Theriot wins leadoff job
In what should have come as no great surprise, Cubs manager Lou Piniella today named shortstop Ryan Theriot the team’s leadoff hitter. Theriot had been in somewhat of a battle with right fielder Kosuke Fukudome for the No. 1 spot in the order. Early on in spring training, though, Lou said he liked the idea of Fukudome batting second and hitting behind the runner to the right side.
"I'm just glad he has the confidence in me to stick me up there," cubs.com quoted Theriot as saying after today’s 5-2 loss to the Rockies in Tucson. "I feel comfortable at the top of the orrder _ one, two. One's good, two's good. Honestly, just as long as I'm in the lineup. I cannot get (Lou) to let me hit fourth or fifth. I'm working on that, so we'll see."
It’s now up to Theriot to get his OBP up to his 2008 level of .387 instead of last year’s .343. Fukudome, by the way, had a .375 OBP a year ago. Theriot also will need to get his walks and strikeouts going in the right direction again. His walks fell from 73 to 51 from 2008 to 2009, while his strikeouts spiked from 58 to 93. As a leadoff hitter last year, in 173 at-bats, Theriot had a line of .283/.354/.289. Today, he went 1-for-3 and is batting .550 for the spring.
Also in the cubs.com story, Lou says Mike Fontenot has taken the lead over Jeff Baker in the second-base derby. If it ends up that way, that would give Lou two “left-hand” hitters in the lineup: Fontenot and Fukudome. It also would free up Baker to fill the super-sub role.
Tyler Colvin was 2-for-4 with an RBI today. He’s batting .517 as he attempts to win a backup outfielder’s spot. Big Z started and pitched 4 innings, giving up 5 hits and 1 run. It was the Cubs’ last game at Hi Corbett Field. The Rockies and D’Backs are moving up to the Phoenix area for spring training next year. I missed out on going to Hi Corbett this year. It’s a quaint place, with home plate on the northeast corner, which means the sun beats down on the batter and everybody behind the plate as the day wears on. The Rockies writers figured this out quickly, and they always sit in the second row of the press box, leaving the visiting writers to bake in the front row. I still like the place.
Bruce,
Can you tell us how Colvin looks (not the stats, we can read those) this spring? What are the Cubs brass or scouts saying about him? Also, what about James Russell? Does he look as good as his stats would indicate?
I'll be back down there next week, and then I'll hit the road to Atlanta and Cincy. When I was there in the early days of spring, Colvin looked great physically. He's definitely making them decide.
Bruce,
I just saw that Ted Lilly and his wife had their first child (congrats to them) and they named him, Theodore Roosevelt Lilly IV.
Is Ted some sort of a relative to our former president or how did that name come about? Not really 'on the field' related but it has been bugging me for awhile
I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe Ted's Great-Great Grandfather was a Roughrider and named his son, TRL I after Teddy. No relation to President TR.
I asked Ted about this one spring, and I believe he said he had a great-great uncle who worked in the Roosevelt administration. No, Ted isn't a distant relative. Still pretty cool, though.
Great info, as usual. Much appreciated!
I've always seen Theriot as a perfect 8 hitter. For the most part, he's gonna put the ball in play. He's not going to do any damage with extra base hits, but he good enough with the stick to get that hit that flips the batting order and sets up the next inning.
I'd rather see Fukudome hit leadoff. He'll see a lot of pitches and get on base at a better clip than Theriot.
...there is no question in my mind Fukudome would give you a better OBP (probably 30-40 points higher) than Theriot and much better base running as well.
Theriot is indeed an 8 hitter (in a good lineup), but the Cubs have not exactly been stellar in the 1 and 2 holes since they made their run the second half of 2003 and they haven't been close to that quality at the top of the lineup since.
Go back the last 20 years, and you will see the Cubs teams that actually won a playoff game, were solid at the top of the order. The teams that failed when it mattered (04, 07 and 08), did not have consistency at the top. Against good pitching and in colder weather, your 1 and 2 hole guys have to put some pressure on the pitcher and defense, and I believe the Cubs are still lacking in this area.
This leadoff decision seems pretty easy if you just look at Kosuke and Theriot's career splits and platoon them. I believe Kosuke is a much better option in the leadoff spot vs. RHP. Theriot does have very good splits vs. LHP, so he's fine in that role under those circumstances. Otherwise, I'd bat him eighth, too. Oh well - I kinda saw this decision coming and I'm not going to freak out about it.
just asking. did Everth Cabrera make the San Diego Padres starting line up at 20 in 2008/9 never having played above A ball?
he was 22 last year and was a Rule 5 pick so he had to stay on the big league roster or else SD would've lost him.
he was a good pick up.