RBI double for Jose in the 1st. Back on his way over .800 ho hum.

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.799

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There is no NL MVP hunt currently

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

You think there are 40 guys better than Javy?

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tree RBI

.812 OPS

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According to IMU, there are 39 guys who are better hitters. I'm just wondering if it's fair to guys who are obviously weak in the art of taking walks. Javy and Jose are run producers. Doesn't that count for something? Maybe they pass up a walk for a double or HR from time to time.

Yup. Peaks and Valleys

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I just looked at Jose’s career stats. As I suspected, he has been nothing but a solid hitter all the way around. Anything said to the contrary to minimize his batting stats is just simply trolling.

Javy is not someone where stats will ever tell the whole story. He quickly became my favorite Cubs player by doing things on a baseball field that few else can do and playing the game with passion. His stats are fine, and he has been better than I ever expected. Anything said to the contrary is just simply trolling.

But that’s what we do around here.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

We're talking about their skill at the dish. Baez as 40th best at the plate is accurate. Certainly not wildly inaccurate. Look at his daily TERRIBLE AB where he strikes out on 3 pitches without moving a baserunner. His great XBH power is sometimes matched by his great ability to be the worst hitter on the team on any given day. And I've always been a huge Javy fan on this board. But his scouting report is pretty basic knowledge.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Also Abreu used to be a better hitter. He used to come close to rivalling Rizzo. He isn't that player anymore.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

He’s the same hitter. He just doesn’t move as quickly these days. Many singles for him this year that would have been doubles in 2017.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Not quite. His XBH% and his doubles are both at career norms. He is striking out at career high percentage and walking at career low percentage. His percentage of bad AB's has risen. He is like Javy in that regard. When he makes contact...he gets about the same results. But his BA over the last 2 seasons is about 35 points lower than it had been the previous 4. My assumption has been the same...he is now overswinging to generate the power that has been slipping away from him as he's gotten older...the power that was a little questionable from the get go.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Javy is a free swinger, and those types of guys will have terrible at bats. My eyes have seen him going the other way a lot more this year rather than always pulling off the ball. That is one big improvement. Maybe he is #40. He’s not anywhere near Trout, that is certain.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Dropped to 45th. Regression. .881 last year.

Javy is one of those mythical creatures created by a combination of Cub fan fancy, the bought and paid for chicago baseball media and an ownership selling sentimentality. His many flaws get smoothed over like the sheet on a freshly made bed.

OMG did you see his tag! There is only one person in this whole world who can put down a tag like that...the taggiest tag that ever done tagged

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The tag stuff really became like parody but Baez is objectively fun as hell to watch.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The tag stuff isn't parody when you have Pat Hughes saying things like, "Baez is the only man on the planet who could have made that tag!"

Also, shortstop is a premium position and 1st base is not.

IMU has tried to knock Abreu since he came into the league and Abreu just keeps putting up numbers. Most of them have been put up with a terrible lineup so just imagine how superior he would be with some protection in around him in the batting order.

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AJ Reed doesn't count as protection?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Not as much protection as Yonder Alonso provided!

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The last free swinging White Sox player i can recall is Juan Uribe....man that guy did not like getting cheated at the plate. He could also make some pretty spectacular defensive plays at SS while screwing up routine stuff.
Baez is similar in a lot of ways....but obviously better.

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Probably. I'm willing to bet that Uribe finished his career with more WS rings than Baez with get.

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That was well-written. I can't believe how many posters here are good writers.

That’s it. He is fun to watch. The tag stuff is cool. His crazy slides are cool. He makes a lot of really nice plays. He is a very solid bat despite the holes in his swing. I thought he would be a career .240 hitter, and he seems to have found a way to be closer to .300. He also provides a lot of power for a premium defensive position. It means more when an SS hits 30+ bombs than a 1B guy.

He plays with pure joy.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

He's so dreamy!

I wonder why this totes awesome defensive wizard hasn't been awarded a GG yet?

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Cuz he still boots one now and then. Fangraphs ranks him 4th best SS.

IMU is just simply an asshat. ANd you are very correct about the terrible line-up that he has had surrounding him most of his career. Clearly he has adapted this year to concentrate on driving in runs while in previous years he no one on base so he concentrated on getting on base.

The guy is the prototype of a very good major league hitter. That game winning hit the other day was classic. A little dribbler against a shift to drive in Moncada at first was an amazing piece of hitting as far as I am concerned.

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An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

I know you love baseball. It’s ok to concede that Javy is a really unique and fun player. If you can’t see it because of your anti-Cubs bias, I understand. If you don’t want to give an inch to IMU, I understand. And I certainly understand how all things Cubs get overhyped in the Chicago media.

I try to be pretty objective when looking at my favorite teams. My favorite Cubs player had always been Kerry Wood. But Javy is just on a different level in terms of fun to watch. I loved watching guys like Gwynn and Vlad hit a baseball. I loved watching Griff go after a ball in center. I love watching Verlander. It’s because I love the game. Of course it means more when it’s my favorite team.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Uribe was a fine player who was a key player for the Sox and other teams.

_________________
An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip