Everyone has been contributing. Johnson needs to cut down on his strikeouts though A LOT of them are from looking. Can't just give outs away like that.
Maybe. But unless he's taking absolute meatballs, it's hard to say. Some batters, like Cano, can put good wood on the ball no matter where it is. Some can't. If he's not swinging at pitches that he won't be able to hit well, then it likely balances out. His strategy has him striking out looking more frequently, but it also puts him on base more often, limits the number of double plays that he'll hit into, and limits his swings to pitches he feels he can make good contact (or at least productive outs) on. That's the appeal of the "three true outcome" type of hitter.
Cap i agree with your analysis. But Fisher has taken some headscratchers. So if he's not looking for those pitches he's clearly not right. Which, I guess, is a good thing bc we should expect better.
I believe that can best be explained by Sam Elliot: "A wiser fella than myself once said, 'Sometimes, you eat the bar... and sometimes the bar, well... he eats you.'" And as a batter in baseball, the bar eats you more often than it doesn't. He's doing just fine.
I'm not too proud to not admit when I've had a change of heart. Bubba Gardner has a spot on this team. He really does completely change the game when he's on base, and he's getting on base, which is good. I'd still rather Crawford in left, but I'm growing to appreciate Gardner over Melky. I still can't stand Nick Johnson though. I still don't care about the on-base stuff. Striking out looking drives me absolutely bat-shit crazy. And no explanation of why it's safer for him to do that is going to change my mind about it. Sorry Cappy. FTR: I've correctly predicted the last 6 games. You people have your thread starter thing. I've got my actual predictions.
My predictions have been off. But don't hate, I have us off to a good star............*knock on wood* Won't go there. Great starting pitching lately.
Johnson gets on base, but it's not like he has a crap-load of runs. He has 5 runs, which is tied with Swisher (5) as the lowest on the team. For a guy batting #2 he should have way more runs. Gardner has NINE runs and a better OBP than Johnson. Screw Johnson.
But let's think about this for a second. You say Johnson is getting on base, but not scoring runs. He should have way more runs, you say. Okay... well... might not the batters behind Nick Johnson have something to do about whether or not he scores runs? And who is that, and how have they been doing? Once A-Rod starts hitting the ball harder and Tex starts hitting the ball, period, you'll see Johnson scoring more runs. Makes sense, no?
Agreed. Tex always starts the season slowly, and we're yet to see ARod really tee off. Our two best hitters are just getting started.
You're definitely correct there, and maybe once he starts scoring runs I'll feel better about him. I'm still not fond of a DH that walks more than he hits though. Especially when he Ks a lot as well. I can deal with a DH who strikes out if he's putting the ball in the seats every few games. I really can't wait to see this offense when Tex and Alex starting clubbing the ball. This is the anti-Astros.
You're probably just exaggerating to make a point, but Johnson doesn't typically walk more than he hits. He's just not hitting much right now (6 hits, 2 doubles, 1 HR). But it's early, and the way I look at it, it's a good thing that he is still able to get on base, even while he is slumping. Think about what happens when someone like Cano slumps. He provides almost zero offensive value for as long as the slump lasts. He does nothing but K and pop up to the infield... sometimes it seems like for weeks at a time. And I don't have a problem with strikeouts, in general. An out is an out. There are situations where a strikeout is worse (runner on third, less than two out), but it usually does balance out with things like GIDP and such.
