posted by Jon
Shannon Drayer and Jose Romero both reported today that Seattle manager John McLaren will be giving all the hitters handouts that include their batting averages in certain pitch counts. The idea is to encourage them to work the pitcher to a better count. The intentions are good, but I think there could be a negative effect as well.
Last season Kenji Johjima hit .214 when in a 1-2 count. The reason McLaren is handing out these splits is so that Johjima will realize that he hit .392 in 2-2 counts, so he should just try and stay alive until he can work the count back to even. Sounds good, but couldn't Johjima feasibly lose confidence in a 1-2 count now that he knows how historically awful he was in that situation, or maybe he'll become so concerned with just fighting off the pitch that he won't be putting good swings on the pitches? I know these guys are professionals and this will probably help them, but it's just a thought.
Yesterday I read a report from MLB.com's Matthew Leach about free agent Sidney Ponson's bullpen session, in which he mentioned that Seattle scouts were in attendance. I wasn't going to post anything about this, but since MLB Rumors is now saying that Seattle would be the best fit for Ponson, I feel that I should address it.
Seattle has no room for Ponson. They already have a rotation filled with guys that are much more reliable than him, even if he does revert back to his Baltimore days. The only possible reason I could see Seattle picking him up was if they were about to make a trade involving Jarrod Washburn or Miguel Batista, but even Brandon Morrow would be a better rotation option than Ponson. I can't imagine why Seattle would be scouting him, and I have a hard time envisioning a realistic scenario in which Ponson wears a Mariner uniform.
5 comments:
Even if they did sign Ponson it would only be as an invite to spring training so no big deal. There is no chance he would make the team.
If they want to sign a free agent they ought to take a look at Barry Bonds. We could actually use a power hitter. Crummy pitchers, we've already got.
Sidney Ponson is not only a terrible pitcher, but he is also an arrogant alcoholic who would only draw negative attention to the team.
Speaking of negative attention, that's what Barry Bonds would bring to the table.
We should avoid both of these guys at all costs.
^Ponson has cleaned up and lost weight.. just for the record. But there is still no reason to sign him.
Ponson just signed with the rangers.
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