How about little love for Fausto?

[James]

I see the greatness in Grady. I wish we had the Pronk from last year with the bases loaded.

He is a good player, but i dont think he is some "Hall Of Famer, next big thing" pretty much the new Jim Edmonds.

 

[_amon _ones]

Jim Edmonds without the attitude and Roids.

 

[_amon _ones]

Seriously, though, Grady is very good and very young. He's definitely better than Edmonds. There are 2 reasons Edmonds made all of those "spectacular" catches: 1. He plays out of position almost all the time; he really has no idea where he should be for any particular hitter. 2. He made them much harder than they should be (taking slow approaches or wrong angles) so that he had to make a spectacular play, just to make the play at all. He wanted to make sure he ended up on Sportscenter.

Grady, just makes it look easy, period. He is very smart in how he plays, and it is his peers who recognize him. It was his fellow players who selected him for the all-star team, and chose him as one of the 10 best in the entire sport.

So, us "homers" aside, we are not the only ones who think Grady is special.

 

[James]

In 102 Games....he has 102 Strike Outs....

 

[chiefwahoo]

In 102 Games....he has 102 Strike Outs....

He definitely strikes out way too much for a leadoff guy... but he's not really a prototypical leadoff hitter, just the best option we have on the Tribe. Eventually he will probably settle into the #3 spot in the line-up with a little more power and plate discipline. He will be a great player for a long time. He's the least of our worries on this team.

 

[_amon _ones]

He definitely needs to cut down on the strikeouts, no question. But, he is also 5th in the league in walks. He is a complete player, similar to Alex Rodriguez, without as much pop. He is spectacular defensively. He gets on base. He is a very smart baserunner. He's 4th in the league in runs scored. He's got 55 RBI from the leadoff spot.

And, he definitely gets it. I can't name another player who has as much fun playing as he does; he's always smiling.

 

[chiefwahoo]

^ Yep _amon, it's refreshing to see guys with the attitude that Grady has. All out hustle on every single player, no matter the situation. And he always looks like he's having fun... and he probably is considering he could nail any chick within a 100 mile radius of Jacobs Field :chuckles:

 

[cavincali]

Way to early to tell with Grady, you have to have longevity.

 

[Smooth]

Him and Westbrook are awful...

I don't know what it's been with Sowers and Lee this year with the lefties, they've just seemed to have been off the whole season... When just a year ago they were solid and good middle of the rotation type of pitchers...

The thing with Lee is that people expect too much of the guy even though I think he's not getting the best of his abilities... The guy has never been a person who can keep the runs down... His best year was a 3.79 ERA and beside that year, he'd never been below a 4.00 ERA in his 4 years of more than 10 starts... He's had a problem with HR's throughout his career and that's where he gets into most of his trouble...

My position on him is the same and will never change: he's a 2nd/3rd lefty who is good at the #4/#5 spot in the rotation... If we can get some good value for him, do it... We got guys like Jeremy Sowers, Chuck Lofgren, Aaron Laffey and David Huff...

As far as Westbrook goes, he's always been a consistent #3/#4 starter and this year is just one of those down years IMHO and I think a lot of it has to do with his contract and the pressure he's put on himself... He's only 29 so it's not like he's on the decline fast... He'll be fine by next year, I don't have any worries about him...

So really I think we are looking at for sure next year Fausto, Byrd and Westbrook with one of Sowers, Lofgrean and Laffey and maybe CC or Adam Miller...

I'm actually sick of seeing Sizemore swing the bat with 2 strikes.. He has to rank dead last out of all the CF/Leadoff guys with 2 strikes...Anything high, and Sizemore is swinging at it.. Shapiro says he's one of the top players of his generation ?? I don't see it... He's a nice young ball player, but he's nowhere near a top 10 talent in the AL...

Here's my whole beef with Sizemore's play...

He's being used the wrong way... It's as simple as that... Last year was the last year he should of been in the leadoff role... The guy is that good of a hitter that he can play out of position and be successful at it... This should of been the year where he is batting 3rd where he belongs and it makes our lineup deeper...

The guy is the best all-around hitter in the lineup and I would contend that he is the best hitter on our team... And the 3rd spot is what it's..

Sizemore is a good contact ball player but he needs to be put in a spot where he can showcase his power more and not worry about getting on base and setting the table for others...

At some time in the near future Sizemore needs to be put at the number 3 hole and it should start with the addition o f Lofton because that is where he is best fit and will be down the future... But until then I don't see him getting anything other than the numbers that he's getting now...

And BTW PIP... Sizemore is averaging 4.20 pitches per plate appearance which is the highest in his career... Kevin Youkilis who is considered one of the best hitters in all of baseball and as one of the peskiest and most patient hitters is averaging 4.17 pitches per at bat...

Despite some considering him having a 'down year' his on base % is .384, which is the best of his career...

Barfield is junk as well... Thank goodness for his glove though..

That's all they wanted him for though... They really didn't expect much more from him on the hitting part... They just wanted solid defense...

I still think he's adjusting to AL play and I won't make a judgment on him until next year is over...

Remember we traded Kouzmanoff for him who's not exactly having the breakout year many though he would be having...