John McGrath Weighs In On Ichiro Batting Third
February 22nd, 2012 by terrybenishhttp://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/02/22/2036232/ichiro-3rd-dont-expect-a-charm.html
Written with grace and insight, typically on point, it is always a joy to start off the day with John’s words.
Larry Stone also a nice guy drops 740 words on Ichiro’s new stance and so on…
To which I dedicate the following Monkees song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts
There are some reports about Taijuan Walker lighting it up yesterday. All the other young studs threw to good effect yesterday too.
The beauty of this setting is despite all the bs that flows about positions and guarantees, the players will play, like the players can play. At some point when Kyle Seager or Vinnie Catricala are showing their progression, even Wedge will notice. After all he is supposed to put the best players out there, but it will be what it will be.
Were I Brendan Ryan I would keep my bags packed. Dumping his deal and playing short stop Munenori Kawasaki seems to be the story with all of his talking and videos of him barking during infield.
For such a terrible and bad team, whose pitching has regressed terribly from last year, the politics in this camp are astounding.
The new lineup was floated out there this morning with Smoak batting fourth and please Jesus Montero batting fifth and Carp platooning in the six hole, with the ever hopeful, recovered Gutierrez battling for the next spots with Miquel Olivo. Smoak, other than one month in twelve has scuffled a bit, in his twelve months hitting .229 and an OPS of .701…more alarming is the huge decline in his line drive percentage last year from 23% to 17%, which is well below MLB average.
Where is the beef? Carp’s batting average on balls in play is so much higher and consistently so than Smoak’s, line drive percentage better, that the place for Smoak to be is 6th, but then that makes the Lee trade look even worse.
Younger guys in camp stick to their business and play their ipods for some respite from the bs free flowing around them. For their benefit here are some selections to add from Girl In A Coma:
http://www.npr.org/event/music/145731104/girl-in-a-coma-tiny-desk-concert
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