Forget the fact that the Cubs will be represented 8 times over in New York tonight. Forget that a few Cubs will be there that might not be as deserving as some other players (ahem… Marmol…). Forget that Kosuke Fukudome more than likely wouldnt have been elected for the game if it hadnt been for fan voting, which was more than likely influenced by quite a few votes stemming from overseas computers.
The thing that has me angered is that Geo Soto is hitting 9th.
I have no issues with the players who are hitting ahead of Soto and Fukudome, who are hitting 9th and 8th respectively, but I take great issue with where the two players appear in the batting order.
Perhaps I’m viewing things through the eyes of a Cubs fan, but as a Baseball fan it seems that a player like Kosuke Fukudome should be hitting higher than 8th. He has the 15th best OBP in the NL, higher than Chase Utley who is hitting 2nd and has an OBP of .372, and Ryan Braun who is hitting 7th with an OBP of .324.
Is it a blatant snub to Fukudome that he isnt hitting higher? No. Utley is a great hitter and makes up for his lower OBP (which isnt too much lower than Fukudome’s) with a a better average (.291 compared to Fukudome’s .279) and more power. I doubt many people could complain about Utley hitting 2nd.
But Braun 8th? Really?
He’s going to give you more power potential, sure, but what else? Fukudome’s more likely to keep an inning alive by getting on base, and Geo’s OBP is nearly 45 points higher than Braun’s. There’s no doubt that Fukudome doesnt provide much power in the 7 spot, but Geo would have given a fair amount of extra base pop and more power than most catchers.
You could make a solid argument for either player to be hitting 7th with Braun 8th, or whichever order you prefer, and it’d be a solid argument… but I cant help but wonder if Geo and Kosuke are hitting at the bottom because they’re rookies?
If they’re hitting lower than Braun because Clint Hurdle felt that Ryan Braun was the better overall threat, then fine. I’m ok with that. I just cant help but wonder if Hurdle is making the two rookies hit lower so that they can “pay their dues.”
Who knows? It might be a moot point, but if the difference ends up costing the NL the game… and perhaps home field advantage for the Cubs if they make the World Series… expect a lot of 2nd guessing.
This entry was posted
on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Ryan's View.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Iowa Cubs (AAA)
Loading ...
