Playing time for Chris Dickerson/Jerry Hairston Jr./Jonny Gomes just got a bit tighter with the recent signings of veterans Darryl Ward and Jacque Jones to minor league contracts (and for those wondering, the text layered over the profile pics was done through a new computer software called Microsoft Paint, where you can graffiti over the top of image files).While there is no guarantee that either will make the Opening Day roster, Ward will mostly likely fill the tubby void left by Javier Valentin, formerly of the Three-Headed Suck Monster. Ward, who has seen time at first base and in the outfield in 11 seasons, is primarily a pinch hitter, which is a fancy way of saying Darryl isn't good enough to play defense and shouldn't be allowed to have 3-4 ABs a game. It's always hard to judge a pinch hitter's numbers because the sample size is miniscule and they are forever swinging cold, so a career .263/.320/.447 could be worse (see Javier Valentin). Darryl is aware of the enemy. He's played with Chicago, Houston and Pittsburgh.
When the Reds signed Jonny Gomes to a minor league contract a few weeks ago, fans were generally accepting of this move, mostly because it served as outfield insurance if Chris Dickerson didn't develop/Jerry Hairston Jr. returned to his normal self/Lance Nix played to expectations and sucked. Now with Jones competing for an outfield spot, the annual revolving door in the grass that Reds fans have become accustomed to is now complete (see 2008--Griffey, Dunn, Patterson, Hopper, Bruce, Freel, Hairston, Dickerson). Jones, in his 11th season, owns three worthy seasons (2002, 2003 and 2006).
There are those who will say, "The more players we have competing for the outfield job, the better." I disagree. This is only putting added pressure on Chris Dickerson. As soon as he slumps, they're going to replace him and I'm not sure this is a good thing. If there are too many players trying out in left, we'll never have any consistency in the order. Man, I sure wouldn't mind having Bobby Abreu for a year around $3 million. With Abreu, we possibly make a run at the Wild Card.
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Pinch hitters, as might be expected, are not very proficient as a group. Here are the NL stats for pinch hitters for the past five years. Below that are the career pinch hitting numbers for Daryl Ward.
ReplyDeleteYEAR BA OBP SLG OPS
2008 0.229 0.317 0.345 0.662
2007 0.228 0.311 0.358 0.669
2006 0.233 0.308 0.368 0.676
2005 0.232 0.308 0.343 0.650
2004 0.228 0.308 0.352 0.660
RA 0.230 0.310 0.353 0.663
WARD 0.234 0.329 0.386 0.715
As a group they are putrid - posting Willy Taveras-like numbers. DW is slightly above average. And this, amazingly, has kept him in the league for a number of years, considering he has virtually no defensive ability at all.
As a general rule I think managers tend to micro-manage way too much and send up far too many pinch hitters. I think if it is not a pitcher due to bat, it would probably be best not to pinch hit. (Exceptions being CPatt, Bako, Taveras, Juan Castro, Paul Janish, and so on. Basically, any player that the Reds have signed or promoted since the beginning of the New Millenium.)
Ironically, the Reds' best pinch hitter this season just might be a pitcher - Micah Owings.
Only in Cincinnati could this be possible.
Thanks for the numbers and the insight. I agree about the micro-managing aspect in the game. With pinch hitting, I always see it as a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Everyone has very clear hindsight when looking back on a pinch hitting situation, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDelete~The Red Scare