Grading the 2008 Cubs Position Players

[mikeyt34]

I saw a thread on another website where the fans graded the overall performance of their teams position players and thought it might be fun to do here...

 

 

Catcher

Geovany Soto: Geo's offense is a tremendous upgrade from what the Cubs had on the field last year. He has shown an ability to hit for power and drive in runs. I could see him developing into the Cub's clean up hitter in the next year or two, after Ramirez starts to age. His defense improved as the year went along working with Hank White on his footwork, but improvement is still needed. Geo did however do an outstanding job calling games, which give his defense a bump up. He is odds on favorite to win the ROY and could possibly be considered the Cubs MVP this year: A+

 

Henry Blanco AKA Hank White: Did a nice job giving Geo a breather from time to time, came up with some clutch hits here and there too. Hank was as always solid behind the plate calling games and defensively. Hank's biggest contribution however can't looked up on a stat sheet. The progression of Geo into a fine catcher on the field can be linked directly to Hank's tutelage. This reason alone I bump Hank up a full grade and give him a: B-

 

First Base

Derrek Lee: Derek has once again put together a solid statistical season, with an average hovering around .300, and a respectable number of RBI, but his power numbers were lacking for much of the year after a great start. His GIDP numbers were staggering as we all know, and he killed as many rallys as anyone in baseball this year. Defensively he is once again probably the Cub's organization premier defensive player, it will probably come down to Derrek and Albert Pujlos as to who get the Gold Glove this year. He was once again stellar. His leadership was as steady as ever, and is probably considered the most respected player in the clubhouse. I think we have come to expect better things from Derrek however, and there were just too many times he didn't come through in the clutch. Hopefully we are seeing signs of him heating up for the postseason. Overall a good year, but I still give him a: C+

 

Daryle Ward: Oh man what a terrible year Daryle has had. Could possibly be the Cub's least valuable player on the team. His one saving grace is the HR he hit in Florida to win the game, but overall he has rarely come through this year. I hope if he makes the postseason roster, he makes up for the year he has had. Defensively he is a incredible liability, and he can't run the bases. He is the most one dimensional player the Cub's have on their roster. Hey, I like the guy, but he needs to step it up: F

 

Second Base

Mark DeRosa: Overall offensively this is the best year of his career. Mark's HR and RBI totals are career highs, he's been very clutch, with a excellent RISP average. He has a tendency to run hot and cold with his bat, but overall he has had an excellent year offensively. Defensively DeRosa could be the Cubs MVP. His versatility allows Lou so many options on a day to day basis, that it makes putting together the line up a much easier one for the Skipper. No matter where Mark plays, he always give an above average effort defensively. Not to mention, he's my favorite player: A

 

Mike Fontenot: Little Babe Ruth has come through big for the Cubs this year. He has shown he can hit Major League pitching consistently, and has surprising power. He's an excellent option for Lou to go to when he needs to give DeRosa a day off or play second when Mark is in RF. Defensively, he is steady at second base, unfortunately he has shown himself to be a less than capable SS, which forces Lou to play Cedeno in that spot when Theriot needs a breather. I would consider Mike a good Major League second baseman, but not a great one: B+

 

Shortstop

Ryan Theriot: The Riot has put together a solid year at the plate. His average has been over .300 for the entire year and he sets the table nicely for the big boys. His baserunning ability has some question marks, which I don't understand, because he seems like a very intelligent player in all other facets of the game. Defensively Ryan has done a nice job at SS. He generally makes the right decisions and covers a decent amount of ground. His arm strength is probably his single greatest weakness. He doesn't have the ability to make the spectacular plays you see players like Rollins or Jeter make. Ryan is the kind of player in the mold of a David Eckstien, which is a complement: B+

 

Ronny Cedeno: Ronny has once again not lived up to his potential offensively. Although he's not had an opportunity to play much with the excellent play of Fontenot, taking away chances for him to play 2nd base. He sometimes looks lost at the plate, and the overall confidence of him to come through with clutch hits is in question. Defensively he is probably one on the better defenders on the team and possibly a better SS than Theriot. His versatility in the infield is a nice bonus too, as he can play 2nd, SS, or 3rd effectively. Pretty much a ho hum year for Ronny, but once again I like his defense at lot: C

 

Third Base

Aramis Ramirez: Rami has had a very good year at the plate. This is his 6th straight year with over 100 RBI. His power numbers are what you would expect and his uncanny ability to hit in the clutch makes him the one guy on the team, with the game on the line, that you would want at the plate. He's tended to be a bit streaky at times, but when he's hot he can single handily carry the ballclub. Defensively Rami has been just a notch under Gold Glove caliber. Think back to 2003 when the Cubs first acquired him and his defensive ability as compared to now, and it's night and day. Instead of being a liability defensively at 3rd in his early years, Rami has now become an asset. We need his bat this postseason if the Cubs want to go anywhere: A-

 

