Link report for Sunday May 11th -- Hi, Mom!

[TheCrew07]

X is saying that his lack of defensive prowess makes him a DH... he doesn't have a defensive position... sort of like what people said about Fielder.

 

I don't necessarily agree that he's that bad, and he should be feeling a sense of urgency to work the heck out of that part of his game as at least in my opinion, it's the only thing holding him back. I don't know much, but I know Salome can hit and to me that's the biggest tool..

 

edit. I also think he's proving my point about being the 3rd best hitter on that team, maybe they are keeping him there so he works on taking more pitches. He's not Mench or Estrada but he doesn't BB much, he's a contact guy, but I can live with an OBP in the mid .300s.. I don't want to beat a dead horse on the batting 8th thing though, I'm just glad he's hitting.

[DrWood]

X is saying that his lack of defensive prowess makes him a DH... he doesn't have a defensive position... sort of like what people said about Fielder.

 

I don't necessarily agree that he's that bad, and he should be feeling a sense of urgency to work the heck out of that part of his game as at least in my opinion, it's the only thing holding him back. I don't know much, but I know Salome can hit and to me that's the biggest tool..

perhaps you are a better mind reader than I am. Salome has played a good bit of DH in the past, so I think he did believe he was still doing so. I had thought his main problem defensively was air-mailing throws past 2nd base; since he has no errors this season, seems like he has that fixed.

 

[jjfanec]

He looks better on passed balls this year with 3 in 21 games. He had been averaging 1 every 4 games before this year. Hopefully he can continue to lower that. He has only thrown out 4 of 22 base runners this year, so he is struggling there. But it isnt like he has a noodle for an arm like Estrada did.

[TheCrew07]

It has nothing to do with mind reading... he DH'd on his days off from playing C in the lower levels (R+ - A+) to keep his bat in the lineup.. I took X's comments that way because he's a sharp guy who follows the minor leagues closely and would know that Salome has played the majorify of his games at C. People don't stick around here very long if they post uneducated opinions...

[Never Outhustled]

Ya, I'll called him a DH because its the only position he could play at the MLB level right now. He threw out just 6 of 46 runners last year. He, according to BA, struggles calling games. He has big problems with pitches in the dirt. While he has a big arm, its the feet that usually make a difference in a catchers throw out %, and its questionable if Salome has the agility to make dramatic improvements in his footwork.

 

Obviously, I hope he can make these improvements, but progress has been slow. I understand he works hard and has a thirst to improve, along with a stong arm, but so does Rickie Weeks, and Weeks is still a very poor defender.

 

 

 

We should really continue this discussion in another thread.