Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Livan Large!
Ha! I got a million of them. How about "Livan Dead Girl"? What? No White Zombie / Montreal Expos fans out there reading this blog?
Livan continued his strict adherence to the rules of Livan (great/ok/Braves) and was great against the weak NY Mets. Not as dominating in Ks as he can be but a good performance.
As for the lineup...things are getting interesting. As you probably were deafened by the buzz over the weekend, it is true; Alex Gonzalez did in fact get traded to the Padres. A sweet deal for the Expos regardless of what it got them in return. I think maybe they got cholera, but still sweet deal. He wasn't producing here, he wasn't staying here, so now, you don't even have to think about it. This should have opened up a spot for Harris BUT the rules have changed, things have gotten weird.
In the infield, it's impossible right now to keep Batista out of the lineup. I've said before - it's hard to keep him out anyway, being the only real power threat in the middle of the lineup. But when he's actually pounding the ball at a + .500 OBP with 7 HR in the last 10 games you've got to stay with that. (though the .052 OBP with 0 HR he was weighing the team down with the 10 games before this is why you got to cut him free at the end of the year 30HR/100 RBI regardless).
But that should be ok. We can still have our 2b - Harris, SS- Izturis like I want right? Unfortunately not. Izturis is slumping bad (not unexpected for a rookie in your first long stint in the majors, especially a rookie often "protected" by the pitcher) and Jamey Carroll is hot. So F-Rob is trying to split time between all these players. He actually gave half-games to both Harris and Izturis while Carroll switched positions. I don't go along with this. I think it's real important to get constant at bats 3-5 a game. I'd rather see two starting games, two off, than 1-2 at bats every game. The real issue here is Jamey Carroll, while an Ecksteinien fan favorite, is 30 years old. The younger players should be getting the at bats.
In the outfield things are just as convoluted. Rivera has played his way into a everyday starting gig. There is no denying this. He was always thought to have talent and maybe it's finally coming through. So instead of three outfield positions to work with we got two. But F-Rob really likes what he sees in Sledge even saying he thinks he'll be an everyday player next year. So that means one outfield position to try out three guys (Endy, Church, and Val). I'm afraid neither Church nor Val will get enough playing time to prove themselves. (Endy has had much of the year to impress)
Livan continued his strict adherence to the rules of Livan (great/ok/Braves) and was great against the weak NY Mets. Not as dominating in Ks as he can be but a good performance.
As for the lineup...things are getting interesting. As you probably were deafened by the buzz over the weekend, it is true; Alex Gonzalez did in fact get traded to the Padres. A sweet deal for the Expos regardless of what it got them in return. I think maybe they got cholera, but still sweet deal. He wasn't producing here, he wasn't staying here, so now, you don't even have to think about it. This should have opened up a spot for Harris BUT the rules have changed, things have gotten weird.
In the infield, it's impossible right now to keep Batista out of the lineup. I've said before - it's hard to keep him out anyway, being the only real power threat in the middle of the lineup. But when he's actually pounding the ball at a + .500 OBP with 7 HR in the last 10 games you've got to stay with that. (though the .052 OBP with 0 HR he was weighing the team down with the 10 games before this is why you got to cut him free at the end of the year 30HR/100 RBI regardless).
But that should be ok. We can still have our 2b - Harris, SS- Izturis like I want right? Unfortunately not. Izturis is slumping bad (not unexpected for a rookie in your first long stint in the majors, especially a rookie often "protected" by the pitcher) and Jamey Carroll is hot. So F-Rob is trying to split time between all these players. He actually gave half-games to both Harris and Izturis while Carroll switched positions. I don't go along with this. I think it's real important to get constant at bats 3-5 a game. I'd rather see two starting games, two off, than 1-2 at bats every game. The real issue here is Jamey Carroll, while an Ecksteinien fan favorite, is 30 years old. The younger players should be getting the at bats.
In the outfield things are just as convoluted. Rivera has played his way into a everyday starting gig. There is no denying this. He was always thought to have talent and maybe it's finally coming through. So instead of three outfield positions to work with we got two. But F-Rob really likes what he sees in Sledge even saying he thinks he'll be an everyday player next year. So that means one outfield position to try out three guys (Endy, Church, and Val). I'm afraid neither Church nor Val will get enough playing time to prove themselves. (Endy has had much of the year to impress)
