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Sunday, June 12, 2005 |
Three Seop Choi! Dodger 4, Twins 3
Damn, what a game! Everything you could ask for: taut pitching on both sides, with D.J. Houlton keeping the Dodgers in it in an oddly shaky way: though he gave up nine hits -- the entirety of Minnesota's offense for the night -- he also struck out eight. Houlton earned Tracy's confidence well.
Of course, the afternoon really belonged to Hee Seop Choi and his three homers. I fully expect him to go on an extended slump now; how often is it that guys hit three dingers in a single game, and six homers in three games? Yet for all that, he still is a badly flawed player; how long did it take him to get this hot? Recall how much Beltre started to get on our nerves by failing to perform until the halfway mark, or even after. On the other hand, they are next going to play the ... Royals.
Yeah.
Kudos to Tracy for pulling Carrara after the first sign of trouble, i.e. after the sac bunt. He was not looking healthy at all.
Comments:
Badly flawed? No. Streaky? Yes. You suggest that it took him this long to get hot. I would suggest that from April 25th to May 15th when he raised his OPS from .605 to .977 he was pretty hot as well. He's a young player who's still learning to make adjustments. As such, he's going to go through good and bad stretches. Over time, if Tracy gives him the chance, we should see more good than bad. As far as his immediate prospects, I'm sure Choi is drooling over the opportunity to face Jose Lima on Wednesday.
# posted by 
: 6/12/2005 09:06:00 PM
: 6/12/2005 09:06:00 PM
I'm With you, Rob.
Before this weekend Choi was batting about .250 and averaging a homerun every ten games. Not horrible unless you consider that he did it under very controlled circumstances (no left handers).
When he can perform over an entire season in a non platoon capacity I will jump on the bandwagon.
Rick
Before this weekend Choi was batting about .250 and averaging a homerun every ten games. Not horrible unless you consider that he did it under very controlled circumstances (no left handers).
When he can perform over an entire season in a non platoon capacity I will jump on the bandwagon.
Rick
# posted by : 6/13/2005 06:58:00 AM
: 6/13/2005 06:58:00 AM
It's not about jumping on the bandwagon, Rick, it's about failing to realize that Choi already did have a hot streak this season, so saying that he hadn't heated up at all yet this year is just factually incorrect.
# posted by : 6/13/2005 08:10:00 AM
: 6/13/2005 08:10:00 AM
The guy was posting a .243 average coming into the series. From May 12 to June 8, he had zero multihit games. That's an extremely streaky hitter. I'm not sure I'd necessarily stand by "badly flawed", but "flawed" for sure. As for the lefties part of the equasion, supposedly he did fine against them in the minors, so I suspect that's just a residual fact left over from Dustyitis (i.e., he was coddled in Chicago).
I think part of his streakiness is due to the platoon. It seems like it would be very difficult to be consistant when your playing time is limited like it is. Not only that, but every time he has a bad few games Tracy begins to play him less and less, which couldn't make it easier to get back on track. I love the all-star level performance of our Saenz/Choi platoon. But, I wonder, if Choi is to be our first basement of the future, maybe we should just have him play every day (vs. righties and lefties) and let him work on his consistancy. We could get Saenz in at third base and as a pinch hitter.
Adam
Adam
# posted by : 6/13/2005 10:16:00 AM
: 6/13/2005 10:16:00 AM
As Jon said, ironically enough the Saenz/Choi situation automatically gives the Dodgers a credible DH through the remainder of interleague, which will be played in AL parks.
Indeed. It is very ironic that the Dodgers DH, Olmedo Saenz, is more credible than the Angels DH situation (.234/.290/.289 overall).
# posted by : 6/13/2005 12:11:00 PM
: 6/13/2005 12:11:00 PM
Yes, if only we weren't so short on quality outfielders. Whenever I see a lineup with both Repko and/or Grabowski, I cringe. It's too bad Saenz can't play left field.
Adam
Adam
# posted by : 6/13/2005 12:11:00 PM
: 6/13/2005 12:11:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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