New Jeff Wilson mailbag

by Adam J. Morris on Jun 19, 2009 2:00 PM CDT

Jeff Wilson has a new mailbag column up...

Talk about the Scheppers injury, Rudy Jaramillo's role, and the possibility of Royce Huffman coming up to replace Chris Davis, among other things...

Check it out...

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Get to know Royce Huffman

Here

That's why they call them business sox

by egriffey on Jun 19, 2009 2:08 PM CDT reply actions

Excellent.

I'm Ron Burgundy?

by Ryin A on Jun 19, 2009 2:16 PM CDT up reply actions

Nice

A Crops parody- well done!

"I dont care to debate with a troll." - Sharky

by RCCook on Jun 19, 2009 3:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Solid Gold!!!!!

by Oddibee on Jun 19, 2009 4:56 PM CDT up reply actions

Huffman

Is Wilson’s assessment of Huffman accurate? A roster spot would need to be clearer at add him.

good defensively and gives a quality at-bat

Elvis Andrus - 2009 AL Rookie of the Year
Mitch Moreland - 2009 Rangers Minor League POY

by RangerMad on Jun 19, 2009 2:13 PM CDT reply actions

Wow.

I tuned into the matchup between Max Scherzer and Zack Greinke on Wednesday night. My question centers on the comments of longtime big leaguer and now Arizona announcer Mark Grace. He stated multiple times after Scherzer fell behind hitters in 3-0 counts that Vicente Padilla now just plunks hitters after falling behind in such counts in order to keep his walks down and gain arbitration points due to low walk rates. I have never heard an announcer call out a player in such a way before, but I was wondering if there was anything to back up if having HBPs on a pitcher’s record would be any more beneficial than a walk during arbitration. — Scott, Tucson, Ariz., via Plano

Them’s pretty strong words there.

"You got a guy coming up there who can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat." - Tom Grieve on Richie Sexson, 5.8.2008
"I’ve been a Rangers fan all my life and I can tell you there’s been plenty of fucking crying in baseball…" - WhipSmart, 6.3.08
"When it comes to Jeff Mathis, the story ends with us putting one in his earhole." - AJM, 7.7.08

by Lisa W on Jun 19, 2009 2:18 PM CDT reply actions

I doubt it

I don’t think Padilla thinks that deeply about stuff. He plunks a little less than 20 a year, but he has way more 3-0 counts.

"Go post a dinosaur in a gameday thread."-Finnerty.Fan

by DJCahill on Jun 19, 2009 2:23 PM CDT up reply actions

Heh, need another lambo for the U.S. garage, Dan!

¡Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!

"Anyone who hangs themself during autoerotic asphyxiation is free game." - Curmudgeon

Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a gasper.

by inactive lsb user on Jun 19, 2009 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Well, yeah

I’m not saying I think it’s right – I meant more that that’s kind of unusual for Grace to call Padilla out like that. Do they have any history?

by Lisa W on Jun 19, 2009 2:26 PM CDT up reply actions

I liked part of the answer

“I doubt Grace would do that if he was still playing”

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) also -

"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."
~Ambrose Bierce

by Ed Coffin on Jun 19, 2009 2:40 PM CDT up reply actions

Yes

I also got a chuckle out of that

by BEW on Jun 19, 2009 2:59 PM CDT up reply actions

Let's assume that Davis gets sent down...

What would constitute success at AAA or even AA? Better K/rate? Higher avg? I guess that one will impact the other obviously. Or will it be one of those things where it wont matter the results as long as he is having “quality at-bats”?

Basically, what Im getting at it is when/if the demotion conversation happens what do you tell the guy? Lower your k/rate? Have good at bats? get your head right?

by Michael Cave on Jun 19, 2009 3:03 PM CDT reply actions

I think don't average almost 2 Ks per game would be a nice start

Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.

by bigsteve on Jun 19, 2009 3:04 PM CDT up reply actions

Having around

a 300 batting average. That was basicly his minor league average, so it shouldn’t be a high bar.

I think that shows he has broken his mental block.

