You still didn't answer the part about Phillips being excellent from an defensive point of view but still being considered a flop because he only hit .200
At least Phillips can field the position - and coming up as a shortstop not that difficult to make the move to second.
But you still haven't found out if Blake has played second at all. Moving from third to second is not like moving from the OF to first - takes some athletic skill to play second. Notice how players usually move away from second?
Hitting often comes last to a young player. But fielding is something that should come naturally.
Psss - Alex here is a hint....what are these new Indians building on? PITCHING. So having average fielders is not necessarily a good thing....
Well the Indians of the 90's would strongly disagree with your hitting comes last statement.
Thome, Baerga, Manny, and Albert Belle were the complete opposite. They were hitters first and then became average fielders.
I've looked at statistics. I can't find any evidence that Blake ever played second. I don't know about college or high school, though.
Blake is rangy, a decent baserunner, and only RBI'd ONE OUT EVERY 3 GAMES HE PLAYED IN. That is just awful. Blake had about three or four games where he drove in 4 or 5 runs each game. While that is impressive, it also means that in the other 145 games he played in he barely drove in 45-48 runs.
Just horrible offensive numbers. However, for a second baseman, they would be quite acceptable numbers. I do believe that Blake may improve this year.
I think on some hard hit balls Blake tends to flinch a bit, he would probably thrive from the slightly slower balls that are usually hit to second base.
<font size="3" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">So basically Alex is saying that someone who hasn't played the position while in professional ball, and who at the age of what 31-32 would have been in pro ball for many years now, should switch to one of the most demanding defensive positions?Originally posted by The RotoTribe:
I've looked at statistics. I can't find any evidence that Blake ever played second. I don't know about college or high school, though.
Did you ever consider that Blake is versatile and can play many positions similar to what Jolbert Cabrera does?
Oh I agree. Blake is versatile. Can play first, third, and the corner OF positions. Said all along when the Indians find a fixture for third Blake becomes a right handed hitting Utility player....
Not a starting second baseman.
I noticed that Gutierrez played a couple of innings at third today in the first intrasquad game. Does anyone think he has a chance to play this year? I don't see him as any regular, but he could be the "super sub" if he's well.
If so, that's too bad. I think there are lots better choices than Gutierrez, but with his salary, I don't think the Tribe will be willing to let go of him.
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