Loading ...I have to admit, it isn’t often that an article loses me in the first paragraph. From MLB.com:
Because of his inexperience at third base, prospect Juan Francisco seemed to have a distant shot at the Reds’ left-field vacancy.
UPDATE: I just received a very nice email from Mark explaining that this was a communication mistake between he and his editor that has been corrected. We appreciate Mark’s letting us know.
I’m not doubting his possibility of making the team in LF, especially with Drew Stubbs really struggling offensively; I question the “inexperience at third base” part of the sentence.
Not one to “pick a nit”…but according to Baseball Cube, he’s played 392 minor league games and 390 of them have been at 3B.
Even later in the article, we find this:
In 397 Minor League games, Francisco has logged five of them in left field. In winter ball with the Cibao Gigantes, Francisco played 36 games at third base and 18 in left field.
Despite the unexplainable first sentence, the idea of a Gomes/Francisco platoon in LF could really help this team offensively; assuming Francisco’s the hitter he’s shown last fall, in the Dominican League, and this spring thus far.
I just don’t see it happening. Francisco would be the fifth outfielder. How much time would he actually see?
Mark sees it as a Gome/Francisco platoon in LF if he makes the team (and the only way he makes the team is if Stubbs does not).
I never really thought about Stubbs not making the team, and yet, he’s doing the one thing people said he could do to make him go back down to the minors: Play horribly in the spring. I’d still rate the chances of Francisco making the team at about 20%.
And by the way, Balentein’s numbers are nice thus far into spring. He’s not done.
I’m starting the reconsider Stubbs making the team out of Spring Training. Bruce, Dickerson, Gomes, Balentien, and Nix will likely be the 5 outfielders. If they bring 11 pitchers east, which should be no problem at the beginning of the year that will leave room for Francisco or Stubbs.
It seems Francisco is a big league hitter. The problem is he is still a minor league defender and needs to loose about 10 lbs. It was shocking to see pictures of him this Spring after not seeing him since he played in Dayton.
@Bill Lack: Why is Francisco’s making the team tied to Stubbs? I would think Francisco bumps Balentien.
w/o Stubbs, Dickerson is the CFer, and who is the backup?
I’m not sure I’d feel comfortabel with the combination of Francisco/Gomes in LF with the game on the line in the 8th or 9th inning. The lack of defense is a big problem. Why not let Francisco play LF in at Louisville for a month or two to see if he can handle it. If he shows he can and he can cut down on K’s then bring him up.
@Greg Dafler: Greg… could the Reds play it this way?– Dickerson is everday CF. If he needs a day off, Bruce can handle CF for a game. Anybody plays RF for a game, and we accept it’s not the best defense we can put out there. Stubbs is back-up in AAA if Dickerson gets hurt.
Or also… what’s the advantage of having Stubbs as a back-up on the bench if he’s not good enough to start… perhaps some pinch running and defense I guess? Just thinking out loud.
There would be no problem with Stubbs if he wasn’t leading off. The guy plays gold glove caliber defense, but is more suited for the bottom of the order, maybe even 9th.
I’m a big Stubbs fan and think he could be a very good CF, but given Baker at the helm, Dickerson leading off and playing CF is the best option for the Reds to be successful.
I badly want to see the Reds make some moves before opening day. We have three or four position players blocked and three or four pitchers having excellent springs that won’t make the rotation. It’s a GREAT problem to have, but you can’t tell me that the club doesn’t do better by making a run at a more established CF, LF than what we have.
If you believe Francisco is a finished product, that his K/BB is what it is, then you let him compete the same as everyone else. If not, you send him down to work his issues out.
Regardless, it would not be good to only have one of Dickerson/Stubbs on the roster. I think the competition is between Nix and Francisco. Nix will win.
Nix could play CF, if need be…and so could Bruce. I’d have no problem with Dickerson being the only true CF on the roster, if you believe Stubbs needs more AAA time (for whatever reason (seasoning, wakeup call, whatever).
I’m not a big believer in Francisco, but the Reds seem to be and Logan Parker said that Francisco is the best bad ball hitter he’s ever seen.
I doubt we’ll see Bruce in CF other than emergencies. I’m not saying he couldn’t handle it any more, just saying that I don’t think the Reds view him as an option there or he would have played there more.
