If he can shorten up his swing so that he'll catch up to the fastball more consistently, look out. He already knocks the stuffing out of mistake off speed pitches, so he's ahead of the game. If we can get him to shorten the swing and let the bat and his natural power (which is bigger than Crede's) do the work on those good heaters, look out. He'll never be the fielder Joe is, but he seems on the path to adequacy in the field, and although he will K a lot, he oozes potential at the bat.

Edited July 25, 200718 yr by whitesoxfan101

Fields is the anti-Carlos Lee when it comes to home runs. You can never tell if he got enough, as he looks so goofy busting his ass out of the box.

If he can shorten up his swing so that he'll catch up to the fastball more consistently, look out. He already knocks the stuffing out of mistake off speed pitches, so he's ahead of the game. If we can get him to shorten the swing and let the bat and his natural power (which is bigger than Crede's) do the work on those good heaters, look out.

 

I don't think his swing being too long is actually the 'problem' (I use that word loosely, seeing that Fields is at about a 90 OPS+, just about as good as could have been expected). When looking at his K numbers in the minors for the past two years, I feared Brian Anderson-like longness in his swing, and that's far from the case.

 

My only idea about why he swings through so many pitches is because he gets 'overlocked' (if that makes sense) on a plan before the pitch is even coming that he can't adjust quick enough. For example -- a couple people pointed out that Fields, in his AB against Andrew Miller, didn't swing at the first two pitches (fastball strikes) because he was looking for breaking pitches.

 

On another note, I've been very impressed with Fields' discipline at the plate. The pitches he swings at are generally good pitches. Maybe I'm wrong here, but it's rare to see him swing at a slider in the dirt.

 

For somebody who wasn't impressed with the idea of Fields being the future at 3B, I sure have been pleasantly surprised. He's one of the reasons to watch this team the rest of the way.

On another note, I've been very impressed with Fields' discipline at the plate. The pitches he swings at are generally good pitches. Maybe I'm wrong here, but it's rare to see him swing at a slider in the dirt.

 

This is an ecellent point. One of the best ways to judge a younger hitter is to see what sort of "baseball eye" they have.

 

Fields will be a solid hitter.

I believe Joe Crede is a guess hitter more than anything. This was why he pops up a ton of hanging breaking pitches. Fields has really good strike zone recognition and as stated earlier swings and misses good pitches. I think his bat speed will pick up as he is a pretty strong guy. I also think his defense will get better. I think major league fields are better maintained and thirdbasemen get more comfortable over there the morethey play (see both Crede and Aramis Ramirez). I also think this is the only position that you have to be in the majors to get an idea on how to play it consistently.

 

 

 

 

fields really needs to work on the K's. He is already over half way to 100. He has a good eye, but he pushes his luck a lot by looking at good pitches. I would like to see him a bit more aggressive up there. And he really needs to learn how to hit the fastball above 90 mph.

fields really needs to work on the K's. He is already over half way to 100. He has a good eye, but he pushes his luck a lot by looking at good pitches. I would like to see him a bit more aggressive up there. And he really needs to learn how to hit the fastball above 90 mph.

 

I agree he needs to somehow increase his contact rate. I'm not sure being more aggressive is a good way to do it. He sees a lot pitches and walks somewhat. It's actually one of his strengths. He definitely has trouble with heat, but the HR off Miller was on a 94 MPH fastball (according to Gameday).

I agree he needs to somehow increase his contact rate. I'm not sure being more aggressive is a good way to do it. He sees a lot pitches and walks somewhat. It's actually one of his strengths. He definitely has trouble with heat, but the HR off Miller was on a 94 MPH fastball (according to Gameday).

Well, he looks at too many pitches right there for strike three. He needs to attack to those pitches instead of hoping the umpire will call it a ball.

Well, he looks at too many pitches right there for strike three. He needs to attack to those pitches instead of hoping the umpire will call it a ball.

Give him some time. He's been in the big leagues for what, 1/5 of a season so far? I keep trying to say, about all of these guys, Floyd, Fields, Owens, etc., there is a big jump even from AAA to the big leagues, and a steep learning curve. It takes almost everyone, even sometimes the most talented players anywhere, to adapt and learn. Look at a guy like Jose Reyes. When he came up, he swung at everything. Now, he's learned how to be more patient, and he's turned himself into a monster of a player. It takes guys time to turn into what they project to be, and hopefully our organization is good enough to harness the talent in teh guys we've got.

Yeah, Balta...except nobody projects Owens or Floyd to do much. Floyd's projected by a lot of people to be what, exactly? Fifth starter or fourth at best? Owens is seen as a future fourth outfielder, I think, by many people. Nobody thinks these guys'll be Jose Reyes.

 

But I do believe in Fields' future. I like him more by the day, and I'm happy to say I was wrong about him, or it seems like it.

fields really needs to work on the K's. He is already over half way to 100. He has a good eye, but he pushes his luck a lot by looking at good pitches. I would like to see him a bit more aggressive up there. And he really needs to learn how to hit the fastball above 90 mph.

Fields splits:

 

June: .218 .274 .333 SLG 32k 6bb 78AB

July: .275 .348 .513 SLG 22k 9bb 80AB

 

 

I see a trend. And its decreasing k's slightly increasing walks, and obviously more contact.

Edited July 25, 200718 yr by RockRaines

I just am really worried about counting on former football players being stars. Kirk Gibson was a good player, Bo Jackson was too, but he was a total athletic freak. The White Sox had Borchard who I really liked, is a good guy and a hard worker and just can't make it happen, and KW. KW was the ex football player who struggled early, but hit .330 or so in Birmingham and came to the Sox where he hit .281 in almost 400 ABs his rookie year. I remember hearing what a star he was going to be and why wouldn't you think so, he could hit , run, he was strong. He hit .186 the rest of his career. Fields is more patient, and has more power than KW. He's also better with the glove at 3rd. The strikeouts really concern me. I wouldn't dump Crede just yet. If anything, I would let Fields see what he could do at second base.

Edited July 25, 200718 yr by Dick Allen

Fields splits:

 

June: .218 .274 .333 SLG 32k 6bb 78AB

July: .275 .348 .513 SLG 22k 9bb 80AB

I see a trend. And its decreasing k's slightly increasing walks, and obviously more contact.

and while i remain skeptical about owens improved month of july, i think in the case of fields that it was just a matter of settling in and adjusting to big league play, and i really believe its a sign that he will be a .270-.280 hitter with 20-25 HR as early as next year

 

and really his BB rate isnt terrible, roughly one every 10 ABs....something that for a rookie will probably get even better

Edited July 25, 200718 yr by daa84

Fields fouls off an insane amount of pitches. As someone so brilliantly mentioned earlier, he doesn't K too often on pitches in the dirt/sliders. Rather, he swings through a lot of high fastballs, and that's something I'm confident he'll improve upon.

Fields fouls off an insane amount of pitches. As someone so brilliantly mentioned earlier, he doesn't K too often on pitches in the dirt/sliders. Rather, he swings through a lot of high fastballs, and that's something I'm confident he'll improve upon.

the quality of his swings is better than credes ever has been....he simply doesn't take those swings that just look like they hurt

Josh Fields no doubt has a future with the white sox. In the short term, though, it should be in LF as the sox still have Crede for 3B. If Carlos Lee can play LF, Fields definitely can.

 

Getting rid of Crede while his value is beyond low makes little sense. Esp. if his medical diagnosis is OK for 2008 which it seems to be. The sox would have to fill LF with a free agent for the $5 mill Crede will make.

 

 

Fields in LF and Crede at 3B for $5.37 mill is probably are far better value in terms of production and dollars than Fields at 3B and unknown free agent LFer. Having Fields and Crede play at the same time leaves the sox with one less hole to fill. and the sox have a LOT of other holes to fill.

Fields with 2 different at bats that showed his progress today. First, with 2nd and 3rd 1 out, he falls behind 0-2 against the uber nasty Verlander. 3 weeks ago? He probably whiffs, but today he's able to get the grounder to short and score the man at 3rd for an RBI and get the guy on 2nd over to 3rd with 2 outs. Then of course the 9th. He fouls off his first bunt try. Fields isn't a great bunter (he had even screwed up a bunt his last time up), but he finds a way to get a decent bunt down to get Pods over to 2nd, and whatta ya know the Tigers have a 2006 World Series flashback and the crappy throw leads to Pods scoring. About as productive an 0 for 3 as a guy can have today for Josh.

Edited July 26, 200718 yr by whitesoxfan101

I would keep them both and see how crede starts the year. His fielding saves runs and wins games. And, he was a clutch hitter. Move fields to lf.

If we have talent, why trade it away for something less. That seems to be what we're getting out of recent deals because of bad scouting.

If we have talent, why trade it away for something less. That seems to be what we're getting out of recent deals because of bad scouting.

Is that true? I don't think the Sox have made an obviously bad trade in a while. You can argue they should have gotten more for Garcia and McCarthy, but I don't think the lost either trade.

Is that true? I don't think the Sox have made an obviously bad trade in a while. You can argue they should have gotten more for Garcia and McCarthy, but I don't think the lost either trade.

No. We didn't lose the trades, but we didn't gain what we expected -- or were promised by KW. If we are getting rid of someone productive, I want a proven player in return, not someone our scouts or Kenny say can't miss. We've seen the misses.