Saturday Rockpile: Rockies Sign Two Free Agents, Lansford Putting Iannetta and Stewart to Work Today, More
by Bryan Kilpatrick on Dec 11, 2010 9:09 AM MST
in Rockpile
Email
PrintRockies sign pair to Minor League deals | MLB.com: News
The Rox signed Eric Duncan (a utility player who hasn't made it above Triple-A and last appeared for the Braves' AA club) and Geno Espineli (former Giants' farmhand who pitched for Triple-A Fresno last season) to minor league deals. They'll both be invited to Spring Training with the MLB club.
Headin 2 McCormick Field 2 hit with Iannetta and new hitting coach Carney Lansford...I think he's gonna help us out tremendously this season
If Lansford can somehow get these two to realize their potential, the result would be equal to, or better than, signing an impact free agent bat. Oh, and Ian's posting about baseball. Awesome!
With his interests at heart, Rockies created opportunity in Rule 5 draft for Chris Frey | Inside the Colorado Rockies
Jack Etkin at Inside The Rockies details the situation behind the Rockies losing Chris Frey to the Phillies in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft. Sounds like good feelings all around, as the Rox wanted Frey to have a shot at the big leagues but felt they couldn't be the ones to give it to him, while Frey showed his appreciation for the Colorado organization during his interview with Etkin.
I'll probably throw some more links up as the morning goes on.
47 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
So many good feelings with this Rockpile.
Glad to hear that Stewart and Iannetta are working with Lansford already. I’m looking forward to Spring Training sooooooooo much.!!
even if Stewart thinks that Lansford is going to help him, that could be a big help
if he comes into his ABs confident about his swing from day 1, even if it hardly changes, that could be a huge difference maker
by black_knight101 on Dec 11, 2010 10:20 AM MST up reply actions
Hahahaha
Just an average guy with exceptional hair. Nothing more, nothing less.
Bear Naked - My thoughts on sports, music, and life.
by Bryan Kilpatrick on Dec 11, 2010 9:53 AM MST up reply actions
That's funny , I love it
Optimism Warrior
2011 Colorado Zombies--Will rise from beneath homeplate with the shards of a broken season in Tulo's hand!
Brad Hawpe - Thanks Brad, you were a class act.
QPU #4, YHEG #4, Proud Member PR Gynocracy
I was at ST last year
and there were at least two girls who went to school with Frey at UofA and they just couldn’t get enough of him. I then got his autograph on a Bowman card and they were jealous. It was funny
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine. ~Pat Conroy
JFK
"Dear Penthouse, you won't believe what happened to me at Spring Training"
by Andrew Martin on Dec 11, 2010 10:22 AM MST up reply actions
This would be probably need a whole POT or would that be PET
Optimism Warrior
2011 Colorado Zombies--Will rise from beneath homeplate with the shards of a broken season in Tulo's hand!
Brad Hawpe - Thanks Brad, you were a class act.
QPU #4, YHEG #4, Proud Member PR Gynocracy
Dear Santa Lansford......
Among the stocking stuffers you have for Ian and Chris please include the following titles.
1. The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams
2. Hitting .300 is easy by Don Mattingly and Joe Torre
3. The Art and Science of Hitting by Rod Carew
4. The Art of Hitting by Charley Lau
P.S. Tell them exams will be taken opening day! Tell them not to be naughty!
Love, The Fans
"Why are they outlawin' the spit pitch? The curveball is a cheap 'n easy pitch; the spitter aint" Ty Cobb
"When I was pitching 90's in the seventies; I never thought I'd be pitching 70's in the nineties!" Frank Tanana
Who ended up writing “Not Sacrificing your existing skillsets to improve One”?
by Andrew Martin on Dec 11, 2010 10:44 AM MST up reply actions
Not saying they should swallow any philosophy hole.
There are valuable lessons that apply to each of them seperately, in each book. The idea is to correct the holes in their games; not destroy what they have. Sometimes you have to deconstruct something to fix it. Sometimes it needs to be tweaked or adjusted. Eventually we all get thrown out.