"Go post a dinosaur in a gameday thread."-Finnerty.Fan

by DJCahill on Jun 19, 2009 3:08 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't think

two weeks is going to fix it though. I love his defense but he needs to be blalock’d or nelly’d. You stay down till September and prove you can hit without looking like a little leaguer up here. Retooling a swing like that is not a quick fix.

by Hull Fan on Jun 19, 2009 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Thats kind of how I see it.

We are talking at least a month, and it could be the rest of the year.

"Go post a dinosaur in a gameday thread."-Finnerty.Fan

by DJCahill on Jun 19, 2009 6:42 PM CDT up reply actions

He has a lot of work to do....

For starters he needs to fix his big looping swing. It’s to the point where he cannot catch up to the fastball, so he has to guess…and it makes him swing at bad pitches and take good ones.

I am afraid that Davis is turning into a Hank clone (that K’s more with better defense)….

He will swing for the porch every at-bat…he may hit 1 HR per homestand, and thats about all you can count on him for.

by death of the cool on Jun 19, 2009 3:10 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah

i know he has never had the shortest approach but wow does his swing ever look long this year.

by Michael Cave on Jun 19, 2009 3:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Previous years I always thought Nellie had a long swing

(and I’m not any kind of swing expert) but his swing this year is short and quick and look at what he’s done.

Remember Red, hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

by WyoRanger on Jun 19, 2009 8:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Sigh.

Smoak entered Wednesday with a .325 average, six homers, 32 walks and 30 strikeouts in 41 games at Double-A Frisco. Davis had 13 homers, 42 RBI and a .333 average in 46 Double-A games in 2008. The Rangers still made him go to Triple A before calling him up. Smoak and Davis are different hitters, but more time in the minors would serve Smoak well.

Smoak might well be served by spending more time in the minors, but basing that conclusion on a comparison to Davis leaves a lot to be desired. Davis also posted 13 BB and 44 K in those 46 games Double-A games. And of course, Mark Teixeira had a .316 average, 10 homers, 28 RBIs, 25 BBs, and 36 Ks in 48 games with Double-A Tulsa in 2002 before the Rangers promoted him without any time in Triple A.

If it takes me 10 minutes to look all that up and type it, surely Wilson could do the same ~ and realize that his published opinion about Smoak’s readiness to replace Davis probably needs to be based on more than the pair’s minor-league numbers.

C’mon, Jeff.

by Snark on Jun 19, 2009 3:35 PM CDT reply actions

You notice

he didn’t publish Davis Ks and BBs.

"Go post a dinosaur in a gameday thread."-Finnerty.Fan

by DJCahill on Jun 19, 2009 3:58 PM CDT up reply actions

That was a glaring omission.

But really, the entire thing needed some editing work…very difficult read.

"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008

by Rodney on Jun 19, 2009 4:48 PM CDT up reply actions

I thought that too

I work for a newspaper, and we’re not allowed to post on the blog until at least two editors have checked it. Lots of typos and spacing issues. I like Jeff Wilson, but that makes him look bad.

That's why they call them business sox

by egriffey on Jun 19, 2009 5:14 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't work for a newspaper.

But I did take 8 years of language stuff in 4 years of HS. Eh, writers can’t earn a living unless you hit the writers lotto.

And I agree, it looked bad.

"Back on the scene, with a gangsta lean" RW
"you gonna lose your horse. seriously." FX2
Yes we can! November 04, 2008

by Rodney on Jun 19, 2009 5:46 PM CDT up reply actions

I did.

For me, ignoring Teixeira was just as glaring, especially since so many of the comps for Smoak have (rightly or wrongly) been based on the erstwhile Rangers star.

And, of course, Wilson didn’t mention that Davis had also played 30 games for Frisco in 2007. Or that Smoak is all of 9 months younger than Davis. Or that Davis transferred to Navarro College from Texas before his freshman year and planned to go to Arkansas if he didn’t sign with the Rangers, whereas Smoak played for three years at South Carolina. (The three years of NCAA ball is another Teixeira parallel, of course.)

by Snark on Jun 19, 2009 5:29 PM CDT up reply actions

I remember earlier in the year..

Chris had went to a heavier bat to brake out of slump and that seem to help for a game or two, but he sure does seem like he need to get a lighter bat and speed up his swing now. Does anyone else recall this?

by diamond_dave on Jun 19, 2009 4:15 PM CDT reply actions