was way too tight.

 

I said it in '04, that I think that team is soft, I think this team is as well. They were pressing the entire series, once they got down after game 1, especially struggling on offense, they tried to do too much.

[jersey cubs fan]

I wouldn't say I'm impressed, but I wouldn't say he's been a problem either. The Cubs are who we thought they were. An imperfect team put together by a bad GM. They have a lot of talented hitters, but not a lot of productive hitters. They are dumb. That's not on the hitting coach. He can't just turn Jacque Jones, Soriano and others into all-around productive hitters. You can't just make Ryan Theriot a legit major league starter with coaching. The Cubs got bottom of the barrell production out of 3 positions, and only one of them was a surprise, C (and that was only a surprise with Barrett, nobody else that filled the spot really underperformed). There isn't a single hitter on the team, who, when you look at his numbers, makes you think "I never would have thought he could be that bad."

 

If he stays around for a few years and we don't see improvements, I would question his value, but there's nothing to really talk about yet.

Edited October 8, 2007 by jersey cubs fan

[jersey cubs fan]

I said it in '04, that I think that team is soft, I think this team is as well. They were pressing the entire series, once they got down after game 1, especially struggling on offense, they tried to do too much.

 

I'm not sure how one judges the softness of a team. Is it just every team that comes up short? The Cubs didn't do enough offensively because they aren't a good offensive team, haven't been for many years. This sounds like the whole Jeter and ARod in the postseason talk. Lots of guys on this team had a lot of really big pressure hits throughout the year. The problem is they just aren't that good. A team that swings at everything, and has always swung at everything, is going to look like they tried too hard.

[rawaction]

I agree with the sentiment in this thread. The team improved. Didn't have the personnel to do much better than they actually did. I'd like to see a lot of work put in with Felix Pie this offseason and in the spring.

[jersey cubs fan]

I agree with the sentiment in this thread. The team improved. Didn't have the personnel to do much better than they actually did. I'd like to see a lot of work put in with Felix Pie this offseason and in the spring.

 

Yeah, at this point his biggest job has to be turning Felix Pie and Matt Murton into productive everyday hitters. If he got a lot out of Cedeno he'd be worthy of serious praise.

[UK1679666180]

I said it in '04, that I think that team is soft, I think this team is as well. They were pressing the entire series, once they got down after game 1, especially struggling on offense, they tried to do too much.

 

I'm not sure how one judges the softness of a team. Is it just every team that comes up short? The Cubs didn't do enough offensively because they aren't a good offensive team, haven't been for many years. This sounds like the whole Jeter and ARod in the postseason talk. Lots of guys on this team had a lot of really big pressure hits throughout the year. The problem is they just aren't that good. A team that swings at everything, and has always swung at everything, is going to look like they tried too hard.

 

They were pressing, they were overswinging and it caught up to them. Struggling that 1st night against and then having to come from behind after Soto gives them a 2-0 lead.

 

They're not a talented offense (avg.) but they're better than what we saw vs. Davis and especially Hernandez.

 

They're approach changed, Soriano became even more aggressive during the playoffs, Lee, Ramirez and Derosa on the 3-1 fastball were overswinging.

[badnews]

cubs this year: .271/.333/.422

 

cubs 2006: 268/.319/.422

 

nearly identical to last year but with an improvement in patience. i don't think perry has hurt the cubs, but he hasn't made them an incredible offensive force, which no hitting coach could do.

 

Shouldn't a team that added Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa, and Alfonso Soriano have improved more than that?

 

Everybody says "You can't turn impatient hitters into patient ones" but Soriano did take more walks than ever in 2006. It's just a defeatist attitude. If Jose Reyes came up through the Cubs' system he'd still be taking 5 walks a year, let's face it.

 

I can just imagine what the board would say if the Cubs grabbed David Ortiz from the Twins: "Oh well, can't make him anything more than he already is."

[CubinNY]

.

 

I can just imagine what the board would say if the Cubs grabbed David Ortiz from the Twins: "Oh well, can't make him anything more than he already is."

Who's this board person? What different would you have Perry do?

 

He can't make Lou play Murton. He can't make Soriano not swing at crap and hit an occasional lead-off HR.

 

I haven't been impressed but I don't get where you are coming from at all.

[jersey cubs fan]

cubs this year: .271/.333/.422

 

cubs 2006: 268/.319/.422

 

nearly identical to last year but with an improvement in patience. i don't think perry has hurt the cubs, but he hasn't made them an incredible offensive force, which no hitting coach could do.

 

Shouldn't a team that added Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa, and Alfonso Soriano have improved more than that?

 

Everybody says "You can't turn impatient hitters into patient ones" but Soriano did take more walks than ever in 2006. It's just a defeatist attitude. If Jose Reyes came up through the Cubs' system he'd still be taking 5 walks a year, let's face it.

 

I can just imagine what the board would say if the Cubs grabbed David Ortiz from the Twins: "Oh well, can't make him anything more than he already is."

 

The point is a hitting coach can't change these guys overnight. Changing a young kid who is still developing is quite different from changing a career free swinger.

 

Ortiz was a moderately productive hitter in his early-to-mid 20's who got great right in the middle of his prime.

 

If Perry does no good for guys like Murton, Pie, Colvin etc. over the next couple years, it will be a problem. But there's nothing to go on right now to suggest he did a bad job.

[Guest]

cubs this year: .271/.333/.422

 

cubs 2006: 268/.319/.422

 

nearly identical to last year but with an improvement in patience. i don't think perry has hurt the cubs, but he hasn't made them an incredible offensive force, which no hitting coach could do.

 

Shouldn't a team that added Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa, and Alfonso Soriano have improved more than that?