"Why are they outlawin' the spit pitch? The curveball is a cheap 'n easy pitch; the spitter aint" Ty Cobb
"When I was pitching 90's in the seventies; I never thought I'd be pitching 70's in the nineties!" Frank Tanana
Improving their plate coverage
and their contact rate is not going to destroy their power numbers. It can improve their power output for two reasons: 1.) these guys are both strong enough to hit the ball out of the park in any direction, and 2.) it’s hard to hit HRs if you’re sitting on the bench.
Of course these guys have hitting skills, or they wouldn’t be where they are today. But their plate coverage is awful and they’re making life way too easy for the opposing pitcher. If Lansford can convince them of that, good things are ahead for both.
by Rockpile Interloper on Dec 11, 2010 11:22 AM MST up reply actions
You see my point
Last thing I want is for Stewart and Iannetta to try and become .320 hitters: They won’t. And in doing such, I fear that they will basically trash their excellent OBP skills as well as their power bats.
I know you didn’t suggest that, I just hope that people aren’t thinking it’s a reality. Adjustments would be good. Scrapping and rebuilding is not good.
by Andrew Martin on Dec 11, 2010 11:34 AM MST up reply actions
They don't have to become high-average hitters
Just more complete hitters. Guys who can hit the ball – with authority – even when it’s not thrown right in their happy zone. That’s how you avoid those prolonged, black hole slumps that cause you to lose playing time to journeymen of lesser ability.
by Rockpile Interloper on Dec 11, 2010 11:49 AM MST up reply actions
It's not like Stewart's that excellent at the OBP skill thing.
His two year wOBA is just behind Brooks Conrad, just ahead of Casey Blake. The Rockies aren’t wanting to tinker with players that have no room for improvement, they aren’t trying to get Tulo to bunt more, for instance. It seems to me that improving their contact skills would be a pretty good place to start to squeezing out more production from this lineup.
Yes, exactly
And nobody wants to turn Stewart into Juan Pierre, slapping the ball into shallow left field. He can use the whole field with authority – hard singles, doubles and the occasional opposite field HR. That will also result in him getting more pitches he can pull into the 2nd deck.
That’s the thing – “use the whole field” doesn’t translate to “slap the ball the opposite way.” The goal is pretty simple: maximize your opportunity to do damage with a quality at-bat, and reduce the pitcher’s options for getting you out.
by Rockpile Interloper on Dec 11, 2010 11:59 AM MST up reply actions
i misspoke
Stewart walks well. That’s about all I meant for obp skills. Obp supplementary skills is what I should have said.
by Andrew Martin on Dec 11, 2010 12:38 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
Sometimes it is required....
No better proof than Big Cat.
Chris being locked into such a small part of the zone is not going to be easy to Fix. Especially because he’s a catcher. They usually don’t have the time for a major reconstruct.
For Ian the over pulling and lack of pitch recognition are respectively a bad habit and a fundemental flaw. The Flaw has nothing to do with his power and everything to do with his OBP. It’s a skillset to be accquired. The bad habit is an adjustment that’s historically hard to correct.
Kudos to Lansford for tackeling this early. It’s going to take patience and a lot of sweat on everyone’s part.
"Why are they outlawin' the spit pitch? The curveball is a cheap 'n easy pitch; the spitter aint" Ty Cobb
"When I was pitching 90's in the seventies; I never thought I'd be pitching 70's in the nineties!" Frank Tanana
How about we write one called
.250/370/480 is better than .300.330.400
Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have? Frank Chance 1908
Heck
.195/.370/.480 is better than .320/.330/.400
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 11, 2010 11:27 AM MST up reply actions
season-long, yes
situationally, debatable.
by Andrew Martin on Dec 11, 2010 11:32 AM MST up reply actions
Naturally
I mean, if it’s the bottom of the 9th down one vs Brian Wilson with two outs and a runner on third with Matt Belisle in the on-deck circle, you want the second line.
