Where oh where has 2008 Mike Fontenot gone?

[moorecg]

Oh where oh where can he be?

 

Adding those numbers to this lineup right now and sticking him at 2nd base full time would be incredible...is there a reason for the drop off or was last year the outlier?

[Old Style]

He's not an everyday player.

[DiamondMind]

He's not an everyday player.

 

Elaborate why? Are pitchers adjusting to him? Is he wearing down?

[BeerHere]

That missed attempt at the suicide squeeze was awful. Maybe Lou shouldn't have made the call in the first place, but I liked in in that situation and it caught everyone off guard. Fontenot HAS to make contact there, foul it off, something, you don't just leave the winning run walking into a tag. Terrible execution there by Fontenot.

[BeerHere]

He's not an everyday player.

+1

 

He has been exposed this year for certain.

[jersey cubs fan]

He's not an everyday player.

 

Elaborate why? Are pitchers adjusting to him? Is he wearing down?

 

He can't hit lefties at all, and he's just not that good. His minor league numbers suggested he might be a good role player, as did his first exposure to the big leagues. He peaked at just about the ideal peak age, 28, with an ideal role. He wasn't part of a platoon at 2nd base that saw him facing every righty, he still got significantly less than half a season's worth of PA. And by most accounts he was put out there in favorable matchups. He's already surpassed last year's total PA.

 

It's probably safe to say his numbers last year were a fluke, and it might be safe to say this year's are lower than you would expect, except that all previous evidence of him in the majors was as a role player. He's always been prone to the strikeout and his "sneaky power" is more of a doubles thing than significant HR power. He had some good AAA numbers, but that wasn't until he was repeating the level and in his mid 20's. His total major league numbers are just slightly below his total minor league numbers (and that's with 4 seperate seasons in AAA to inflate them).

[champaignchris]

I think you can write off his performance against lefties last year as an aberration due to small sample size (.333 BA in 21 AB)

 

The mystery is what's happened to him against right handers...

 

2009 229 AB .231/.311/.384

2008 222 AB .302/.393/.518

2007 182 AB .297/.358/.423

 

He's fallen off a cliff. A leftie with a .695 OPS against right handers is beyond useless.

[Prizefight]

There's a lot to be said for the way he was used last year. Most of the time Lou either started or put him in the game in a good situation with a more than reasonable chance for sucess. Now that he's getting 4 at bats a game, Jersey nailed it right on the head, he's just not that good.

[Soul]

That missed attempt at the suicide squeeze was awful. Maybe Lou shouldn't have made the call in the first place, but I liked in in that situation and it caught everyone off guard. Fontenot HAS to make contact there, foul it off, something, you don't just leave the winning run walking into a tag. Terrible execution there by Fontenot.

 

Yeah, I definitely can see questioning Lou's decision there.

 

But once the decision is made -- he's got to be able to make some kind of contact. Even just fouling it off.

 

 

I think Font is just a bench player. He's more comfortable being matched up to relievers in many games, only getting spot starts where the matchup would seem to favor him, etc. Unless he's just in a horrible slump, I don't see him as an everyday player. It was a nice try, but no dice.

[Schwarber Fan]

I remember the same thing was said at one point about Ryan Theriot though...

[Rob]

His LD% has slipped a bit and that's partly responsible for the drop. But he's also been a bit unlucky on balls put in play.

 

He should look more like a .725 or .750 OPS guy with neutral luck and just a slight bump back towards the norm in the LD department.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

There's no way he doesn't improve upon that .266 BABIP against RHP.

[hossdriver]

He was a tale of two halves last year as well...

 

.266 pre-All-Star break

 

.360 post-All-Star break

 

And yes, he was set up to succeed and absolutely thrived in the middle of the order (5-8) basically against RH pitching.