Don't understand Dusty Baker's thinking on this:

by ScottAZ on May 15, 2008 12:32 PM EDT

Now I'm not trying to turn this into another Bash Baker thread, as I have defended him in the past. Obviously he has flaws as a manager and I have noticed something that struck my curiousity following the Reds recently:

Jerry Hairston is now the starting SS for the Reds and has been performing pretty well with the stick, hitting over .350 as the fulltime starter. My question is why is Hairston playing SS and why is Brandon Phillips still at 2b? Wouldn't the logically thing be to flip flop them? Phillips was rated the top defensive SS in the minors by Baseball America back in the day, and many cosider him the top defensive 2b in the game right now. I watched him play in the AFL years back and he has it all defensively- glove, range, arm, flash and that attitude that great SS's often seem to have. Hairston played a total of 15 innings of SS prior to this year. Hairston has been pretty much a career 2b while Phillips was regarded a future GG'er at SS.

I would do anything possible to help my pitchers out on defense, epsecially in that ball park they play in.

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Baker knows best...lol

Phillips is also a big part of the team with the bat and players lose focus there when they are moved to a tougher position. 2B is tough but SS is tougher. If Phillips is excellent at 2b, why move him?

Besides, Hairston was also very athletic and rangy at 2b when he was a regular there with Baltimore and is more used to being moved around.

I can see your point but this way keeps a guy (Phillips) who is playing well in the field and at the plate in his comfort zone. Phillips has 1 error at 2b as well. I could see them moving Phillips to SS in the off-season perhaps and I think it has been discussed.

by casejud on May 15, 2008 1:07 PM EDT reply actions

I agree

I think it has to do with the fact that Phillips is their established guy at 2b, and Hairston is just a stopgap SS, so they don’t want to bother moving Phillips around temporarily.

I understand the objections but I don’t think it is a bad move, i think many managers would be reluctant to move around a cornerstone of the team for a quick fix if he had other suitable options

by nms on May 15, 2008 2:11 PM EDT reply actions

thoughts

while the fantasy eligibility at SS would be great ( don’t try to tell me you’re not thinking it…), it doesn’t make enough sense to yank around a player for just a few weeks to fill in while 2 guys are injured

I'll warm up with you anytime

by ufoboy90 on May 15, 2008 8:24 PM EDT reply actions

don't try to understand Dusty's thinking

if think about it too much your head will explode.

If it weren’t for my horse I wouldn’t have spent that year in college.

The Dusty Path to the World Series!*

*Note this is not an endorsment of Dusty Baker.

by justin007000 on May 15, 2008 10:53 PM EDT reply actions

I think this is one spot where the video game mentality is bad

What I mean by that: If we were to assign some kind of defensive “rating” to Phillips and Hairston, it’s probably true that Phillips would have a higher rating at shortstop. In a video game, you just make that switch and all is well.

But in real life, that sort of change could have other effects. As was mentioned here, Phillips might not perform as well because it’s been a while since he’s played the position. Maybe his offense suffers because he’s worrying about it. Plus, there’s no real guarantee he’s actually better. Then you have to switch him back once one of the Reds regular SS come back. It’s not really worth the risk or hassle for what is probably a very minimal reward. It’s not as though Hairston is a butcher.

This is one time where I actually won’t fault Dusty, though I’m sure he’s not even aware Phillips played short in the minors. Let’s just let Dusty focus on his guys batting in the proper order.

http://bocropleasestopswingingatbadpitches.blogspot.com/

by thejd44 on May 16, 2008 12:26 AM EDT reply actions