Why are Neifi and Macias playing???

[biittner77]

"Last year they knocked us out. We knew we were going to be one of the deciding factors on if they go to the playoffs or not. It's another reason why you have to play your best lineup against teams that are contending."

 

Here we have Baker discussing his lineups again. Can anyone tell me when Baker has said we don't need to play the veterans now? Can anyone show me where he's said it's a good idea to see what we have with some rookies? Right.

 

To be fair though, Theriot might maybe someday be a bench player. Soto also projects as a back up. If Cedeno was healthy and benched in favor of Macias I could see being upset.

 

I would like to see Theriot and Soto too but I'm more upset that Baker is batting Macias & Perez 1-2 than I am that Soto and Theriot aren't playing.

[Tim]

"Last year they knocked us out. We knew we were going to be one of the deciding factors on if they go to the playoffs or not. It's another reason why you have to play your best lineup against teams that are contending."

 

Here we have Baker discussing his lineups again. Can anyone tell me when Baker has said we don't need to play the veterans now? Can anyone show me where he's said it's a good idea to see what we have with some rookies? Right.

 

To be fair though, Theriot might maybe someday be a bench player. Soto also projects as a back up. If Cedeno was healthy and benched in favor of Macias I could see being upset.

 

I would like to see Theriot and Soto too but I'm more upset that Baker is batting Macias & Perez 1-2 than I am that Soto and Theriot aren't playing.

I'm honestly more upset about Macias being on the field. Although Baker is putting the lineup in the least effective order possible (other than hitting Lee eighth), I believe that the quality of hitters in the lineup makes a more significant impact than the order in which they bat. Theriot provides zero power, but I think he could put up a better OBP than Macias in his sleep. I also think he's a better infield defender than Jose, too. And he's faster on the bases. Give me a few more minutes and I'm sure I'll think of more reasons to put him in place of Jose.

[biittner77]

"Last year they knocked us out. We knew we were going to be one of the deciding factors on if they go to the playoffs or not. It's another reason why you have to play your best lineup against teams that are contending."

 

Here we have Baker discussing his lineups again. Can anyone tell me when Baker has said we don't need to play the veterans now? Can anyone show me where he's said it's a good idea to see what we have with some rookies? Right.

 

To be fair though, Theriot might maybe someday be a bench player. Soto also projects as a back up. If Cedeno was healthy and benched in favor of Macias I could see being upset.

 

I would like to see Theriot and Soto too but I'm more upset that Baker is batting Macias & Perez 1-2 than I am that Soto and Theriot aren't playing.

I'm honestly more upset about Macias being on the field. Although Baker is putting the lineup in the least effective order possible (other than hitting Lee eighth), I believe that the quality of hitters in the lineup makes a more significant impact than the order in which they bat. Theriot provides zero power, but I think he could put up a better OBP than Macias in his sleep. I also think he's a better infield defender than Jose, too. And he's faster on the bases. Give me a few more minutes and I'm sure I'll think of more reasons to put him in place of Jose.

 

I defy you to name 5 current players that are worse than Macias. It goes without saying that practically anyone would be a better option. I'd like to see what the young guys can do but it's too small of a sample size to really get any idea of we can expect in the future. After all, Roosevelt Brown looked good in a Sept. call-up.

 

There's an added benefit to playing Macias. Every 0-4 brings him one step closer to the door.

[dalgreen]

There's an added benefit to playing Macias. Every 0-4 brings him one step closer to the door.

 

That's what I thought last year, too.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Every team will win games they should have lost. Every team will lose games they should have won. It's not those games that determine the final standings. It's winning the close games.

 

I may be wrong, but I could have sworn that after yesterday's game, Len said something about the Cubs' record in 1-run games, and it was positive, something like 24-19?

 

Good memory !!

 

CUBS are 24-19 in one run games, 13-15 in two run games.

[JGalt73]

I defy you to name 5 current players that are worse than Macias. It goes without saying that practically anyone would be a better option. I'd like to see what the young guys can do but it's too small of a sample size to really get any idea of we can expect in the future. After all, Roosevelt Brown looked good in a Sept. call-up.

 

There's an added benefit to playing Macias. Every 0-4 brings him one step closer to the door.

 

Corey Patterson, unfortunately, is worse. And there are more than 5 that are worse, but I am guessing you were being somewhat hyperbolic - but, not much...

 

Among all non-pitcher major leaguers with at least 100 PA, Jose Macias is better than only 24 of 427, according to VORP.

 

With Macias' 170 PA as a cut off, there are only 11 worse players given that many appearances -

 

Tomas Perez

Miguel Cairo

David Newhan

Gary Bennett

Jose Hernandez

Timo Perez

Corey Patterson

Joe McEwing

Eric Byrnes

Tony Womack

Cristian Guzman

 

Unfortunately, Dusty has managed to play 2 of the 12 worst. (Though, in defense Patterson may have some future value.)

