Botts hitting #4

by mc80aea on Aug 2, 2007 11:34 AM CDT Comment 30 comments

Anybody else surprised by this? I didn't see the game last night, but I figured he'd be relegated to 6 or 7 esp after 0-5. I guess Wash is showing some faith. I guess I was expecting a Buck reaction... which probably meant he wouldn't be starting at all...

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Wash

He's definately a better manager to lead this group down the stretch. He will show a lot of blind faith in these young guys.

by badradiorules on Aug 2, 2007 11:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

that was funny

by Brett Perryman on Aug 2, 2007 12:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Washington

is making lineup decisions based on one game's box score I don't want him to be our manager. That would be a stupid knee-jerk reaction. If he believed enough in Botts to put him there in the first place he should stick with him for a while.

mmmmmm...64 slices of American cheese...

by t ball on Aug 2, 2007 11:41 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

buck reaction

move him to the end of the bench.

let him sit there 2 weeks.

send to minors.

by knockoutking24 on Aug 2, 2007 11:45 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

i was surprised

but i like it, because he should have a higher OBP than byrd/cruz/sallty/wheover.

even with his terrible start, hes still taken full counts in his last 3 at bats.

i would give him a minimum of 2 weeks before moving him, unless he actually goes 1 for 25 or something, then you would have to do it sooner.

but i hope he isnt already moved out tomorrow. give im a chance to settle in.

by DSheppard on Aug 2, 2007 12:02 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

wasn't victor diaz our cleanup hitter for

like a month?

i think Botts is safe for a while.

by jasun on Aug 2, 2007 12:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Wrong.

Botts is batting #4 he has yet to do any hitting.

by RangerMad on Aug 2, 2007 1:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

after today

i bet he keeps the spot for a while.

RW likes guys to take pitches, he saw 24 of them, the most on the team by far.

And 1 for 3 with a double and a walk is pretty solid.

by DSheppard on Aug 2, 2007 1:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I bet he stays in the spot

because we aren't overloaded with real options, and I think JD flew to Cleveland to get the message that we are playing for the future. Something this team seemingly refused to do under Buck.

Thats one of the biggest positives of the season.

by DJCahill on Aug 2, 2007 1:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

well

i dont think it was out of the question that if botts had really gone 1 for 20 or something that cruz may have taken the cleanup spot with his good start.

no hits today for cruz but he still had a smash line drive out and a warning track flyball just now.

by DSheppard on Aug 2, 2007 1:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cruz

Had a single and reached third.

Time does funny things. The worst of which is, it keeps moving when you don't.

by Ed Coffin on Aug 2, 2007 2:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

ah

even better. thanks.

by DSheppard on Aug 2, 2007 2:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

well

Byrd saw just as many if not more pitches today and he isnt exactly a patient hitter.

by kumar75150 on Aug 2, 2007 2:48 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Botts

Mike Hindman just posted on the NMLR board that Botts saw a total of 54 pitches in his nine plate appearances last night and today.

Nice.

"Then I met some friends for a beer, went to a BoDeans's concert, and son of a vondruke, if I didn't leave him at the concert hall."

by RCCook on Aug 2, 2007 2:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

well

While I understand the long-term benefits to both the players and the team that is garnered from seeing all these pitches -

batting in that spot in the lineup is going to require him to swing the bat and get hits -

sure it's great if he goes to a full count in all his ABs, but he still needs to start putting wood on ball.

also - it would have been nice if some of "patience" would at least have resulted in a walk or two.

by simplesimon on Aug 2, 2007 2:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

he did get a walk

and this is post is quite infuriating

Forget Johnny Bench, we got Gerry "the Jet" Laird

by ab03 on Aug 2, 2007 3:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's been two games...

Give me a break

by chase1971 on Aug 2, 2007 3:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

2 games

Why is it that people freak out after 2 games?

Botts sucks, he can't hit, get Sammy back in there.

People - it's 2 games. Just because Botts didn't get a hit in two games doesn't mean he sucks.

Even if he does end up sucking the last two months of the year, I say you still give him a chance to be the DH next year.

We need more runs...

by daddyrat on Aug 2, 2007 3:06 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

...he did get a hit

he doubled in his last at bat.

hes for 1 for 8 with a double, walk, sac fly, and two smashed line drive outs to center.

it could be far far worse.

by DSheppard on Aug 2, 2007 3:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yes it could have been worse

but people are going on and on about how great it was he saw lots of pitches.

the "it's only been two games" business goes both ways.