"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein
by Andrew T. Fisher on Dec 11, 2010 11:34 AM MST up reply actions
I fail to see why having a higher average means a lower
"Why are they outlawin' the spit pitch? The curveball is a cheap 'n easy pitch; the spitter aint" Ty Cobb
"When I was pitching 90's in the seventies; I never thought I'd be pitching 70's in the nineties!" Frank Tanana
OBP. If your pitch recognition is better. and your contact rate is up; You should be getting on base more often.
If you see the ball better; You draw more walks not less and get more hits. I’d also wouldn’t sniff at a few ‘slap’ hits to left if the alternative is a strike out. Particularly with two out and a runner on third against Wilson and one run down. Those slap hits will happen now and again regardless.
The idea is not to kill their power but to better harness it. If a different approach meant 5 less homers and plus 10+ doubles and a couple more triples; Wouldn’ t your slug actually be higher? Wouldn’t your OBP be higher? If you got twenty more hits with runners in scoreing position would you take it?
I don’t see either Chris or Stew ever hitting .300. But a consistant .285 is possible for both. The kicker is they ARE both strong enough hit all the homers they are hitting now and then some more without being so pull dependent and having better plate coverage.
"Why are they outlawin' the spit pitch? The curveball is a cheap 'n easy pitch; the spitter aint" Ty Cobb
"When I was pitching 90's in the seventies; I never thought I'd be pitching 70's in the nineties!" Frank Tanana
it doesn't mean lower OBP
the two situations Fish mentioned were purely hypothetical lines from two hypothetical players.
All we mean is that if guy has a higher OBP/SLG despite a lower batting average, you play him over the guy with a lower OBP/SLG regardless of batting average as a rule.
by Andrew Martin on Dec 12, 2010 4:29 PM MST up reply actions
While I embrace hitters that draw a lot of walks;I'd rather have a lot of hits...
We all agree that “once upon a time” that Todd’s lighter SLG didn’t matter compared to some of his higher SLG’d competion among 1b’s. His other hitting skills more tha adequately made up for it, because he was a better all around hitter.
That’s what I want to see more of is better, more versitle hitters. I am not enamoured with all these twenty home run a year guys that can’t consistantly do anything else. Not even Ted Williams would agree to that. He had a lot of problems with say a young Frank Howard in that respect.
I like homerun hitters as much as the next guy. Could we at least develope some that are more like say a Jim Wynn? A Rusty Staub? A Nettles? Todd was our Olerud or Kieth Henandez. Can’t The Rox develope another well rounded hitter?
"Why are they outlawin' the spit pitch? The curveball is a cheap 'n easy pitch; the spitter aint" Ty Cobb
"When I was pitching 90's in the seventies; I never thought I'd be pitching 70's in the nineties!" Frank Tanana
I'd also prefer the hits
This isn’t the issue of hits = walks. Without looking forward at hot/cold streaks, I’d take a hit over a walk any day (there are a few situations where I’d actually prefer the walk, ie Dexter walking against a reliever to bring up Cargo).
Can’t The Rox develop another well rounded hitter?
Are you excluding Tulowitzki from this discussion? Hitters like Helton come once a generation. It’s very rare to find the balance of high AVG AND high OBP that Helton has. A career .324/.424 batter like Helton is rare enough, and then add in the SLG that he had in his youth that he was at least able to keep alive via gap power in his later years.
So to answer the question, I’m sure they’re trying. It’s not as if these guys are just sitting outside of the Home Depot with a cardboard sign saying “will bat .308 with good contact skills and flashes of opposite field power for food”.
by Andrew Martin on Dec 13, 2010 11:17 AM MST up reply actions 1 recs
i should try that
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine. ~Pat Conroy
JFK
Some lessons to be applied...
Williams was the greatest pull hitter of all time. We are talking of two pull hitters here. Williams invented hot and cold zone theory to diagnose flaws and explain how the pitcher exploits them. He was a math genius who backed his obsevations with statistical analysis. Williams was the master of the inside out swing to keep pitchers trying to jam you honest.
Mattingly was a similar build to Ian who generated tremendous torque with his lower body. He did not have to pull when healthy. Torre explains with the catcher’s eye what the pitcher is going to try to beat you. A must read for a guess hitter like
Ian. He simplifies what to look for in pitch reconition.
