A few mid Spring Training Head Turners

[Little Slide Rooter]

These are basically guys who are having good spring trainings. Granted, most of these guys probably dont have a roster spot, but could be viable options in the case of injury

 

Wellington Castillo .333/.455/1.000/1.455-unfortunately for him, Paul Bako and Koyie Hill exist

Brad Snyder .300/.417/.700/1.117-I remember being terrified that he was "the left handed bat" when first aquired.

Jake Fox .316/.381/.579/.960-much like Josh Kroeger, it will likely take another team for him to ever get a shot at the majors

So Taguchi .273/.407/.409/.816-eh, better than I expected

 

Pitchers

David Patton-1.42 ERA 0.75WHIP 6.2IP-of the bunch, he has the best shot at making the team, especially if Guzman, Samardzia, and Vizcaino continue to stink up Arizona

Jason Waddell-1.13 ERA 1.38 WHIP 8IP-not bad for a 28 year old former Giants farm hand who never made it past AA.

Justin Berg-1.42ERA 1.26IP 6.1IP-probably spend the season in Iowa

Randy Wells-0.00 ERA .23 WHIP in just 3.1IP-was pretty impressive in his short time on the team in September

[17 Seconds]

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

[StylesClash]

Wellington Castillo .333/.455/1.000/1.455-unfortunately for him, Paul Bako and Koyie Hill exist

 

You want him to make the 25 man roster? Do you know Wellington Castillo's background at all? Castillo is a 21 year old Catcher who only first experienced offensive success last season at Double-A. His upside would be completely wasted on Chicago's bench (assuming he's big league ready, which I seriously doubt he is). Gaining more polish and establishing a more significant track record of success at the minor league level is the best thing for Castillo.

 

Plus if he hits at Iowa the way he did last season in Tennessee he could then become a good piece of trade bait come next Winter. Sitting on the bench backing up Soto wouldn't help his value at all.

[David]

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

 

So Taguchi .273/.407/.409/.816

 

There's proof.

[Outshined_One]

Wellington Castillo .333/.455/1.000/1.455-unfortunately for him, Paul Bako and Koyie Hill exist

 

You want him to make the 25 man roster? Do you know Wellington Castillo's background at all? Castillo is a 21 year old Catcher who only first experienced offensive success last season at Double-A. His upside would be completely wasted on Chicago's bench (assuming he's big league ready, which I seriously doubt he is). Gaining more polish and establishing a more significant track record of success at the minor league level is the best thing for Castillo.

 

Plus if he hits at Iowa the way he did last season in Tennessee he could then become a good piece of trade bait come next Winter. Sitting on the bench backing up Soto wouldn't help his value at all.

 

Castillo profiles more as a backup catcher than as a starter. He doesn't have much power and I'm a bit skeptical of his ability to sustain a batting average around .280/.300 in the majors. I agree that he could use more time in the minors, but that's because he needs more experience calling games and working on the finer aspects of catching.

 

I don't see him having a Soto-like breakout.

[DiamondMind]

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

 

Just like your posts.

[17 Seconds]

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

 

Just like your posts.

 

Attack the post, not the poster.

[Sammy Sofa]

He did.

[17 Seconds]

Umm, okay.

[Mephistopheles]

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

 

Another (wrong) post.

[17 Seconds]

Meph instead of just making a pointless post, how about you give us all one of your fake formulas that proves it wrong. Then we'll all believe you.

 

I will at least give you credit though for following through on the plan (the one you PM'd me about) to respond to every one of my posts and call it wrong no matter what.

 

So the fact that crappy players put up great spring training numbers all the time means that they're eventually going to be good?

 

I guess we should have never traded away Casey McGehee and Rocky Cherry. I guess So Taguchi should make the team and Gathright should be our leadoff hitter.

 

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

[TruffleShuffle]

Meph instead of just making a pointless post, how about you give us all one of your fake formulas that proves it wrong. Then we'll all believe you.

 

I will at least give you credit though for following through on the plan (the one you PM'd me about) to respond to every one of my posts and call it wrong no matter what.

 

So the fact that crappy players put up great spring training numbers all the time means that they're eventually going to be good?