[Derwood]

 

Unfortunately, Dusty has managed to play 2 of the 12 worst. (Though, in defense Patterson may have some future value.)

 

And three others (Cairo, Womack and Hernandez) are ex-Cubs. Great talent evaluation!

[series65cubsfan]

 

Corey Patterson, unfortunately, is worse. And there are more than 5 that are worse, but I am guessing you were being somewhat hyperbolic - but, not much...

 

Among all non-pitcher major leaguers with at least 100 PA, Jose Macias is better than only 24 of 427, according to VORP.

 

With Macias' 170 PA as a cut off, there are only 11 worse players given that many appearances -

 

Tomas Perez

Miguel Cairo

David Newhan

Gary Bennett

Jose Hernandez

Timo Perez

Corey Patterson

Joe McEwing

Eric Byrnes

Tony Womack

Cristian Guzman

 

Unfortunately, Dusty has managed to play 2 of the 12 worst. (Though, in defense Patterson may have some future value.)

 

Is it just me or are there an inordinate amount of players on that small list that have played on the Cubs teams?

[Cubzfan64]

I've read alot of the "Dusty bashing" that has gone on alot of the season and at times I've agreed while at others I think it's been exagerated.

 

The way this season is ending with Perez and Macias playing everyday and hitting 1/2 is simply inexcusable in my opinon. If Baker is doing this in order to try to achieve a .500 record, then that's inexcusable as well.

 

Hendry seems to be (at least publicly) be a very hands off GM - hire the manager and let him do his job while you do yours, however if he stands by and condones this idiotic decisionmaking, then he shares in the blame and his actions (or lack thereof) are also inexcusable.

 

If I had to bet money on it, here are the reasons I think Dusty is playing Perez and Neifi where/when he is (in no particular order):

 

1. He's pigheaded and stubborn - those are "his guys" and he's not going to sit them because of that - I'm guessing he thinks they "deserve" this somehow

 

2. He won't disrespect them by sitting them on the bench and playing "no-name" kids.

 

3. He's making a statement to the fans and press that "he's in charge" of this team and what happens on the field is totally up to him and doesn't care what anyone else thinks (including statistics)

 

4. He wants to make it over .500 so somehow the Cub organization can spin the season as a success of some kind (God knows how), and he clearly has absolutely zero faith in anyone who isn't a veteran ballplayer.

 

5. He wants to lose his job so he can come back and point the fingers of blame at everyone else so he's forcing the situation.

 

6. He's simply not a smart manager

 

It's probably a combination of a bunch of those things and probably more. I stood by and kept quiet during most of the Dusty bashing, but these decisions have put me over the edge and I can't support him anymore.

[Magnetic Curses]

something that made me chuckle: the brewers announcer, the other night said that perez "doesn't walk much, but puts the ball in play and gets on base a ton."

 

just another reason to scratch your head at "conventional wisdom".

[dalgreen]

something that made me chuckle: the brewers announcer, the other night said that perez "doesn't walk much, but puts the ball in play and gets on base a ton."

 

just another reason to scratch your head at "conventional wisdom".

 

I heard that too. You're a good one to only chuckle, I laughed and almost threw a shoe at the tv. When Perez comes to the plate the first at-bat of every series, I think broadcasters should make this public service announcement:

 

"Neifi Perez once had 200 hits in a season (a very good thing), yet he failed to hit .300 in that season (a very bad thing when you have 200 hits). How? Why? Because he had over 700 plate appearances in that season because he won't allow pitchers to walk him."

[CuseCubFan69]

something that made me chuckle: the brewers announcer, the other night said that perez "doesn't walk much, but puts the ball in play and gets on base a ton."

 

just another reason to scratch your head at "conventional wisdom".

 

 

Maybe a ton is measured differently in Milwaukee?

[Magnetic Curses]

something that made me chuckle: the brewers announcer, the other night said that perez "doesn't walk much, but puts the ball in play and gets on base a ton."

 

just another reason to scratch your head at "conventional wisdom".

 

I heard that too. You're a good one to only chuckle, I laughed and almost threw a shoe at the tv. When Perez comes to the plate the first at-bat of every series, I think broadcasters should make this public service announcement:

 

"Neifi Perez once had 200 hits in a season (a very good thing), yet he failed to hit .300 in that season (a very bad thing when you have 200 hits). How? Why? Because he had over 700 plate appearances in that season because he won't allow pitchers to walk him."

 

most other hitters who've made it to the bigs understand that while hitting the ball is important, taking a walk is often necessary to winning. i don't know why we have to acquire every player who doesn't understand this.

