Don't get me wrong.Loretta has been a solid .280 guy and a consummate pro for a long time.I've always liked the way he plays the game.....You know what your getting. Kaz does have more speed and can handle the bat pretty well.The guy would seem to be suited for the 2 hole here.But your right that he needs to be healthy and play up to the P word to be worth the contract.I see some upside... But,that's why they play the game,eh? It's not stratomatic baseball.
I wouldn't be surprised if Pence gets sent down to RR. He isn't in a slump, his approach is a complete cluster-F right now. There's a difference between being in a slump when you just aren't getting the ball to drop, and what Pence is going through right now. He is flailing at anything near the strike zone and looks completely lost.
I don't think bobblehead solidifies your spot on the big league roster. Particularly when you are below the Mendoza line and striking out like Cerrano from Major League.
Well, he certainly *is* "swinging the lumber", and the only thing he is finding is the long trip back to the bench--certainly not the ball and certainly not "himself". No, Mo *never* swung. At least Hunter is entertaining. I mean, there was that incredibly apt picture of Ensberg looking back toward the catcher's mitt just as the ball popped in. I looked for it for like fifteen minutes on google, and all I could find was Adam Everett's baby picture:
I was thinking more like the CURSE of Chris Burke: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=7057
I think it does. I'm all for sending him to RR, but I would be shocked if they did. He draws a lot of fans, and they seem so willing to forgive him, especially when he "accidentally" walked into a glass door.
He seemed to have a pretty great spring despite walking into a glass door...all players hit slumps...Pence's isn't even a month old; that's small potatoes compared to Berkman's slump last year.
That may be true, but as we all know, spring training is a different animal altogether. Iif you can't even get a sac fly (referring to a previous game), that's pretty pathetic. He really needs to work on his plate discipline. I'm also annoyed how everyone anointed him a star and the Astros put him up on a pedestal, basically on the same level as Berkman, Oswalt, & Lee, when he hasn't proven himself for a full season.
The Astros brought him up before he was ready, albeit the fact it was out of necessity. He blew up last season, and good for him. And don't get me wrong, he is a stud in the making. But like you said, everyone anointed him a star before he was ready. He's got enough talent to cut it on a MLB roster at this point, he is that good. But he'd be benefiting a LOT from being at RR right now learning how to hit (not necessarily just how to swing the bat). What I mean is how to hit good pitchers that are going to try to out-think you. Right now pitchers are dominating him. He looks completely lost and flailing at the plate because they are pulling the string on him, pulling the wool over his eyes, whatever other cliche you wanna use. He looks like a lost rookie out there. I see what you are saying, that obviously the fans love him (I mean, he's my favorite player behind Roy already).. but our organization has smart baseball men. If he continues his approach that he has right now, they'll have to send him down, they'll have no choice. It isn't a slump where the ball isn't dropping - the guy is clueless at the plate right now and just swinging at everything. The baseball men know you can't let a guy just keep on flailing away when smart MLB pitchers are gonna continue to read the book on him - it'll get in his head and could mess him up long term. Not everyone believes in that, but.. I do to a degree.
