Hickey: why is Ichiro in right?
Hickey takes a minute to express his bafflement at Ichiro’s move.
It is weird: they’re moving Ichiro to right to make room for a WFB/Reed platoon, it looks like, so they’re displacing Wlad, who was hitting an anemic .196/.265/.346, with WFB, a career .258/.313./.323 hitter, and Reed, who with this year’s rally is still at .254/.316/.368. Now potentially, you replace Wlad’s bad glove with Ichiro’s good one, and get Reed, a competent center, in there a lot, that’s a wholescale outfield defense upgrade.
And maybe they think that all the running in center’s caught up to him and is taking a lot out of Ichiro’s legs, which has affected his ability to run out infield hits, harming his offensive game, and putting him in right you get good defense in right, happy Ichiro, and his average will go back up. We’ll see if that’s the case.
Comments
43 Responses to “Hickey: why is Ichiro in right?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
FWIW, Baker’s theory is that they are not trying to make Ichiro! happy, but that they are looking to get a centerfielder, likely in a trade, maybe something like Arthur Lee for Crisp ….
Why would the Sox do that trade?
Meanwhile, Hickey seems focused on where to find power if they punt it at a corner outfield position. He assumes they’ll have to make it up from a position where it’s not normally expected. Shouldn’t the answer to that be catcher?
Besides that is the fact that Wlad is not quite ready to hit ML pitching, at least according to the authors here. While the move does not make sense in terms of improving the team for this season, it does make sense for improving Wlad’s approach, keeping Ichiro uninjured, and seeing if Reed has any value to this organization or another one. Its not a totally crazy move.
Could it really be for the sake of his legs? I understand the theory, yet Ichiro is stealing bases like crazy, which isn’t suggestive of tired legs.
I get the sense that it’s simply Ichi’s preference to play right. The GM’s gone, the season’s over, the team is likely getting (at least partially) blown up, it’s clean slate time….so why the heck not move him?
Did Reed struggle with left-handed pitching in the minors anywhere near as much as he does at the big league level (.172/.250/.231 in 134 AB’s)?
Ichiro’s average has been going up all along.
He hit .259 in April, .319 in May, and .323 so far in June.
He’s hit safely in every game but one this month.
But that April drags down his BA and hits, so he’s not up to career norms, so he’s a bad, bad Mariner.
I’d enjoy a thread dedicated to Ichiro’s performance so far this season considering whether it reflects a permanent down tick in his longer term performance level or is within the ‘normal’ range of variation for a player of his age and skill set (and I suppose those aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive).
Okay, maybe comment number 8 will do in lieu of a thread.
I don’t know why Ichiro is in right, but why is Bloomquist in Center?
You have Jeremy Reed on the bench, and this is the time to put him in center every day to see if he is a late bloomer and fits in.
Vidro, Sexson, & Cairo don’t fit into anyones plan….so why are they starting two out of this trio every game?
I think the M’s plan is to tinker around the rest of this year to make it appear as if they are doing something. This week Ichiro in right. Next week dfa Vidro. The week after dfa Sexson. Every week make the appearance of doing something rather than actually doing something important. That is what weak organizations do in any business that is in hard times, and does not know what to do to fix their problems.
Man, read the comments on the post, people seriously think Ichiro is a liability in CF. What is wrong with this fan base?
Well, lets hope they get it “right”. I think Ichiro likes RF better than CF, but they are serious about Bloomquist getting playing time out there which is a joke, so I am all in favor of Keeping Ichiro in CF, if thats the way its going to go.
This spring, McLaren made a comment that Ichiro could steal 80 bases. Whether it was a motivating challenge or just a hint of what he wanted from his player, it indicated to me that the manager wanted more running from him. And more running on the bases means more wear on the legs. So RF will save him some mileage and maybe some wear and tear, and Reed and WFB in center looks fine right now.
The downside to me is that Ichi might like it so much back in RF that he’ll be reluctant to move back to CF later if asked.
Now if they’d just get the idea to save the left fielders legs, too …
Ichiro’s stealing like mad, I think, to make a point.
I don’t mind Ichiro in RF. He’s more valuable in CF, but as long as we don’t have a better option in RF there’s no harm in playing him there.
I would’ve done it just to alleviate the pounding his legs will take this season. As a CF, you have to move on practically every ball hit into the outfield. In RF, he’s probably on the move less than 50%–maybe far less. Obviously, Ichiro’s legs are the key to his game, why wasted whatever juice they have left in this futile 2008 season?
It’s a good thing we have Adam Jones, who can play all three outfield positions. That way, we can let Ichiro play right, since Jones would make a good center fielder as well.