Outfield

Alfonso Soriano: Fonzie has had a good year at the plate, but injuries obviously kept his numbers down from where they could have been. Soriano is the type of hitter, if hot, can carry the Cubs to a World Series Championship. The main concern is how streaky Soriano can be, and which Soriano will show up from game to game. Some games he swings at everything and looks terrible, some games he swings at everything and goes 4-5 with 2 HR's and 5 RBI. He's such a wild card at the plate, but he's our wild card and I sure as hell hope he gets hot here real soon. Defensively, do we really need to go there? He takes terrible routes, misjudges balls on a consistent basis, and has been slowed with hamstring problems over the last two years. He can however, gun them down with the best of them, I will give him that: B

 

Jim Edmonds: Ex-Cardinal (just in case anyone forgot by now) Jimmy Hollywood has been the biggest, most pleasant surprise on the team outside of Ryan Dempster. Who would have thought picking up Jimmy from the scrap heap would work out so well. He's shown excellent power for most of the year, but his average has still been down under .250. He has been pretty clutch from time to time, and his HR's seem to come at pivotal moments of a ballgame and not in blow out situations. Defensively he's obviously lost a step, but he handles Wrigley Field just fine. I worry about the more spacious ballparks where he might have trouble covering as much ground, but overall he's still a pretty darn good Center Fielder. His postseason experience/leadership can only be a good thing as the Cubs head into the next few weeks: B+

 

Reed Johnson: Reed is another pleasant surprise from the wonderful front office job of Jim Hendry. Offensively Reed has been better than anyone could have expected, considering he may only get one or maybe two starts a week to stay sharp. His average is above his career average, and at one time he was leading the team in BA with RISP. He has show good plate discipline, and isn't afraid to take a walk or "lean into one". Defensively he had made several spectacular plays and saved the game for the Cubs on more than one occasion. He has a decent enough arm and is fearless going after balls. He's the kind of player the fans really respond to and hopefully he can continue his good play: B

 

Kosuke Fukudome: In all my years of watching baseball I have to say I have never seen a player look so disciplined and relaxed at the plate at the start of the year, and then become so utterly lost. The media was calling the Cubs resurgence in OBP the "Fukudome Effect". Well thank god, the players kept that going, because Fukudome looks about as lost as Felix Pie did at the beginning of last year. It's hard to watch a player that we all know is capable of working the pitch count and being so much more disciplined, to look the way he has the last few months. Defense is Fukudome's lone bright spot and will probably be the only saving grace that allows him to make the postseason roster. There's no denying he plays RF in Wrigley as well as anyone I've ever seen. Considering the expectations you can't be too happy with the year Kosuke has had: D+

Edited September 27, 2008 by mikeyt34

[Jehrico]

Blanco deserves an A as well, possibly an A+. I don't know how anyone who followed the team give him a B-. He easily put up the best all-around performance of all back-up catchers in the league. He's good with a pitching staff, hit decently both as an occasional starter or off of the bench (he out-OPSd Pudge this year), spent alot of time mentoring Geo, and threw out over 45% of would-be base stealers. He's done anything and everything anyone could reasonably ask out of a backup catcher.

 

Fontenot - Similar comments as Blanco. The guy is slugging 100 points higher than the league average while hitting over .300 and putting up an OBP near .400 with adequate defense. The guy deserves an A, and that's before considering the G word.

 

Fukudome - The only reason he doesn't get an F is his defense. The only reason he has one acceptable offensive stat (OBP over .350) is because it took the league almost three months to figure him out. His OPS is .622 since the AS break. The only other nice thing I can say about him offensively is he's not 2nd in the NL in GIDP.

[Eric Clipperton]

I would not be able to give Theriot such a high grade, he's maybe a B-/C+ to me, and it is certainly not a complement to be compared to Eckstein (at least not one I'd personally like to receive).

[Schwarber Fan]

Not a bad analysis mikey, but you need to learn how to spell

 

Daryl? Derek? Ronnie?

[ArthurVandalay]

Blanco deserves an A as well, possibly an A+. I don't know how anyone who followed the team give him a B-. He easily put up the best all-around performance of all back-up catchers in the league. He's good with a pitching staff, hit decently both as an occasional starter or off of the bench (he out-OPSd Pudge this year), spent alot of time mentoring Geo, and threw out over 45% of would-be base stealers. He's done anything and everything anyone could reasonably ask out of a backup catcher.

 

Fontenot - Similar comments as Blanco. The guy is slugging 100 points higher than the league average while hitting over .300 and putting up an OBP near .400 with adequate defense. The guy deserves an A, and that's before considering the G word.

 

 

Completely agree. You really can't ask for anything more out of a backup C and 2B than what Hank and Font have given us this year.

[mikeyt34]

Not a bad analysis mikey, but you need to learn how to spell

 

Daryl? Derek? Ronnie?

 

Ok, it should have been Daryle, Derrek, and Ronny...Personally I think their parents have the spelling problem, not me. :-))