Happy BP projected him at .291, but I really need to ask them which cub fan was hitting the bong, when he should have been hitting the subtraction button.

Pie did hit well this spring at .350, which is better than last years .219 in the spring.

Yet he was right there with lee, Soriano and soto in strikeouts with 14.

This team just does not need another guy that hits with K's.

I hope to be writing these guys with letters of praise this year on one of the great calls of all time, but I am thinking that is not going to happen.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

he is going to strikeout plenty, but he deserves the job everyday, and should be given the chance. he is batting 8th, he should draw a few walks way down there, if he can be patient.

pie hitting .291 in a season doesnt seem completely bong-hittingly outlandish. him winning the batting title, THAT would be outlandish. i think he has shown some real improvement.

.291 might be a bit high, but I expect him to mostly platoon and get most of his ABs against righties. I don't think .275-.280 is unreasonable.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

.291 with a .308 OBA and Juan Pierre-like RBI figures is definitely possible.

Pie is there for his defense.


*bubbling sounds*

I just hope he can show some patience. He'll probably get to draw lots-o-walks in the 8 spot. If he shows patience, by June or sooner he might be able to move to leadoff. Just some wishful thinking.

i think there is a better chance of hm developing decent power production numbers than leadoff numbers, but i agree, start him 8th, and maybe he can move up the lineup to say, the 6th spot. if he starts off well, he wont be batting 8th long.

I'd live with the Juan Pierre type numbers because Pie doesn't have the noodle arm that Pierre had. Pie can actually play defense. JPierre had a wet newspaper (that did get 200 hits; I'd LOVE that) for a bat and a noodle arm. Teams ran all day on him.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

great point, pie is definitely a solid play in center.

Agreed on the Pierre having no arm thing, the only reason Pierre would get 200 hits is because he never walked and would amass like 700 ABs ever year. I think out of those 200 hits 180 would be singles. Supposedly he is playing left now in Chavez Ravine?

*goes to check


Oh yea, because of his $8mil salary and the Andruw Jones signing... him stealing playing time from Andre Ethier is a downright shame...

No doubt on the singles. I'd have to check on the ABs but I think it was damn near a .300 average. Like I said, given Pie's better defense, I'd be pretty happy with those offensive numbers.
Pierre impeding Ethier's progress is indeed a shame, but that's not the only bozo signing the Dodgers have on their roster. Jason Schmidt is on the Prior Plan for Innings Pitched last year and this one. Garciaparra is another one, but they will be DL'd and out of the way as opposed to Pierre.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

well, thats why he will get no RBIs, the only time you walk an 8 hitter to get to the pitcher is when there is a base open and/or to set up the double play. Better to go right after the 8 hitter and have the pitcher lead off the next inning. That or the "unintentional intentional walk"; throw a bunch of junk nowhere near the plate and see if he swings. None of this will help his plate discipline. He'd be perfect in a stacked AL lineup in the 9 hole as the "second leadoff man", but in a decent NL lineup like the Cubs' the best place for him at this point is the 7 hole. Bat Soto 8th, hasnt he showed good plate discipline in the minors?

Not that the intentional walk will do anything to help his plate discipline.

Last 3

year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2005 FLA 162 656 96 181 19 13 2 47 41 45 57 17 .276 .326 .354 .680
2006CHC 162 699 87 204 32 13 3 40 32 38 58 20 .292 .330 .388 .717
2007 LAD 162 668 96 196 24 8 0 41 33 37 64 15 .293 .331 .353 .685

lol, thats like no more than 30 xb hits a year... and he hasnt homered since 2006!

pie has 15-20 homer with some gap power potential i would think

I was dead wrong. Thank you for the correction.
Now I have to go and find a working avatar.

That's better. Tasteless, but better.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

Only one word describes your avatars, K: OUCH!

No you were spot on...


200 H / 700 AB = .286
the one year with the cubs he hit .292
thats a typical Pierre line, .286, 30 BB and zero power!

Pie is basically Pierre right now, with more gap power and no $10 mil salary.

I didn't think he needed the 700 ABs to get there though. Pie will be fine as long as he's content with the gap power. If he swings for the fences, he's going to have warning track power and that's deadly.

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Stupidity irritates the crap outta me... and yes, I irritate myself far too often.

If he starts swinging for the fences, it will be Tuffy Rhodes/ Corey Patterson redux...

The guy's a stick figure. I hope not.

I don't understand the comparisons with Pierre and Pie. Pierre is nothing like Pie. As already said Pierre is a slap hitter who will hit around .300 and no arm in the outfield.

Pie has more power but probably will not have a high average with a much better arm.

Started with this, simply a statement that a realistic expectation from a young player who swings at everything in the #8 hole should not be putting up a lot of RBIs or even drawing that many walks... which is the Pierre profile.

Also came to mind from his 1 year in centerfield on the northside.

I could have dug up the Jerome Walton numbers, but i'm not that motivated.

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

If Pie hits .291 over lets say 500 bats (which I don't expect), he will probably hit at least 15 HRs by accident just because he has more power. And his RBI's will probably far exceed anything Pierre does because he won't be batting in the eight spot for long.

I don't see Pie ever being a leadoff man, if he reaches his potential he will probably bat closer to the middle of the lineup instead of leading off because of his power and if he doesn't reach his max, well he won't be good enough to bat leadoff because of his poor OBA. See Corey Patterson.

Just so you know a BP Projection of .291 is about top 15 in the NL in Batting Average.

These guys do not make GREAT projections on anyone. Very rarely do they step out and make such a prediction

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

we will have a much better idea about felix pie come the all-star break. right now, all anyone can do is guess. he has never started a season in the major leagues. im not sure how anyone can make any projections on the guy, he didnt start many games for the cubs last year, he came in mostly as a defensive replacement. im excited about him starting the season in CF. if he was being counted on as a leadoff man, that would be a concern. i dont think he will ever be forced to try and bat leadoff like corey patterson was. with corey patterson, he was a round peg they were trying to bang into a square hole, and i think the cubs fucked that guy up good. with pie, i think it is clear that he isnt a leadoff hitter. just because you are fast, doesnt mean you automatically need to be at the top of the lineup. i think he has some goor power, and could, COULD become a pretty good run-producing 3 or 6 hitter someday. i dont think he can ever be a 4 or 5 hole cleanup-type hitter, but he has some pop. thats what his batting skills seem to be to me, not an on-base percentage guy.

well he started less and less games because his average kept going down and down to the point where his great defense alone could not keep him in the lineup.

batting 8 never helps

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Way to go out on a limb. You could say the same about every player or team in MLB.

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most mlb players who have played in the league a few years, you have a fairly good idea of what kind of production you may get right from the get-go of a season. for a rookie, you have no idea what you are going to get, until you have some kind of body of work. in this case, i think that you will need to play this guy every day, and then, at the all-star break, you may have some idea what kind of tools this guy has, and if he can get the job done.

i dont think we got a complete look at the guy last season. he did start some games, he had quite a few at-bats, but i think starting a season as the starting center-fielder and playing most every day will give him some confidence to play well.

for the record, i have stated pretty clearly in this threads and others that i have a very good feeling about felix pie, i like what i saw of him this spring, and have been a pretty strong supporter of his from the beginning, so if you consider saying felix pie should be the every-day centerfielder "going out on a limb", i have been on that limb all spring.

OK I think I got some of the pot, now I can see why they predcited .291

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”