Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 32s32 seconds ago

 

Ventura once again not ruling out Abreu playing third in Milwaukee next week for Interleague. Abreu is willing but hasn't heard anything yet

You might as well start a thread....Abreu goes down with season ending oblique or ACL injury fielding push bunt from player xyz.

Edited May 8, 201510 yr by caulfield12

Do I have this right? White Sox want to put Abreu at third in order to get LaRoche's bat in the lineup? Let's start an over/under on how many bunt hits Brewers get.

Do I have this right? White Sox want to put Abreu at third in order to get LaRoche's bat in the lineup? Let's start an over/under on how many bunt hits Brewers get.

 

I think they will do this to get LaRoche 2-3 at bats. If there's a pitching change, switch Abreu to first and have the pitcher bat in LaRoche's spot (I'd stick him 5 in these kind of lineups with Avi hitting 4th), pinch hit Gillaspie if that spot comes up again and play Beckham at third hitting 9th. Hopefully Abreu can handle it for 5-6 innings.

Edited May 10, 201510 yr by soxfan2014

If he is at least a wash for Gillaspie defensively, could they move him there permanently? It would solve a problem moving forward and would allow the White Sox to look for the best pure hitter to replace the DH slot.

This makes no sense at all. Abreu would be terrible over there and LaRoche isn't hitting anyway.

I believe they nixed the idea since Abreu is moving kind of gingerly on that foot. He will probably split time at 1st. They'll find ways to get LaRoche AB since he has looked somewhat alive lately.

This makes no sense at all. Abreu would be terrible over there and LaRoche isn't hitting anyway.

LaRoche has an OBP about .355.

Start Jose Monday & Tuesday, let Adam start Wednesday. That gives Abreu two straight days off with the Thursday off day. It's not that difficult.

Start Jose Monday & Tuesday, let Adam start Wednesday. That gives Abreu two straight days off with the Thursday off day. It's not that difficult.

Is there a righty scheduled to pitch wednesday?

Is there a righty scheduled to pitch wednesday?

 

Yup. The Brewers's entire rotation consists of RHP.

LaRoche has an OBP about .355.

The lack of power though has meant he's only been around league average. Gillaspie's been about 10% below league average. Probably not worth it if Abreu's as big a butcher as he probably would be.

The lack of power though has meant he's only been around league average. Gillaspie's been about 10% below league average. Probably not worth it if Abreu's as big a butcher as he probably would be.

I don't think it will happen since Abreu fouled the ball off his leg, but LaRoche has been much better lately and Gillaspie is also a butcher at 3B.

Abreu should not even be playing first base he is terrible there. Laroche is an excellent defender and should half the games at first.

LaRoche has an OBP about .355.

 

And a SLG of .341, good for a below league average wRC+ overall. OBP overrates base-clogging singles hitters. Study came out about a year ago that identified the misperceived value of walks/singles for slow dudes.

And a SLG of .341, good for a below league average wRC+ overall. OBP overrates base-clogging singles hitters. Study came out about a year ago that identified the misperceived value of walks/singles for slow dudes.

That is what I was saying about Adam Dunn for years but you guys weren't buying it. The thing with LaRoche is, he is hitting much better lately, and I bet if you looked at his numbers when he isn't a DH, they, sample size be damned, are MVP-like.

 

I think it's moot because if Abreu isn't 100%, I doubt he plays 3B.

 

Edit:

LaRoche when he plays 1B:

 

.471/.571/.942

 

And I wouldn't expect LaRoche to hit like that if he continued to play 1B, but I think it does show that he is having problem adjusting to being a DH rather than just not having the ability anymore.

Edited May 11, 201510 yr by Dick Allen

That is what I was saying about Adam Dunn for years but you guys weren't buying it. The thing with LaRoche is, he is hitting much better lately, and I bet if you looked at his numbers when he isn't a DH, they, sample size be damned, are MVP-like.

 

I think it's moot because if Abreu isn't 100%, I doubt he plays 3B.

 

Edit:

LaRoche when he plays 1B:

 

.471/.571/.942

 

And I wouldn't expect LaRoche to hit like that if he continued to play 1B, but I think it does show that he is having problem adjusting to being a DH rather than just not having the ability anymore.

All 5 of the games where LaRoche has started at 1b were games where there was a RHP on the mound (2 of them were Mike Pelfrey). I think it shows that Robin uses him at 1b when there's a RHP on the mound and he's still terrible against LHP like he has been the last 2.25 seasons so any time you select games where he's playing against RHP his numbers look a lot better.