I'm just saying that 1 for 8 with 1 rbi and walk is not exactly that great - regardless of the pitches.

you all know that if Sosa or some other spare who was not a LSB favorite had that line after two games you would have been torching him.

by simplesimon on Aug 2, 2007 3:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

prospects deserve more room for mistakes

than spares. its the correct way to think. the spare type people have no realistic chance of helping you in the future, so why stand by for slumps when they are for nothing?

with botts, he didnt look that bad, he did contribute today, and even if hes struggling its in the best interest of the club to see it.

plus, the guy is getting his first REAL chance in the big leagues. 27 or not, im sure hes nervous. its not like hes some journeyman that has a long history of being bad, who i probably would be on already.

like melhuse, who based on his last 2 games deserves to be released.

salty has actually been worse than botts so far. 1 for 9 with 3 ks and swinging at everything. but he gets the same pass. for a good reason.

by DSheppard on Aug 2, 2007 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

clarification

the point of my diary wasn't trying to imply that Botts sucks. I was just surprised he was slotted at number 4 his first game back from AAA. Not that he doesn't project there on anything... I just expected him to have to earn that slot with some time and production in the majors.

by mc80aea on Aug 2, 2007 3:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well

The huge P/PA indicates that he's seeing a ton of pitches, figuring out what he's seeing, and very often that sort of thing is the calm before the storm, so to speak; he's studying and learning during all of this and I think it will lead to buckets of hits.

But realize that Botts is an adjustment guy and needs some at-bats before he finds his groove; He'll probably be pretty bad for most of August. He always seems to start slow when he makes a jump, but usually adjusts after about 75-100 at-bats:

Frisco, after his promotion late in 2003:
.263 / .341 / .392;
the next year
.293 / .399 / .507.

First run with OKC in 2005:
April (83 at-bats): .241 / .351 / .530
May (105 at-bats): .362 / .446 / .600

He'll be OK in September. Long haul, .280 / .350 / .500ish. A tad better than late-90's Lee Stevens production.

Long at-bats.

by mjh on Aug 2, 2007 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

and just to clarify

I can live with that and I have no problem just putting Botts' name on the lineup card in permnanent ink and leaving it there for the remainder of the season.

I'm just think the celebration of his performance can wait for something more significant that P/PA

by simplesimon on Aug 2, 2007 3:22 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL....so true..

those die hard Botts fans will candy coat his performance/lack of in so many differant ways.. they'll find something smoke and mirrors good no matter how tragic the real report. He does deserve a chance though and 2 games is really nothing in the grand scheme..

0dds of being able to trade whiffy whifferson by Gil Lebreton "1000 to 1 - Good Luck Brother!"

by NYCMuscleFag on Aug 2, 2007 7:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's not so meaningless

Here are the top 34 in P/PA (everyone right at or over 4.00).

Not a bad bunch of hitters overall.

1 Todd Helton (4.39)
2 Reggie Willits
3 Nick Swisher
4 Johnny Damon
5 Brandon Inge
6 Casey Blake
7 Bobby Abreu
8 Ryan Howard
9 Grady Sizemore
10 Pat Burrell
11 Melvin Mora
12 Adam Dunn
13 Kevin Youkilis
14 Kevin Millar
15 Brian Roberts
16 Jim Thome
17 David Ortiz
18 Kelly Johnson
19 Mark DeRosa
20 Chris Duncan
21 Travis Hafner
22 Frank Thomas
23 Derrek Lee
24 Jason Varitek
25 Albert Pujols
26 Jose Bautista
27 Felipe Lopez
28 Barry Bonds
29 Mark Teixeira
30 Ken Griffey Jr.
31 Eric Chavez
32 Bill Hall
33 Gary Sheffield
34 Hideki Matsui

by mjh on Aug 2, 2007 3:38 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree...

seeing a lot of pitches means getting more chances to see what Fuson referred to, in my presence, as "the cookie."

by benmor78 on Aug 2, 2007 4:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Botts is...

A Triple A Player at best, he will never make it in the majors, not even for the rangers, which is really just a high AAA team (or a new league we can call 4A), a farm club really for the real major league teams. Salty, too early to tell with him, need to see more., Melhuse is a double A player at best, does not belong in the bigs.

Kick Hicks Outta Texas!!!

by TexasGonzo on Aug 2, 2007 4:33 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs