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Efren needs to be the full time DH.


rageous

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The DH spot should be reserved for whoever has the hot bat. If it's Cron, play him, if it's Navarro, plug him in at 1B or LF and allow Albert or Josh to DH, if it's Green when he's back healthy, stick him at 3B, SS or 2B and key one of our infielders rest their legs for a night.

But this team isn't designed for a single DH and if it were, Navarro wouldn't be the one to take up permanent residence.

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Cron had an RBI single last night...

 

Cron OPS .771

Navarro .794

 

It is not like they are that different.  Plus Navarro is a classic slappy singles hitter where Cron has power.

Edited by nate
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that was a misplaced matchup for Cron tonight imo.  

 

Trout was 0-3 with two strikeouts vs Scherzer last night. Not that I think Trout and Cron are really in the same sentence but Scherzer only had one bad inning and coincidentally Cron got an infield RBI hit while Trout struck out.

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Cron had an RBI single last night...

 

Cron OPS .771

Navarro .794

 

It is not like they are that different.  Plus Navarro is a classic slappy singles hitter where Cron has power.

 

During the last 14 games Cron's slash line is .196/.224/.250/.474. You are right he isn't a slappy singles hitter.

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We got enough guys who can mash. Navarro consistently has good at-bats and has gotten unlucky hitting the ball hard right at people.

 

His .353 BABIP says otherwise. To Efren's credit he doesn't chase much crap with only a 29.9% O-Swing (Calhoun 25.8% Trout 22.3%). Cron leads the team, the wrong way with a 41.5% O-Swing followed directly by Hamilton. Not good company to be keeping in that category.

 

In the zone contact rates are pretty important and the real shocker was JB Shuck, in his brief time this season leads the Angels with a 98% Z-Swing. He just fouled off everything and weakly grounded out to the 2nd baseman but he rarely swung and missed a strike. Right behind him is Erick Aybar at 94.8% of the strikes he swings at he makes contact with, one of the reasons he is the hardest guy to strike out in the majors.

 

So I'm sure you want to know about the big guns. Pujols is right behind Aybar at 94.2%. Lots of foul balls, lots on ground outs to third but when he swings he rarely misses making contact with a ball that would have been called a strike. He is second lowest of the starters (Aybar #1) for strikeouts and most of those are looking.

 

In context, Trout whiffs a lot at pitches in the zone. More than McDonald, Navarro, Green, Kendrick, Cowgill, Calhoun, Conger and... Freese. Trouts Z-Contact rate is 86% and right behind him is Cron at 85.5%. Previously I said you would not put Cron and Trout in the same sentence and I've managed to do it twice in the same thread. Of course our worst offender is Hamilton at 77.4%.

 

Now before you form the lynch mob saying I'm unfairly cherry picking stats to make Trout look bad (when in reality this is about Cron and Navarro) the amount of times a batter swings can often make a big difference as well. Hamilton leads that catagorey swinging at 42.7% of any garbage the pitcher tosses up there, probably twice when the pitcher tosses the ball back to the umpire requesting a new ball. He is followed by Green and Cron, then the starters Aybar and Kendrick. The three most selective hitters are Navarro 40.2%, McDonald 38.4% and Trout 37.6%.

 

So Navarro seems to be the best choice for whatever spare batting order slot comes up, whether it is DH or spelling Pujols or an outfielder. His plate discipline seems to be right on track with a guy that should hit for a decent average and get on base with a walk. Getting back to O-Swing%, stats that track this haven't been around long, starting in 2002, Tim Salmon in his last years playing had an amazing 16.8% O-Swing.

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Navarro is a decent player, but really more of a bench/platoon type. I suspect that if he became a regular his numbers would be something like .270/.340/.400 with 10 HR. Not bad, but not the guy you want to crown as your regular DH.

 

As for Cron, what did people expect? He's another Trumbo, which means he'll kill the ball for a couple weeks and then go into a terrible slump for a month. The problem is that, unlike say a Mike Napoli who had a similar "all or nothing" pattern, Cron--like Trumbo--doesn't walk, so when it is nothing it is really nothing.

 

I agree with Scotty Allen that the DH should be for the hot bat on the bench. Unless you have a David Ortiz on your roster.

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FWIW I agree that Efren should be playing the field and whatever player he displaces (Pujols, Cron, Hamilton) could DH. You don't put one of your only backup utility players in the DH spot and risk losing the DH if a defensive swap is needed. He should also be getting in the game more often. Navarro and Iannetta should have appeared as pinch hitters in last night 3-strikeout 9th inning if not sooner as Freese and Conger have been black holes at the plate.

Edited by ScottLux
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Well, to be honest. No one in that 9th inning last night had any really good at bats vs. Nathan...

 

And overall the entire lineup (minus Kole) stunk it up yesterday.

Agreed. This is why there was nothing to lose by going to a pinch hitter.

That and Joe Smith should have been brought in in the 6th while the Angels had a lead, not in the 9th down by 3...

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