All 5 of the games where LaRoche has started at 1b were games where there was a RHP on the mound (2 of them were Mike Pelfrey). I think it shows that Robin uses him at 1b when there's a RHP on the mound and he's still terrible against LHP like he has been the last 2.25 seasons so any time you select games where he's playing against RHP his numbers look a lot better.

So will Milwaukee be starting RHP?

 

Overall vs. RHP he's .235/.381/.382, and he has faced LHP in relief as a 1B. He also has an .833 OPS the last week. He's coming along. I would love to see him play 1B more myself, but I think they are afraid of speeding up the process of Abreu being a full time DH.

So will Milwaukee be starting RHP?

 

Overall vs. RHP he's .235/.381/.382, and he has faced LHP in relief as a 1B. He also has an .833 OPS the last week. He's coming along. I would love to see him play 1B more myself, but I think they are afraid of speeding up the process of Abreu being a full time DH.

Peralta, Fiers and Nelson are the probables this series for the Milwaukee. All of them are RHP.

All 5 of the games where LaRoche has started at 1b were games where there was a RHP on the mound (2 of them were Mike Pelfrey). I think it shows that Robin uses him at 1b when there's a RHP on the mound and he's still terrible against LHP like he has been the last 2.25 seasons so any time you select games where he's playing against RHP his numbers look a lot better.

 

Pelfrey is a Top Ten AL pitcher at least so far this season.

 

Pelfrey is a Top Ten AL pitcher at least so far this season.

 

Based on what? A lucky as f*** ERA?

 

He's started 6 games this season and has pitched 34.1 innings. That alone tells me he's not a top 10 pitcher. If you aren't averaging 6 IP a start, you are not a top 10 pitcher in the league.

Based on what? A lucky as f*** ERA?

 

He's started 6 games this season and has pitched 34.1 innings. That alone tells me he's not a top 10 pitcher. If you aren't averaging 6 IP a start, you are not a top 10 pitcher in the league.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/pitching/_/league/al/sort/WARBR

 

Other than the Texas pitchers, all those names at the top definitely belong there.

 

It's probably not going to be sustainable....my point, though, was that Pelfrey has pitched very well SO FAR, so when Mike Pelfrey is thrown into the conversation for his typical "so-so" expected performance to make a point on one side, the actual salient point here is that LaRoche hasn't feasted off complete garbage RH pitchers.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/pitching/_/league/al/sort/WARBR

 

Other than the Texas pitchers, all those names at the top definitely belong there.

 

It's probably not going to be sustainable....my point, though, was that Pelfrey has pitched very well SO FAR, so when Mike Pelfrey is thrown into the conversation for his typical "so-so" expected performance to make a point on one side, the actual salient point here is that LaRoche hasn't feasted off complete garbage RH pitchers.

I only noted LaRoche had faced Pelfrey in 2 of those 5 games because it did show up and because it seemed worth noting. Now that I check, LaRoche is 11/16 career against Pelfrey, so hitting him well is one of those things he does.

 

If you're trying to draw conclusions like "LaRoche is a better hitter when he plays 1b" from a 6 game sample set, then "he faced a pitcher that he's hitting .688 against career in 2 of those games" matters a lot.

I only noted LaRoche had faced Pelfrey in 2 of those 5 games because it did show up and because it seemed worth noting. Now that I check, LaRoche is 11/16 career against Pelfrey, so hitting him well is one of those things he does.

 

If you're trying to draw conclusions like "LaRoche is a better hitter when he plays 1b" from a 6 game sample set, then "he faced a pitcher that he's hitting .688 against career in 2 of those games" matters a lot.

 

No, I don't think that even matters...because if the organization and Abreu himself believes he's too young to be a DH (ala Thomas), it doesn't matter about any statistics thrown out there.

 

They have LaRoche around for only two seasons, so it would be pretty shocking if they "benched" Abreu (to DH) unless he continued to regress and cost the Sox games instead of making some improvements and progressing towards being at least league average (due to the lack of qualified instruction he had coming into 2014).

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding/_/so...true/order/true

Here, LaRoche is at -0.2 and Abreu's in the middle of the pack at -0.1 for dWAR.

 

Maybe you can find the DRS if you want to make another comparison.

For some reason, I feel it won't be pretty having Abreu play third base. First of all, teams that don't get a minimum of two bunt hits a game won't be trying. Second, I just can't picture him dazzling with the glove at 3B when he is blah to lousy at first.