Why are we so high on Gabe Gross?

[bullox]

It's easy to like guys on hot streaks.

You do realize this thread started before Gross went on his hot streak?

You do realize when a lot of the love in this thread started coming in?

[Ennder]

It's easy to like guys on hot streaks.

You do realize this thread started before Gross went on his hot streak?

You do realize when a lot of the love in this thread started coming in?

Yes but the fact he was asking why so many are high on Gabe Gross is because a lot of people wanted him to get more playing time all year long and a lot of people were excited he was coming back up. To try to say they are just on the Gabe Gross bandwagon because of a two game hot streak (almost every post was before last nights game) is simply not true.

[Brian the Automator]

A large number of people on this site were highly pro-Gross before he started playing well in this stint. Would anyone argue with this?

[lukevan]

A lot of people were high on his numbers vs. RHP last season (.294 / .400 / .508 / .908 ) in (granted) only 227 PA's v RHP in 2006.

[sheetswannabe]

Gabe Gross=Trot Nixon with a little more power

[rluzinski]

It's hard for some people to accept that some baseball fans look at more than just the last month of performance from a player to set their expectations. If that Gwynn thread is still around, you'll see a lot of people (such as myself) that were amazed that anyone would think Gwynn had more offensive value than Gross. You'd also see a lot of "Gross is hitting below .200! He suxors!" posts.

 

I'm not convinced that Gross has the stuff to be an everyday starter but he deserves to be on someone's 25 man roster.

[brettac1]

As far as I can tell, this isn't a bunch of people jumping on the mythical Gross bandwagon. I can even remember a thread that Russ started shortly after the Toronto trade prior to the '06 season where we discussed Gross. I think the same people (myself included) who liked him then are the ones who still like him now and have been the same ones that have always thought he should play a little more.

[RyDogg66]

I like Gross. I expected Jenkins to be traded this past off season and I thought Gross would step into that left field platoon role and put good numbers-similar to what Jenkins has done this year. Like Brett said, I am disappointed with how he has been handled this season.

[sgtcluels]

Obviously I'm impartial for Gross, but he seems to always gets a fairly high PC in his ABs, walks a bunch and has recently started hitting for power again. I'm just concerned he's going to take to many starts away from Hart.

 

Ohh and at the Block Party, there was another person with a Gross jersey T, I was shocked to see it. I thought I was the only one who bought the shirt at the fan zone.

[hauser42]

Gross is a solid ball player and will take over for Jenks next year. IMO with solid playing time Gross will be more productive than the streaky Jenks.

 

Not a lot of posters here know about Gross till he got to the Brewers so they dont think he is better than the homegrown boys. Gross has got some very good skills and show them in the future.

[Fatter than Joey]

I'm not convinced that Gross has the stuff to be an everyday starter but he deserves to be on someone's 25 man roster.

 

I think this is the same conclusion many people had. A team needs a 4th OFer, and I would rather it be Gross than Nix, or TGJ.

 

He can get good OBP -- and can hit HRs, he is not a total hack in the field, and is relatively cheap. Sounds like a superb 4th/5th OFer.

[clancyphile]

Gross is probably due for a shot in one of the corner OF slots. I think the Trot Nixon comparison is off - I think he's more like Burnitz.

 

Buying out Jenkins and letting Mench walk will save about $10 million to upgrade the rotation, which looks like it will need it.

[JohnBriggs12]

I don't want to turn yet another thread into a bash Yost one but I would like to point out that Yost probably figured he'd play Gross in RF more against right handers than he has, but then spring training came and we had Mench and Jenkins both whining about platooning while Gabe kept his mouth shut.

 

Ned tried to appease Mench by giving him starts in RF against right handed pitching. By doing that he further buried Gross on the bench and rusted his bat to the extent he needed 80-90 plate appearences in AAA to get himself straight.

 

I think I posted back in spring advising Gross to also whine about playing time, because if he didn't, Yost would do just as he did. He would ignore the guy with the class not to complain.

 

All while this played out, it was taken in by young players who learned, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

[mothershipconnection]

Nixon is(was) a pretty solid hitter - I'd love to get that out of Gross, but I don't think it's a great comparison. Though Nixon has big R/L splits, they aren't as big as Gabe's. Plus Nixon has the ability to hit for decent average, hitting over .300 twice. Gabe may be able to put up seasons similar to Nixon in terms of OPS, but I think the makeup will be different.