Buck: Nellie will Play LF Against Lefties, At least

[Slade-OH]

Seems really smart to bench a 2.5 WAR guy whose main value is his glove in favor of a 2.0 WAR guy whose main value is his bat.

I get the oddest feeling this is more about making Cruz happy then it is putting out the best team against LH pitching.

Odds are good that the difference in defense would more then make up the difference in offense between Lough and the DH.

Cruz and Young both put up all star caliber slash lines against left handed pitching. Plus, Lough can always be substituted back in as a defensive replacement late in the game if needed. I'm fine with this scenario

[Frobby]

Weeks ago, I had penciled Lough in for 420 PA in my projections, figuring he might sit vs. LHP. So I am not surprised. I am sure nothing is set in stone, and adjustments will be made as the season progresses.

[weams]

Cruz should be happy someone gave him a job after he turned down the QO.

Absolutely. That was a gift to a PED user.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Cruz and Young both put up all star caliber slash lines against left handed pitching. Plus, Lough can always be substituted back in as a defensive replacement late in the game if needed. I'm fine with this scenario

Yea. I'm not too upset about it. Those guys are great against lhp. Weren't soft tossing lefties really hard on us last year? Against lhp, this wouldn't be a horrible lineup:

Rf: markakis (l)

3b: machado ®

Cf: jones ®

1b: Davis (l)

Lf: Cruz ®

C: wieters (s)

Dh: young ®

Ss: hardy ®

2b: weeks (s)

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[BillySmith]

Weeks ago, I had penciled Lough in for 420 PA in my projections, figuring he might sit vs. LHP. So I am not surprised. I am sure nothing is set in stone, and adjustments will be made as the season progresses.

Sure Frobby, but Cruz? Ugh. Any bad O defense these days upsets me. It's just not us and I hope Buck is of the same mind. Sure he did BRob. If he plays Cruz and Cruz blows, we're all gonna be mad at Buck. I don't think we'll see Cruz out there that much. I think Young is cut.

[atomic]

Borderline butcher in LF ~30% of the time... "at least."

That's... nice.

He is not a bad outfielder. I don't know where people get this from. He has good range and a good arm. He is not awful like Reimold. Where do you get he is awful or are you just looking up a WAR number and not actually seen the guy play?

[wildcard]

Most people who have back problems could not swing a bat, at all. How was his range 3-4 years ago?

Better.........

[wildcard]

That would carry more water for me if Nick's decline in range had not been going on for a number of years.

Abdominal surgery before 2012.

[wildcard]

Not much. UZR since 2010

2010 - -4.8

2011 - -5.2

2012 - -13.2

2013 - -5.8

Those number don't suggest that 2013 was much different than 2010 or 2011 before the injuries.

Total Runs Saved according to the Fielding Bible since 2010

2010 -11

2011 2

2012 -7

2013 -7

RZR Revised Zone Rating

2010 .896

2011 .908

2012 .886

2013 .894

Now explain how UZR is calculated and who collects the data.

Nick Markakis, Gold Glove winner, 2011, voted by manager and coaches in the AL. Not some invisible blur.

[wildcard]

No thanks on explaining the UZR. Derek Jeter won 5 gold gloves. Then you must admit that Jeter in his career was a better SS than J.J Hardy with 5 gold gloves to just two for J.J. Hardy. Right?

Right, the future hall of famer Jeter was quite a SS in his prime.

[Frobby]

No thanks on explaining the UZR. Derek Jeter won 5 gold gloves. Then you must admit that Jeter in his career was a better SS than J.J Hardy with 5 gold gloves to just two for J.J. Hardy. Right?

End of argument.

Back on topic: Cruz is below average, but not quite the butcher some are suggesting. If he starts 45-50 games in LF it's no big deal. He'll be out of there in the late innings if we're leading.

[El Gordo]

End of argument.

Back on topic: Cruz is below average, but not quite the butcher some are suggesting. If he starts 45-50 games in LF it's no big deal. He'll be out of there in the late innings if we're leading.

Last season Cruz was -3 RS and Lough was +15. Assuming those are accurate descriptions of their relative defense, then combined in a platoon we would still be getting about 9 RS over all. Considering the offensive boost we get from Cruz facing LHP 33% of the time it seems well worth the marginal loss in defense.

[gpolee]

No thanks on explaining the UZR. Derek Jeter won 5 gold gloves. Then you must admit that Jeter in his career was a better SS than J.J Hardy with 5 gold gloves to just two for J.J. Hardy. Right?

No. JJ is a better defensive shortstop than Jeter used to be. And it's been a few years since Jeter should have found a new position.

[gpolee]

How do we even know how Cruz will play LF? He played 102 games in RF last year and zero in LF. He played only 6 games out of 151 in 2012 in LF.

Not a significant difference between RF and LF. It would be tough to translate to CF.

I hope everyone realizes that Cruz will be starting in LF in NL parks, too - even against righties.

[jtschrei]

Not surprised to hear Buck say this. I think we'll see a lot of Lough in LF. He'll definitely be a late inning defense guy at the least.

I expect Young to make the team as the DH, Reimold to start the season on the DL, Urrutia to start in AAA, and Peguero to make the team and ride some serious pine.

I could see Pearce making the team over Young because he brings a little bit of defensive flexibility (he can play 1B).

It's early, but everything is a little more clear than it was even a week ago. We'll see?