 

I guess we should have never traded away Casey McGehee and Rocky Cherry. I guess So Taguchi should make the team and Gathright should be our leadoff hitter.

 

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

 

why, just because there are some fluky performances that are not representative of a player's value? i'm guessing that there is some worth in spring training performances; that being said, you do not make personnel decisions based purely on the numbers of a player in spring training.

[17 Seconds]

Okay, let me rephrase it. Predicting anything or putting any stock into unexpected spring training success is meaningless. Seriously, every year there are a ton of garbage players that rake in ST and dozens of garbage pitchers that are lights outs. Every year.

 

Some ST numbers-

 

Chris Shelton- .520/.625/.960

Angel Berroa- .429/.444/.743

Juan Castro- .455/.472/.697

Craig Counsell- .467/.515/.633

 

It's not like these are just rare occurances either. Look at the ST offensive leaderboards for players with a good amount of plate appearance. I don't even know who half of the players play for. They're everywhere.

 

Do some ST stats end up being indicative of regular season performance? Of course. But it's pointless to make anything of crappy players putting up good numbers when so many of them do it every spring training. You just can't put any stock into it.

Edited March 18, 2009 by 17 Seconds

[Wilson A2000]

ST numbers for regulars aren't that important, but I see the value in them for guys trying to make the squad. When it comes to the last two roster spots, I am going to go with the guy who has better ST numbers. If ST numbers meant nothing for these spots, would anyone take a guy with significantly worse numbers than another guy? No.

[17 Seconds]

ST numbers for regulars aren't that important, but I see the value in them for guys trying to make the squad. When it comes to the last two roster spots, I am going to go with the guy who has better ST numbers. If ST numbers meant nothing for these spots, would anyone take a guy with significantly worse numbers than another guy? No.

 

I agree with that. But like I said in it that last post, I'm talking about putting stock into spring training numbers and acting like they predict anything about the regular season. I don't think anything should "turn heads" or make you say "this guy is better than I expected".

[Mephistopheles]

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

 

I don't have to say anything to back this claim up. It's simply a statement of the obvious. They mean something.

[Derwood]

I don't have to say anything

 

so true

[wvcbxl]

Cut it out guys.

 

if you disagree with the original post (or with the people disagreeing with it), I'm sure you can find enough rational arguments to debate you point of view without resorting to kindergarden-level posts.

[E.J.]

Spring training numbers mean nothing.

 

Just like your posts.

 

This is completely unnecessary.

[cubbinalltheway]

derrek lee hasn't homered yet this spring. considering that he hit 5 HR's in the 2nd half last year, i'm thinking that his spring training numbers DO mean something.

[RammyFanny]

They mean something since the decision on who our fifth starter is likely depends on those numbers.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't see him having a Soto-like breakout.

 

That's not exactly hard to predict. Very few players have Soto-like breakouts. But he wouldn't have to have a Soto-like breakout to actually have value and prove worthy of a major league job someday.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I don't see him having a Soto-like breakout.

 

That's not exactly hard to predict. Very few players have Soto-like breakouts. But he wouldn't have to have a Soto-like breakout to actually have value and prove worthy of a major league job someday.

 

Soto didnt breakout until 2007. Before that, he was pretty mediocre offensively. he was a mid .700 OPSer at best before then.

Edited March 18, 2009 by Little Slide Rooter

[Guest]

My biggest issue with ST numbers is that Arizona weather is not the slightest bit related to the type of weather the Cubs will play in all season long.

 

Pitchers will typically look worse and hitters will typically look a lot better than they actually are. Balls jump off the bat in Arizona and there is no moisture in the air to knock the ball down. XBH's look much more impressive in Arizona.

 

It also takes several weeks for pitchers to dial in their off speed stuff.

 

Spring Training is exactly what it says it is. Training for the regular season. Pitchers don't like getting pounded with regularity in Spring Training, but it's more about spotting pitches and getting a feel for their breaking stuff than it is about missing bats.

 

If anyone believes Brandon Webb will maintain his 10.00+ ERA into the regular season, I'll take that bet.

[CubbieBum]

I'm all for Brad Snyder making the team but that's because he went to Ball State.