Time to sit Hart, play Gross

[JohnBriggs12]

Hart's walk totals have dropped to Estrada and Mench levels since the All Star Break (5 in 125 AB's). His OBP in July was .261 and so far in August it's .259.

 

He needs a break. Gross, coming off a nice stint at Nashville, needs to play. He's always been able to get on at a decent clip.

[lukevan]

I'm on this train. I'd like to see Gross maybe 3 games per week for awhile. Spell Hart a bit and get him some rest, he already said about a month ago that he was getting a bit fatigued.

[Mr QL]

I'd prefer not to become a even worse defensive team. Gross won't bring any more the Corey is bringing now to the plate. Bill Hall on the other hand...

[endaround]

Gross is a fine defender. People just assume he isn't based off of one play.

[Fatter than Joey]

Gross will bring a better OBP than Hart.

[Lil Dummy]

Getting Gross spot starts against righties is a fine idea.

 

Sitting Hart in favor of Gross vs. a lefty starter would not be a fine idea.

[afeter]

no. Leave hart alone

[Brian the Automator]

I'm on board with a platoon until Corey gets it going. Since June 25th, Corey's hitting .232/.277/.469.

[JJHardy7]

Let's not bring up defense since some fans think Braun should be moved to the OF. Neither of them are great at defense, but I could see giving Hart a little rest.

[JohnBriggs12]

Hart and Hardy have combined for 1 walk this entire month. That's right, our 1 and 2 hitters, who's job it is to get on base have one walk in a combined 110 AB's. Now obviously pitchers are coming right after them because they are followed by Fielder and Braun, so they should be getting plenty of pitches to hit , right? Yes, but neither is doing much hitting either. Hart is batting .241 this month and Hardy is hitting .250 And we wonder why we can't score runs consistently?

 

Obviously both are not used to playing everyday over the course of a major league season. Hart was a backup for most of last year, Hardy sat out most of the season. Hardy has no viable backup, only the weak hitting Counsell. Hart on the other hand has a fresh backup in Gross, who has always shown the ability to draw a walk here and there.

 

Actually if you think about it, this team could use the 05 version of Brady Clark. Though he didn't walk much, he got a lot of hits and with pitchers pounding the zone at the top of the lineup, he would have a field day.

[recte44]

Brady still hasn't been activated by the Red Sox. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[jhpc12]

Boy this is a fickle bunch! Yesterday when Corey's name was omited from the line up there was an uprising, bench Hall leave Corey alone. I think Corey has played 20 straight games and maybe he does need a day off, but platooning him and letting him get 3 to 4 games a week is ridiculous and if anybody things this then they have a screw loose too.

 

Today it's time to sit Corey and take away his at bats. I am an avid Brewer fan and have been for years. I really like the make up of this kid. He has been moved all over the field, asked to bat in every postion except ninth in the order at some point and time, and never complains.

 

I watch every game, every night and apprently we are not watching the same game. Agreed I would like to see more walks from Corey, but guys he's 6'6" tall, it's pretty hard to work the count when you have such a large strike zone. Over the last 12 games he has hit the ball as well as anybody on the team, except for maybe Jenkins. Go into your archives and look at Corey's outs. He has probably 10-15 line drive outs, a foot either way and you all would be praising him. Only half would have had to fall and he is a .290 hitter.

 

If you look at everybodies average in August they are all sub par, with they exception of Prince, Braun, and Jenkins. But even at that when Corey has had an opprtunity to drive in a run for the most part he has. He has driven in 9 in the first half of the month and in the second half if he has the same opportunities I believe he will match or exceed that number.

 

Final note look at the stats of the starters with exception of Prince everybody is averaging about 2 walks per 50 plate appearances in the month of August. So tell me who is out producing him.

And finally I believe you can give up alittle for the defense he has been playing. I haven't seen many balls that he can get to that he doesn't catch and check web gems he seems to be a regular on there lately.

[Brian the Automator]

but platooning him and letting him get 3 to 4 games a week is ridiculous and if anybody things this then they have a screw loose too.

If you're going to post here, you're going to need to respect other people's opinions, even if you disagree with them.

 

[lukevan]

Boy this is a fickle bunch! Yesterday when Corey's name was omited from the line up there was an uprising, bench Hall leave Corey alone.

 

Also, try not to attribute an opinion to an entire board of fans, especially since there are so many that visit and post on these forums; there are going to be many people that feel a certain way and many that feel another. I've wanted Gross to get more ABs all season and I'm hoping, since Hart is not as hot right now, that he will get an opportunity.

 

And I don't think anyone is saying bench Corey a lot, just against some RHP since Gross is a lefty and hits righties basically as well as Jenks.

[JJHardy7]

I really like Hart, but he could use a day off and it would make sense to get Gross some ABs since he's coming off of a hot stint. I think the original post makes more of a discussion of resting Hart while the subject seems to say bench him. Maybe that has led to confusion?

