Cron sent down, Nolan Fontana called up

[Chuck]

Just now, red321 said:

yeah, re: Cowart...I pulled a lame ass and didn't realize they listed minor league players in a separate area

[nando714]

I love trades!!!!

 

[red321]

3 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Where did you see Cowart isn't on the 40-man roster, @red321

I'm just trying to screw with you Chuck...I know you have an abnormal chubby for Cowart.

 

By the way...what did you end up getting him for his 50th birthday? </sic>

[Dick B Back]

I saw Nolan and figured old Ryan is better than much of what we've seen...  then I saw Fontana and just thought WTF.

[Broad Street]

I bet someone got put on the 60 day DL to figure their life out lol

[totdprods]

Me thinks Pennington or Espinosa are gonzo. 

[Chuck]

2 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Me thinks Pennington or Espinosa are gonzo. 

Yep... 

You have to wonder that the reason Cowart didn't play yesterday is because they're going to demote Cron and promote Fontana, then promote Cowart after releasing one of Pennington/Espinosa to play 3B. 

By adding Cowart and Fontana, you get two guys who have sported a .374 & .393 OBP respectively. 

Fontana has 24 walks in AAA, Cowart 26. 

[Broad Street]

It's official....

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

Ha! Made you look. I know nothing.

 

[Angel Oracle]

Maybe this will ignite Cron, like it has in the past?

[Jason]

Cron has been lousy so this isn't a shocker. 

[SigBaby]

The timing of all this makes no sense. Espinosa actually showed some signs of life last game and Pennington has basically been the ceiling of Fontana as a decent backup infielder. Espinosa has been shitty but it was pretty well known what he was when we got him: a good fielder and bad hitter who is capable of going off for a month and salvaging his numbers. The fact that he is a black hole will be easier to take when Calhoun and the 1b position start hitting how they should be. 

[Broad Street]

2 minutes ago, SigBaby said:

The timing of all this makes no sense. Espinosa actually showed some signs of life last game and Pennington has basically been the ceiling of Fontana as a decent backup infielder. Espinosa has been shitty but it was pretty well known what he was when we got him: a good fielder and bad hitter who is capable of going off for a month and salvaging his numbers. The fact that he is a black hole will be easier to take when Calhoun and the 1b position start hitting how they should be. 

By signs of life, you mean not striking out for once? 

[Richard]

Fontana starting at 2b; batting 9th.

[Chuck]

Fontana through 490 games has a minor league career OBP of .379.

I'll take that over a guaranteed strikeout from our 2B. 

[tdawg87]

I wonder if Eppler is finally sick of Espinosa's shit. 

Although he did reach base 3 times yesterday. My guess is Pennington is gone, because he's literally the baseball equivalent to AIDS. 

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Richard said:

Fontana starting at 2b; batting 9th.

Yep! 

 

[nando714]

7 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Maybe this will ignite Cron, like it has in the past?

Cron tore it up down there last season not sure if it was a injury or performance. I think he will do well down there. I just don't think he can figure it out in the bigs

[m0nkey]

Congrats to him making the majors for the first time

[Troll Daddy]

Cron's grand slam yesterday had the phones ringing ... Eppler traded him for a monster haul. 

[Brent Maguire]

Fontana replacing Pennington is something that has made some sense for a while. Pennington is basically a zero at the plate and now an average defender. Hardly a valuable commodity. I'm curious to see if Fontana's plate discipline will carry to the majors. Plus, Fontana is an above average defender at numerous positions. 

[jsnpritchett]

6 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Fontana through 490 games has a minor league career OBP of .379.

I'll take that over a guaranteed strikeout from our 2B. 

Offensively, it doesn't appear that he does much else aside from walking, though.  No power, doesn't hit for average, and doesn't appear from the numbers to be a very effective base-stealer, either.  I'm not a big Sherman Johnson fan, but at this point, why is Fontana a better choice than him?

[Chuck]

2 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Offensively, it doesn't appear that he does much else aside from walking, though.  No power, doesn't hit for average, and doesn't appear from the numbers to be a very effective base-stealer, either.  I'm not a big Sherman Johnson fan, but at this point, why is Fontana a better choice than him?

Yeah, I agree, though they value defense so that's probably why they went with Fontana who gets high grades for his defense and OBP. 

Fontana hit 7 doubles and 5 HR's in Triple-A through 30 games, so while he doesn't have a ton of power, he's no Ben Revere either. 

[nando714]

11 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Cron's grand slam yesterday had the phones ringing ... Eppler traded him for a monster haul. 

We're getting Arrenado 

[fan_since79]

I hope with this new lineup we can score at least three runs tonight.

Is that too much to expect?

 

[Broad Street]

6 minutes ago, nando714 said:

We're getting Arrenado 

Could you imagine? No ball would ever get through that side.