[hardcorecubfan]

Maybe it has something to do with those knee pads and chapsticks found in Macias and Perez's lockers...

 

well there statures do put their lips strategically closer to That part of dusty's anatomy

[BigbadB]

Every team will win games they should have lost. Every team will lose games they should have won. It's not those games that determine the final standings. It's winning the close games.

 

I may be wrong, but I could have sworn that after yesterday's game, Len said something about the Cubs' record in 1-run games, and it was positive, something like 24-19?

 

I guess I didn't word this properly.....

 

Every team will win games they should have lost and every team will lose games they should have won. It's what happens in the rest of those games that make the difference.

 

I recently showed a prime example of what can happen when you have poor OBP guys at the top of the order in front of your most productive hitters. (See the Lee/100 EXBH thread in baseball discussions).

 

To further break down this glaring problem. Each of those outs in front of Lee reduced the chances of a high scoring inning. Non outs set up for big innings. Because of the decreased chances, it's hard to really only measure 1 or 2 run games. A game that the Cubs lose by 5 might have been a game they could have won if they had quality OBP guys in front of Lee's 3-4, 4-4, 4-5 day. 30 of Lee's 45 HR's have been solo shots.

 

Couple in the other productive bats in the line up along with Lee's automatic increase in production with better OBP guys in front of him, and you end up with a fairly explosive offense, capable of putting up big numbers on the scoreboard.

 

The frustrating part is the team has had the OBP guys on the team all year long. They've just been ignored when it came time to set the top of the line up. Even Todd Walker has 100 at bats in the 6 hole this year.

 

Dusty can ignore this problem if he wants, but the results can't be ignored.

[illiniguy]

the great thing about all of this is the cubs know about this forum, their announcer has mentioned it on air many times. Thus they know all these stats we can spew out. The fact remains either they think that Dusty put together a good lineup this year, or they are too afraid to say anything about it to him. I really don't know which one to root for.

[thedaymen]

the great thing about all of this is the cubs know about this forum, their announcer has mentioned it on air many times. Thus they know all these stats we can spew out. The fact remains either they think that Dusty put together a good lineup this year, or they are too afraid to say anything about it to him. I really don't know which one to root for.

 

I gotta think that Len and Bob know that questioning the manager can lead to getting Stoned.

[bobbyd20]

12 guys in baseball with a .400+ OBP percentage and we keep hitting Murton 6th or 7th so that Neifi and Macias can hit 1 and 2. Neifi and Macias have the 10th and 13th best OBP on our own team.

 

Makes a lot of sense to me. Will someone please explain to Dusty the importance of getting people on-base at the top of the lineup? Maybe someone from the media should call Dusty out and see what the heck he is thinking?

[goonys evil twin]

12 guys in baseball with a .400+ OBP percentage and we keep hitting Murton 6th or 7th so that Neifi and Macias can hit 1 and 2. Neifi and Macias have the 10th and 13th best OBP on our own team.

 

Makes a lot of sense to me. Will someone please explain to Dusty the importance of getting people on-base at the top of the lineup? Maybe someone from the media should call Dusty out and see what the heck he is thinking?

 

He's too busy lamenting the lack of team speed and situational/clutch hitting.

 

The guy is clueless. He's finally admitting they need more walks offensively, but that's only after 2 years of having the media repeatedly ask him about the problem. Actions speak louder than words though, and Dusty will continue to put speed at the top of the order instead of OBP.

[abuck1220]

the funny thing is, neither macias nor perez is at all fast. is it because they're skinny/can't hit for power?

[sethuel1]

the funny thing is, neither macias nor perez is at all fast. is it because they're skinny/can't hit for power?

 

Actually, Macias is decently fast. he just has no baserunning instincts.

[JC]

the funny thing is, neither macias nor perez is at all fast. is it because they're skinny/can't hit for power?

 

Actually, Macias is decently fast. he just has no baserunning instincts.

 

Macias isn't skinny. He is like a short little bowling ball.

[sethuel1]

the funny thing is, neither macias nor perez is at all fast. is it because they're skinny/can't hit for power?

 

Actually, Macias is decently fast. he just has no baserunning instincts.

 

Macias isn't skinny. He is like a short little bowling ball.

 

as opposed to a tall bowling ball.

 

Has anyone noticed that neifi takes shorter strides than anyone else on the planet? His running style is a textbook definition of "sauntering", I think.

[JC]

the funny thing is, neither macias nor perez is at all fast. is it because they're skinny/can't hit for power?

 

Actually, Macias is decently fast. he just has no baserunning instincts.

 

Macias isn't skinny. He is like a short little bowling ball.

 

as opposed to a tall bowling ball.

 

Emphasis is found in redundancy.

 

Or something.

[Too Tall]

Macias and Perez batting #1 and #2 again today...