[brettac1]

I'd much rather see Gross get playing time in CF (or in RF with Hart playing CF) against some RHP's than just starting to sit Hart. Hall has been more consistently bad than Hart has this season, so I think he's the one that should be losing the AB's. Not to mention that now that Gross is up Mench should NEVER play against a RHP.

[EinhornIsFinkle]

Might as well give Gross a shot as he can't be any worse.

[kmcasper23]

Hart is a fine player. Power, Speed, Good Outfielder. I just don't see Gross being that same type of complete player that Hart is. He may be in a slump but the entire team is so why bench Hart at this point? He still is hitting like .270 with 19 HR's. I say leave him in the lineup. I would bench Menchkins first before Hart.

[AJAY]

Hart is playing his first full seaon and is doing a fine job. I say let him play.

[rluzinski]

I'm on board with a platoon until Corey gets it going. Since June 25th, Corey's hitting .232/.277/.469.

 

It's a selective sample and it's really not that bad, anyway. Low OBP and lot's of power. You can't simply play a guy when he's hot and play a guy less when he isn't because it's all almost completely unpredictable, anyway (baring injury, of course).

 

Gross spelling Hall and Hart against lefties a couple times a week is not a bad idea. Giving away a significant chunk of Hart's playing time away because of a bad 125 AB is not. Hart is a young, promising player who's still learning the ropes. He's not going to develop any faster on the bench.

[trwi7]

I'm on board with a platoon until Corey gets it going. Since June 25th, Corey's hitting .232/.277/.469.

 

It's a selective sample and it's really not that bad, anyway. Low OBP and lot's of power. You can't simply play a guy when he's hot and play a guy less when he isn't because it's all almost completely unpredictable, anyway (baring injury, of course).

 

Gross spelling Hall and Hart against lefties a couple times a week is not a bad idea. Giving away a significant chunk of Hart's playing time away because of a bad 125 AB is not. Hart is a young, promising player who's still learning the ropes. He's not going to develop any faster on the bench.

 

Just thought I'd point out the bolded part rluz.http://static.yuku.com/v2//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/smile.gif

 

I'm fine with Gross getting a few spot starts. Not a big fan of taking away time from Hart though. Maybe a few starts a week in CF and RF but I'm not in favor of a complete platoon like Jenkins and Mench in LF.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Since Gross falls over whenever a routine ball comes to him, I suggest we keep Hart out there in RF and let Gross try to draw his walk when he bats for the pitcher in the 9th inning.

[Brian the Automator]

I'm on board with a platoon until Corey gets it going. Since June 25th, Corey's hitting .232/.277/.469.

 

It's a selective sample and it's really not that bad, anyway. Low OBP and lot's of power. You can't simply play a guy when he's hot and play a guy less when he isn't because it's all almost completely unpredictable, anyway (baring injury, of course).

 

Gross spelling Hall and Hart against lefties a couple times a week is not a bad idea. Giving away a significant chunk of Hart's playing time away because of a bad 125 AB is not. Hart is a young, promising player who's still learning the ropes. He's not going to develop any faster on the bench.

Yes, it's a selective sample, but it's not like I took 125 scattered at-bats from various points in the season. It's a stretch that includes all of July and every game of August so far. Lot's of power is great, perfect for the bench.

 

It's not about player development anymore, and I'll cite Weeks as an example. I'm a big Corey Hart fan too, but his bat went to .720-ish OPS-ville when July rolled around, and it hasn't come back yet. If the Brewers end up 5 games back of someone else in the NL central, by all means, play Corey every day. Until then, you're going to get better production out of a Gross/Hart platoon, at least in my opinion.

 

[Brian the Automator]

Since Gross falls over whenever a routine ball comes to him, I suggest we keep Hart out there in RF and let Gross try to draw his walk when he bats for the pitcher in the 9th inning.

Exaggerating to make a point is never a good idea.

 

[rluzinski]

Yes, it's a selective sample, but it's not like I took 125 scattered at-bats from various points in the season.

 

Whenever you take the liberty of selecting the starting and end points of a sample to make it's average as high or as low as possible, you should expect it to be more extreme than a random one. Considering that the resulting numbers is a .279 OBP and an .746 OPS, that just doesn't sound that bad to me for a 125 AB selective sample.

 

The larger issue is whether the above numbers is real evidence that we should expect Hart to continue "slumping" to begin with. It's just not very compelling, IMO. The uncertainty of a 125 AB selective sample is too large and the slump too slight. Now, if the slump is larger and/or we have other evidence that suggests lower performance, fine. Weeks is a great example. He has been fighting the effects of a previous injury and has marred in a terrible slump.

 

Maybe Brewers' coaching staff or scouts could point out other evidence to suggest Hart is doing something that shows we should expect his struggles to continue. If it's just the numbers themselves, I don't see the benefit of benching Hart 2-3 times a week.

Since Gross falls over whenever a routine ball comes to him, I suggest we keep Hart out there in RF and let Gross try to draw his walk when he bats for the pitcher in the 9th inning.

The guy can play a passable CFer, so acting like he's a terrible corner outfielder doesn't add up.