 

Everybody says "You can't turn impatient hitters into patient ones" but Soriano did take more walks than ever in 2006. It's just a defeatist attitude. If Jose Reyes came up through the Cubs' system he'd still be taking 5 walks a year, let's face it.

 

I can just imagine what the board would say if the Cubs grabbed David Ortiz from the Twins: "Oh well, can't make him anything more than he already is."

 

The point is a hitting coach can't change these guys overnight. Changing a young kid who is still developing is quite different from changing a career free swinger.

 

Ortiz was a moderately productive hitter in his early-to-mid 20's who got great right in the middle of his prime.

 

If Perry does no good for guys like Murton, Pie, Colvin etc. over the next couple years, it will be a problem. But there's nothing to go on right now to suggest he did a bad job.

 

I would love to have Papa Jackson as hitting coach, he was my first choice partly for what he did with Ortiz.

 

Can't really blame Perry this season.

[TBone]

I'm less than impressed. I saw very few successful sacrifice bunts, although many were attempted by both pitchers and non-pitchers. Offensively, we just didn't execute much in terms of small stuff, hitting to right to get a player from second to third, bunting where appropriate, etc.

 

And Rothchild could try to teach the pitchers how to hold a stinking runner on base. We had 3 lefties in the rotation for much of the year and they couldn't even hold runners on. How does that happen?

 

T

[Derwood]

i don't buy the "pressing" thing with the team. in Game 3, they had one or two runners on base every inning but didn't score. so, were they not pressing when they got runners on but started pressing after they reached? i think it's called a veteran pitcher taking advantage of a team's weaknesses

[jersey cubs fan]

i don't buy the "pressing" thing with the team. in Game 3, they had one or two runners on base every inning but didn't score. so, were they not pressing when they got runners on but started pressing after they reached? i think it's called a veteran pitcher taking advantage of a team's weaknesses

 

Not to mention the fact that the weakness you speak of is very easily exploited by anybody who is paying attention.

[USSoccer]

i don't buy the "pressing" thing with the team. in Game 3, they had one or two runners on base every inning but didn't score. so, were they not pressing when they got runners on but started pressing after they reached? i think it's called a veteran pitcher taking advantage of a team's weaknesses

 

That's part of it. Overswinging is another. Trying to hit the ball down Kenmore is another. A horrible strike zone is another.

 

Ramirez was definetly pressing, though. For a guy who only struck out 65 times in 162 games to K 5 times in 3 games isn't good.

 

It was a bad 3 games. I'm not ready to say Perry did a bad job, or a good job.

 

I want to see him work with Pie, Soto, Cedeno and Murton for a full season and then see what happens. The veteran guys are who they are.

[imb]

I really can't even pretend that I give too much of an S about the hitting coach.

 

I don't even know what they do, really. I would imagine that they do more day to day swing maintenance than whole sale approach changes.

[USSoccer]

I really can't even pretend that I give too much of an S about the hitting coach.

 

I don't even know what they do, really. I would imagine that they do more day to day swing maintenance than whole sale approach changes.

 

I'd think that this is correct.

[UK1679666180]

i don't buy the "pressing" thing with the team. in Game 3, they had one or two runners on base every inning but didn't score. so, were they not pressing when they got runners on but started pressing after they reached? i think it's called a veteran pitcher taking advantage of a team's weaknesses

 

He took advantage of them trying to hit the ball out of the park, he knew they were going to do that w/runners on. They were overswinging w/runners on.

 

They wouldn't be overswinging if they weren't pressing and struggling to score runs all series.

 

They're an aggressive team to begin with, they took it to a different level in the playoffs.

[Rob]

I don't particularly mind Perry, but I've been saying for a while that Von Joshua should be our hitting coach. Most of our guys are pretty established and set in their ways, but Joshua has done an amazing job when working with guys like Murton, Pie, Soto, and Cedeno. If we can get full seasons of those guys hitting like they have for Von Joshua, combined with guys like Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez who don't require much coaching, we could have a very very good offense.

[Guest]

I don't particularly mind Perry, but I've been saying for a while that Von Joshua should be our hitting coach. Most of our guys are pretty established and set in their ways, but Joshua has done an amazing job when working with guys like Murton, Pie, Soto, and Cedeno. If we can get full seasons of those guys hitting like they have for Von Joshua, combined with guys like Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez who don't require much coaching, we could have a very very good offense.

 

I think Von Joshua gets through to more guys at AA and AAA,. Guys like Murton, Theriot and Soto have all credited him quite a bit.

[jjgman21]

who knows about Perry at this point. I am a little disturbed that they lead the word in bad g/f ration until the outburst in September. I'm also a little disturbed that the same types of pitchers dominate them over and over with no adjustment. whether that's the players or the coach, who knows.

 

but how can fans of this team say 'not much you can do with a veteran hitter' when Sammy Sosa became a superstar in his tenth year in the league after learning a timing mechanism from Pentland, and Derrek Lee had an MVP season after Clines taught him to open his hips and start pulling the ball in his ninth season in the league?

 

I don't expect Perry or any hitting coach to pull this off every year, but saying a hitting coach will have no effect on veterans is wrong.

[Guest]

i don't buy the "pressing" thing with the team. in Game 3, they had one or two runners on base every inning but didn't score. so, were they not pressing when they got runners on but started pressing after they reached? i think it's called a veteran pitcher taking advantage of a team's weaknesses

 

He took advantage of them trying to hit the ball out of the park, he knew they were going to do that w/runners on. They were overswinging w/runners on.

 

They wouldn't be overswinging if they weren't pressing and struggling to score runs all series.

 

They're an aggressive team to begin with, they took it to a different level in the playoffs.

 

Not really. those same kinds of pitchers shut them down all year. what it really came down to was whether balls in play turned into hits or not. I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised that davis and hernandez shut down a team that can't lay off pitches just off the corner.