Carew does a good job of explaining what different adjustments do and what to expect from them vs. different pitch types. He breaks pitch recognition in to almost a form of Zen. To me he’s the easiest read.
Lau again observed things from the catcher’s point of view. While I never could buy the whole pidgeon toed, helicopter swing he advocated. His explainations on stride, swing mechanics, and weight transfer are still valid
"Why are they outlawin' the spit pitch? The curveball is a cheap 'n easy pitch; the spitter aint" Ty Cobb
"When I was pitching 90's in the seventies; I never thought I'd be pitching 70's in the nineties!" Frank Tanana
Somewhere in my closet...
Is a miniature stack of Carney Lansford baseball cards from my early youth in the Bay Area as an A’s fan, right next to all the Weiss’, Henderson’s, Canseco’s, McGwire’s, and Dave Stewart’s. Man, did I love that team.
…And, man, did I forget about them pretty quickly when I moved to Colorado and the Rockies came about :)
I have those cards
and I know where they all are too (because I spent the entire summer organizing my cards to make them easier to find)
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine. ~Pat Conroy
JFK
not really
I’ve only been collecting since about 1996 or 1997, so a lot of people have been going a lot longer then I have
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine. ~Pat Conroy
JFK
Interesting
I have all of those A’s cards and more (I liked and followed the A’s but wasn’t an A’s fan at all – I’m a NL guy by heart and my lifelong favorite team was the one across the bay that just won the big one) yet I must be the anti-jrockies
I stopped collecting around 1996-1997 when I decided cards were becomeing more of a business and less of a hobby and all the fun in it was sucked dry from me.
I still have my collection though with my rookie Nolan Ryan card on the very first page (next to Lee Smith, Johnnie LeMaster and Albert Belle)
Wyoming baseball --- GO GHOSTS!
When
I said I started collecting in ‘96-’97 it was because my parents gave me cards for my birthday or something weird like that. I really can’t spend my own money on a lot of cards because I don’t have a job and I’m still in school. When that happens I hope my collection starts to explode. I don’t have all of the A’s from 1988-1989 but I do have a few. As for Nolan Ryan I only wish I had his rookie card, I do have quite a few others but not that one.
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine. ~Pat Conroy
JFK
My favorite card
is my signed Tony Gwynn rookie card. On the back it’s also signed by his son jr. Got that one at the AF Academy when SDSU came into town one year.
by EssentialCo on Dec 11, 2010 10:21 PM MST up reply actions
very cool
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine. ~Pat Conroy
JFK
yes
You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the goddamn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all. ~Earl Weaver
Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around their mouths like Bordeaux wine. ~Pat Conroy
JFK
Carney_Lansford fake twitter watch..
“Working today with Iannetta and Ian, got em both sloppin hogs.”
@charliedrysdale
by Charlie77 on Dec 11, 2010 3:43 PM MST via mobile reply actions
Is Silverblood aware
that Ian and Iannetta are playing in her backyard?
www.twitter.com/owtsproductions
www.adancerinparis.blogspot.com
Making life wonderful again.
I don't know, ask her sister, maybe she knows
by Andrew Martin on Dec 12, 2010 4:29 PM MST up reply actions
I see what you did there.
"No Mission Too Difficult, No Sacrifice Too Great—Duty First" - 1st Infantry Division Motto
SB Nation Denver - The regional hub for Denver sports!
Purple Row - Covering all your Rockies needs!
Diplomatic and Military History Book Review - My other blog where I go all historical on you.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Astros GM Jeff Luhnow works ballgame as usher
- Tale of Two Tulos: Rockies shortstop taketh, then giveth away in loss to Marlins
- Brett Lawrie hits umpire with line drive totally by accident (VIDEO)
- The Juice: Bryce Harper’s triple against Halladay keys Nats win, Dodgers roar back
- Heather Nabozny of Tigers, Nicole Sherry of Orioles: Women groundskeepers in MLB