If the outfield “givens” are Bruce, Gomes, and Dickerson, that leaves 2 spots. Balentien is out of options.
that’s interesting bill. the other day i caught one of the games on tv and saw francisco hit a breaking ball that was on his shoes into the right field corner for a double. my thought: this kid is a good bad ball hitter.
with the reds lack of offense, i would really like to see francisco on the team. i wish he’d walk more (i don’t care about strikeouts) but on a team with so little power, he’d be a big help.
i’m also on the bandwagon of sending stubbs back down. dickerson looks like he’s hungry and is outplaying by a lot. dickerson will also probably get hurt (hoping he doesn’t, but has a history) and stubbs will be back at some point. but he could use some more marinating in my mind.
dickerson, bruce, francisco from the left, gomes and balentein from the right. seems pretty decent to me.
I’d be surprised to see Bruce play anything other than Right Field. I think Dickerson will get the nod as the every day CF. Nix is solid in Center and is first off the bench to rest any player. His glove is the one I trust the most as a utility outfielder. The problem is still left. Sure seems as though the front office has crowned Gomes the main guy in left, but I’d be very surprised if they don’t platoon. Balentien or Nix is the likely candidates as the second half of the platoon.
It always bugs me how much spring training seems to count for making the team. It should only matter in the rarest of circumstances. If the coaches notice some remarkable change in the player, be it good or bad, then, yeah, it should have an effect. Otherwise, it seems silly to make decisions about the big league roster based on a handful of games where half of the players aren’t even really trying.
TC: isn’t balentein right handed? that doesn’t make him much of a platoon partner for gomes. if it comes down to nix or francisco, is nix’s glove worth giving up a better bat? not in left field.
@Jason461: I’d argue that spring training matters very little most of the time. I mean, in this case, we’re talking about the 24th/25th spot on the roster, and thinking about the 5th spot in the rotation. That there’s a lot of competition can be perceived as good or bad (bad if there’s competition only because a truly satisfactory option doesn’t exist). I don’t have stats or anything, but anecdotally I’d think a particularly poor ST can hurt a player on the fence between AAA/The Bigs, but if you have any kind of track record, ST means very little.
Conversely, if you have a great ST, it’s probably less likely to send you over the hump… for instance, all this talk about Francisco and probably even Chapman is much ado about two guys who will play minor league ball in April.
@Matt WI: This is true. I’m probably overreacting. I think I just got overly bothered by some of the rhetoric.
Francisco needs to play DH and that is about it. He is brutal at 3B, and from what I saw in the Carribean WS he isn’t any better in LF. He can hit though. It will be interesting, but I don’t see him as a LF at all. Too big, too slow, and just hasn’t played there enough to know how to judge balls. If you thought Dunn was bad in the field, Francisco would be on a whole new level.
There’s been opportunity to try Francisco in the outfield for a while. I don’t know why he had so few innings there last year. The first two times he played LF last year, Rolen was in AAA on a rehab assignment. Rolen would take 2-3 at-bats at 3rd and come out of the game. Instead of Francisco completing the game in LF, he would move back to 3B for the rest of the game.
@al: Gomes is better against lefties. Balentien is better against righties. Match made regardless of which side of the plate they stand.
@BJ Ruble: There it is. Really. Can’t agree enough.
Wow, I can’t believe I’m going to write this, but I really don’t see how Francisco fits on this team. I’ve been anxious to see him in Cincinnati since I saw him in Dayton, but now that he’s here, I can figure out the math. I still can’t get over how much weight he’s put on in two years.
Al, I enjoy your posts. Unfortunately, I have to come down on the other side of your arguments today. I’m less concerned about power and more concerned about hitting. There is plenty of power potential but I think they worry too much about the long ball. IMO what’s lacking is quality ABs. Frustrate a pitcher a couple ABs in a row, force him to pitch a few 30 pitch inning and good things start to happen on all fronts. To be honest though, the offensive has had a pretty decent spring so far. Nice mix of quality hitting and power. It gives me hope.
I don’t think Francisco is the answer in LF. If Heisey is as good as the REDS think he is (hope, hope, hope) Francisco/Gomes platoon would only be for 1 year. I think you get more by trading him now than to expose him to full year of MLB pitching and bad defense. Well, that’s one man’s opinion.
Francisco needs to play every day, and he’s not ready for ML 3rd base or LF. The problem with Pena was his lack of a minor league learning phase. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to Francisco.