Oh…
Well, since Bedard’s apparently on the block, maybe we can convince the Orioles to trade Jones for him straight up.
Ha! That was some low hanging fruit.
You mean, running from center into left to catch everything Raul can’t be expected to get?
I still want to know why this move was made when it was. Did Bill B. forbid it? Did Lee P. mandate it? Anyone know?
They seriously think that a CF with 25-30 HR and 110+ RBIs is normal or the least they can expect.
It’s a good thing we have Adam Jones…
Yeah, when this new infield alignment was announced, I think we all went there.
Man, read the comments on the post, people seriously think Ichiro is a liability in CF. What is wrong with this fan base?
It’s the obverse of the same mentality that thinks Jeter is a great fielder. People don’t see Ichiro laying out to make catches, therefore he’s not trying hard enough. Never mind that if he did and missed, the ball would roll all the way to wall with Raul staggering after it, turning a single into at least a triple; never mind that if Ichiro puilled a Morse and hurt himself the team would lose something like 40% of their positive offensive WPA (no joke). No, the only important thing is they see him slow down and field a ball on a bounce that he wouldn’t get to anyway, and they don’t see him flying through the air fruitlessly, and therefore he’s a slacker and a bad fielder and a bad clubhouse presence and a threat to all mankind. These people are fools, and sheep, and stupid, and you shouldn’t pay them any attention.
#1 msb
Rather than Crisp it maybe Cubs Murton. Lou likes Rhodes and maybe even Raul as Cubs fine tune for attempt at World Series.
It does seem logical the Cubs would be a team to deal with. Lou likes those gritty vets.
Hmmm…that wouldn’t be hinting around at Mike Cameron’s 2001 numbers by any chance, would it?
Could it be that WFB is getting the starts in center to shop him? He just said that he might not want to stay. Send him off for a prospect to the NL. I’m sure San Diego will take him. Reed cost nothing and is in the system for a year or two more.
Besides, now that he’s reached the virtual Gas Can phase of his career,
ALR just might be a good fit for the Cubbies. After all, it wouldn’t be a Lou team without at least one member of the Arson Squad in the bullpen.
The way Our Hated Rivals the Friars are hitting this year, Willie would probably fit right into their starting lineup.
Willie’s been around a while, so no one’s going to learn anything new from his recent starts. He’s a decent utility player, nothing more, nothing less.
The M’s did more or less the same thing a couple of years ago when they went with an unstated but fairly strict platoon of Snelling and Bloomquist. Not clear why they were doing it then either.
Spot on Joser, Spot on.
Now with Ichiro! in RF look for a lot more balls to get down in left center field and then by a bumbling Ibanez. 🙁
good call Joser.
as a cf ichiro is one of the top 3 in the game. As a rf he’s among the top 10. He increased his value to the team with his move to cf. Unless you have someone better to replace him, moving him to rf is a major mistake…but this is the M’s. What else is new.
Why did the M’s move Ichiro back to right field?
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
These and other philosophical riddles have haunted mankind for ages.
[long link]
[it was a long link before, it’s still a long link; please use the link button]
Link.
Sorry. Trying to figure this link stuff out.
I’d like to point out the yahoo article in which Ichiro and Sexson are both listed as overpaid while no current Mariners and (I think) only one former Mariner (Olivo) is listed as underpaid.
[moved to the octopus post where it belongs]
Could it be because a Griffey deal is in the works, and just for nostalgia they’re gonna put 24 back in center?
Lets hope not.
I wonder if the Orioles would take Bedard back for Jones straight up.
Really, it would be like we just handed them Sherrill and 3 other prospects for free.
Sure would be nice to have Jones in center and Ichiro in right…
10: Models don’t work well for a player like Ichiro, because there aren’t really a lot of good comps for him (particularly since the comp scores on Baseball-reference.com all ignore the years in Japan and treat him like a real rookie in 2001). His current no. 1 comp is Ralph Garr, who was done in the majors when he was a year older (but I think played in Japan for awhile afterward) and his no. 2 is Ken Griffey, Sr., who played until he was 41. Most of his comps were pretty close to done at his age and the rest (Wally Moses, Kenny Lofton) played until they were 40. So it’s feast or famine if you even believe in the comps as even being comparable. The guys at Baseball Prospectus I think basically throw up their hands in dealing with Ichiro.
With Balentien in Tacoma, Ichiro is the only outfielder who has a strong arm. (Reed is average, and Bloomquist is an infielder.) Ergo, Ichiro is in right.
The Mariners have already shown, with Ibanez, that they value a right fielder’s arm more than a left fielder’s range. Because, after all, you always put your best arm in Right Field.