Stop starting Reed Johnson against RHP

[TruffleShuffle]

This year vs RHP: .268/.317/.286 (.603)

Last year vs RHP: .202/.275/.237 (.513)

 

 

Well-run teams don't trade for a decent platoon option who has been downright bad against RHP, panic when their promising young CF plays poorly for a couple of weeks, and then start playing the offensive black hole almost every day.

 

trade pie for someone who will be an adequate starting CF. Or fire the manager and hire someone who will actually handle the situation propertly. either way works, but the current solution is not working.

[Banghart]

This year vs RHP: .268/.317/.286 (.603)

Last year vs RHP: .202/.275/.237 (.513)

 

 

Well-run teams don't trade for a decent platoon option who has been downright bad against RHP, panic when their promising young CF plays poorly for a couple of weeks, and then start playing the offensive black hole almost every day.

 

trade pie for someone who will be an adequate starting CF. Or fire the manager and hire someone who will actually handle the situation propertly. either way works, but the current solution is not working.

Agree with everything except the trade part since we signed Reed Johnson after being cut by the Blue Jays.

[TruffleShuffle]

sorry, brain fart. i was jumping ahead to the trade pie proposition.

 

i was all for the johnson signing at the time, but i assumed that we'd actually use him properly, which was clearly a faulty assumption given the way that our manager handled the crowded outfield last season.

[Tracer Bullet]

Lou's refusal to play Pie against any pitcher (Todd Wellemeyer?) is infuriating. One of many things he's doing to infuriate me.

[UMFan83]

I think alot of people have been saying this since we signed him. I read in the Trib that Cedeno was taking fly balls in CF before the game. Hopefully this means he will take over and platoon with Pie

[David]

I think alot of people have been saying this since we signed him. I read in the Trib that Cedeno was taking fly balls in CF before the game. Hopefully this means he will take over and platoon with Pie

 

 

LOL, right...especially that last part after "and"

[javy knows my name]

I think alot of people have been saying this since we signed him. I read in the Trib that Cedeno was taking fly balls in CF before the game. Hopefully this means he will take over and platoon with Pie

Cedeno hits righties much better than lefties, IIRC. Johnson is fine if used properly, as discussed in the OP. Cedeno should play everyday and I don't care where he plays. Did you see the throw he made from 3B tonight?

[nilodnayr]

I think alot of people have been saying this since we signed him. I read in the Trib that Cedeno was taking fly balls in CF before the game. Hopefully this means he will take over and platoon with Pie

Cedeno hits righties much better than lefties, IIRC. Johnson is fine if used properly, as discussed in the OP. Cedeno should play everyday and I don't care where he plays. Did you see the throw he made from 3B tonight?

 

 

In the minors hes hit lefties much better, in the majors hes hit righties much better. Of course its all relative, he hit both lefties and righties really well in the minors (2005 and 2007) and neither lefties nor righties very well in the majors (before this year).

[sneakypower]

Cedeno hits righties much better than lefties, IIRC. Johnson is fine if used properly, as discussed in the OP. Cedeno should play everyday and I don't care where he plays. Did you see the throw he made from 3B tonight?

this Cedeno in CF bandwagon has really got me nauseated. i do like him at SS but what on earth happened to suddenly make Cedeno a bat we absolutely must get into the lineup?

[SouthSideRyan]

N/T

[Colin Wyers]

Cedeno hits righties much better than lefties, IIRC. Johnson is fine if used properly, as discussed in the OP. Cedeno should play everyday and I don't care where he plays. Did you see the throw he made from 3B tonight?

this Cedeno in CF bandwagon has really got me nauseated. i do like him at SS but what on earth happened to suddenly make Cedeno a bat we absolutely must get into the lineup?

 

I'm guessing this has something to do with it:

 

Cedeno: .391/.472/.587

Theriot: .316/.381/.412

Cubs CF: .258/.341/.308

 

I'd argue that Ryan Theriot cannot be as good, and a Pie/Johnson platoon cannot be as bad, as what we've seen so far this season. But when a guy's hittling like post-steroids Bonds, teams generally try to find places to bat them until the magic wears off. And if you're simply relying on performance to date, CF looks like the logical hole to plug.

 

[i'm not advocating looking at performance to date, but I'm trying to explain where I see Lou's thought process coming from.]

[CuseCubFan69]

Cedeno hits righties much better than lefties, IIRC. Johnson is fine if used properly, as discussed in the OP. Cedeno should play everyday and I don't care where he plays. Did you see the throw he made from 3B tonight?

this Cedeno in CF bandwagon has really got me nauseated. i do like him at SS but what on earth happened to suddenly make Cedeno a bat we absolutely must get into the lineup?

 

I'm guessing this has something to do with it:

 

Cedeno: .391/.472/.587

Theriot: .316/.381/.412

Cubs CF: .258/.341/.308

 

I'd argue that Ryan Theriot cannot be as good, and a Pie/Johnson platoon cannot be as bad, as what we've seen so far this season. But when a guy's hittling like post-steroids Bonds, teams generally try to find places to bat them until the magic wears off. And if you're simply relying on performance to date, CF looks like the logical hole to plug.

 

[i'm not advocating looking at performance to date, but I'm trying to explain where I see Lou's thought process coming from.]

 

If you can figure this out when it comes to about 100 other things please let us know!

 

I really think if Lou was patient Pie would get more and more comfortable and be able to do his thing thus having Cedeno play SS and Johnson would just hit against lefties and Theriot would platoon w/Fontenot until ARam comes back. Theriot and Johnson are fools gold and a smart manager and GM would know this.

[TheDude]

Well-run teams don't trade for a decent platoon option who has been downright bad against RHP, panic when their promising young CF plays poorly for a couple of weeks, and then start playing the offensive black hole almost every day.

 

trade pie for someone who will be an adequate starting CF. Or fire the manager and hire someone who will actually handle the situation propertly. either way works, but the current solution is not working.

 

Well run teams do this all the time, whether right or wrong.

 

As for trading Pie for CF, I don't think it's likely. What is more likely is trading Pie and/or guys like Gallagher for a left-handed power COF and moving Fukudome to CF. That is what the organization is dying to do. Lou really wants the following:

 

1 - Soriano RH LF

2 - Fukudome LH CF

3 - Lee RH 1B

4 - Ramirez RH 3B

5 - (insert power RF) LH

 

This also squeezes Johnson out of the starter's role to a solid 4th OF and moves DeRosa back to 2B where his offense is maximized in value.

 

If we see any trades from now to the deadline, I'm guessing it's for a power LH COF.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The problem is, Pie has yet to prove that he can contribute to the team. The least thing we want is Thing 1 and Thing 2 swinging at everything they see.

 

If we cant get a CoCo Crisp or Milton Bradley, Im still all about Kenny Lofton.

[rawaction]

The problem is, Pie has yet to prove that he can contribute to the team. The least thing we want is Thing 1 and Thing 2 swinging at everything they see.

 

If we cant get a CoCo Crisp or Milton Bradley, Im still all about Kenny Lofton.

 

Hard to prove anything from the bench. And again, he's hit way better than Johnson since Lou and Perry "worked with him" after the Pittsburgh series.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's scary how quickly Lou can decide who he trusts to play and who he doesn't trust, and then how steadfastly he will stick to that initial assessment.

[17 Seconds]

The problem is, Pie has yet to prove that he can contribute to the team. The least thing we want is Thing 1 and Thing 2 swinging at everything they see.

 

If we cant get a CoCo Crisp or Milton Bradley, Im still all about Kenny Lofton.

 

Wait, Coco Crisp is good at baseball now?

[sneakypower]

The problem is, Pie has yet to prove that he can contribute to the team. The least thing we want is Thing 1 and Thing 2 swinging at everything they see.

 

If we cant get a CoCo Crisp or Milton Bradley, Im still all about Kenny Lofton.

Milton Bradley. that would be so disgustingly Cub-like. We could have signed him for no compensation in the offseason but we feigned confidence in Pie. Give him 4 starts, panic at struggles and give up a really good prospect to obtain that guy.

[CuseCubFan69]

The problem is, Pie has yet to prove that he can contribute to the team. The least thing we want is Thing 1 and Thing 2 swinging at everything they see.

 

If we cant get a CoCo Crisp or Milton Bradley, Im still all about Kenny Lofton.

Milton Bradley. that would be so disgustingly Cub-like. We could have signed him for no compensation in the offseason but we feigned confidence in Pie. Give him 4 starts, panic at struggles and give up a really good prospect to obtain that guy.

 

Matt Lawton revisited, eh?

[nilodnayr]

The problem is, Pie has yet to prove that he can contribute to the team. The least thing we want is Thing 1 and Thing 2 swinging at everything they see.

 

If we cant get a CoCo Crisp or Milton Bradley, Im still all about Kenny Lofton.

Milton Bradley. that would be so disgustingly Cub-like. We could have signed him for no compensation in the offseason but we feigned confidence in Pie. Give him 4 starts, panic at struggles and give up a really good prospect to obtain that guy.

 

Matt Lawton revisited, eh?

 

Not really...Lawton wasn't a FA the offseason before we traded for him.

 

But even though I really like Bradley, I completely agree with the poor planning decisions that result in having to overpay for talent later on down the line. Especially when you set players up to fail.

[Jon]

But setting up players to fail is what Hendry's Cubs do best!

[SouthSideRyan]

I mentioned before that I can't wait til Lofton retires, but I fear that won't do. People will just try and get him out of retirement. I guess I can't wait til Kenny Lofton dies.

[CyHawk_Cub]

But Reed made that highlight reel catch @ Washington. Doesn't that mean he should start every every day?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

They are setting up Reed Johnson to fail by starting him versus righties. They just refuse to notice that he's failing.

[TruffleShuffle]

Pie seems to be making the changes at the plate that the Cubs have suggested. He was 4-for-11 on this road trip, and batting .321 in his last 11 games.

 

"He's doing fine, and getting a hit here or there which isn't easy to do when you're up there thinking every at-bat you have to do something well," Hendry said of the young center fielder. "It's been a good combination with him and Reed."

 

 

gee i wonder who/what would giving felix that impression???