Hicks and Mullins back this week…what happens with the roster?

[tntoriole]

21 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

What vets have contributed significantly that I am saying I want gone?

I have said Mateo and Hicks. You believe they have made significant contributions and made them recently enough where they are justifiably staying here over younger, higher upside players?

You know what player I am referring to.. there is an entire thread of people bashing him since March lol 

Edited August 11, 2023 by tntoriole

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, tntoriole said:

You know what player I am referring to.. there is an entire thread of people bashing him since March lol 

Is it Mountcastle?

 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

If Hicks hits in August and Sept I expect him to be on the playoff roster.

I also expect Mateo be on the playoff roster to pinch run.   Most teams can't stop him from stealing.

My personal feeling is that pinch running is highly overrated.  In 92 games this year, Mateo is a +3 runs baserunner.  Obviously a situation could arise in a tight playoff game where a speedy baserunner could come in handy, but there’s a lot more situations where a good hitter off the bench comes in handy.  

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, tntoriole said:

You know what player I am referring to.. there is an entire thread of people bashing him since March lol 

Yes, the guy who has a .3 fWAR and has been one of the worst defensive players in ML baseball and has an OBp barely above 300.

That said, I’m not asking for him to be gone.

Im asking for Hicks and Mateo to be gone. So, what significant contributions have they made that justify them being here and not giving chances to younger better players who have a great chance to improve immensely?

Edited August 11, 2023 by Sports Guy

[sportsfan8703]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Yes, the guy who has a .3 fWAR and has been one of the worst defensive players in ML baseball and has an OBp barely above 300.

That said, I’m not asking for him to be gone.

Im asking for Hicks and Mateo to be gone. So, what significant contributions have they made that justify them being here and not giving chances to younger better players who have a great chance to improve immensely?

Why Hicks?  He’s a SH that can play CF.

[AdamK]

FWIW

(league average is 27 ft/sec)

Edited August 11, 2023 by AdamK

[tntoriole]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Yes, the guy who has a .3 fWAR and has been one of the worst defensive players in ML baseball and has an OBp barely above 300.

That said, I’m not asking for him to be gone.

Im asking for Hicks and Mateo to be gone. So, what significant contributions have they made that justify them being here and not giving chances to younger better players who have a great chance to improve immensely?

You didn’t want Frazier to be signed at all and you along with many here have  said throughout that you wanted him replaced by  Ortiz, Westburg,  or the fan behind the dugout.   I disagreed then and throughout and now. 
 

Hicks made substantial contributions when Mullins went down.. maybe he falls off or maybe with a rest break he again streaks .. I am fine with him being the backup 4th outfielder unless he performs say like Cowser has. 

 

I have been done with the Elias obsession with Mateo for some time. I thought he was fixable but isn’t.   As his defense has declined, I would not keep him for speed alone.  I think they want to still try to fix him and not DFA him. 

[Sports Guy]

9 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Why Hicks?  He’s a SH that can play CF.

Just because he can stand in CF doesn’t mean he can play it.

He has been a low 600 OPS guy with poor defense since that initial few weeks. 

[sportsfan8703]

12 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Just because he can stand in CF doesn’t mean he can play it.

He has been a low 600 OPS guy with poor defense since that initial few weeks. 

It’s a good point. I don’t think Hicks is the guy who he was the first two weeks here. He’s a very streaky hitter. I do get your point about Cowser coming around. He is getting “Gunnar’d” a little bit in terms of he just can’t catch a break. However, I think Hicks is the better August option, and Cowser can go down to AAA and get everyday ABs. Then re-evaluate come September. Also, It’s not like Hicks is a staple of health. 

[banks703]

21 minutes ago, AdamK said:

FWIW

(league average is 27 ft/sec)

Yeah, man. JW has wheels. That's a big part of his game this overlooked because he's not really a stolen base threat but it's also a reason why he was learning the OF in the minors. Jorge is elite but JW being right behind him is impressive for JW. 

[Frobby]

22 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Just because he can stand in CF doesn’t mean he can play it.

Unfortunately, it looks like you can say the same of Cowser.  I’ve been very disappointed in his defense in CF.

[Aristotelian]

29 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Yes, the guy who has a .3 fWAR and has been one of the worst defensive players in ML baseball and has an OBp barely above 300.

That said, I’m not asking for him to be gone.

Im asking for Hicks and Mateo to be gone. So, what significant contributions have they made that justify them being here and not giving chances to younger better players who have a great chance to improve immensely?

I know we are beating this to death and don't expect to convince you, but over any timeframe, whether it is the last 50 AB's or 100 AB's or 1000 AB's, Hicks has easily outperformed what Cowser has shown so far. He's hit .784 for us, .695 for the year. Even with .642 last year, if you conservatively put Hicks' expectation over/under at .650, could you honestly say you expect Cowser to exceed that right now? Hicks has produced 0.6 WAR for us, so he has contributed. Even at 0.0 WAR for the year, that exceeds Cowser. Defensively, I'd call it a wash at best.

Finally, in addition to not being a switch hitter, the other thing that works against Cowser is the option. If Hicks is as terrible as you think over the next month, we can always call Cowser back for 3-4 weeks. If we get rid of Hicks, he is gone.

You have to be taking a gigantic leap of faith to believe that Cowser will turn things around right now. It is impossible to argue with faith, either you believe or you don't.  

 

[Aristotelian]

15 minutes ago, banks703 said:

Yeah, man. JW has wheels. That's a big part of his game this overlooked because he's not really a stolen base threat but it's also a reason why he was learning the OF in the minors. Jorge is elite but JW being right behind him is impressive for JW. 

Also leading the team in OAA. He is really emerging as a good player in some ways I did not necessarily expect.

[Getz]

 

 

 

[Getz]

Glad they didn't send Cowser down.