Brewers acquire CF Corey Patterson [Called up 9/4 - see reply 128ish]

[DuWayne Steurer]

......and Patterson is starting and batting leadoff. A guy with a career OBP less than .300.

 

Macha should be fired for utilizing him like this, and maybe this makes me ridiculous, but I'm not watching a game in which Patterson is inked into the starting lineup.

[davego]

Crey Patterson is to Ken and TGJ was to Ned.

[TooLiveBrew]

I can't get too worked up over Patterson batting leadoff. I've already learned that Macha has the typical managerial shortcomings -- addicted to veterans, has defined 'lineup roles' (like speed at leadoff, 'RBI guys' at 3 & 4, etc.). If Patterson were getting significant PAs in a pennant race, I'd be upset.

[BrewCrewForever]

I can't get too worked up over Patterson batting leadoff. I've already learned that Macha has the typical managerial shortcomings -- addicted to veterans, has defined 'lineup roles' (like speed at leadoff, 'RBI guys' at 3 & 4, etc.). If Patterson were getting significant PAs in a pennant race, I'd be upset.

No kidding, Macha is on his last straw with me. I just hope Doug Melvin feels the same way. I liked Macha at first, but the older the season has gotten, the more these managerial idiocy's are showing. Patterson playing and batting leadoff is just dumb.

[TooLiveBrew]

But is it dumber than not resting a dinged-up McGehee and playing the organization's top prospect? Probably not. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[logan82]

Making his first start for the Brewers, Corey Patterson went 0-for-4 as a leadoff hitter in Monday's loss.

Ken Macha isn't even trying at this point. For the second game in a row, he never bothered pinch-hitting for a weak-hitting regular in a close game, and going with Patterson as a leadoff man suggests that he either has no idea how runs are scored or he simply doesn't care any longer.

BrewCrewBall had a link to Patterson's Rotoworld biography with this quote. I chuckled at first. Then I thought about it and decided that I needed another beer.

[Invader3K]

That's a great quote that sums up things perfectly. Personally, I don't mind Patterson playing, especially if Cameron is hurt, but batting him leadoff is just a total head scratcher.

 

I also agree with the sentiment that Macha has worn thin with his managerial "style". I liked him at first, but he just seems stubborn with the way he manages this team. I would not hate to see him fired after the season is done.

[DougJones43]

0-for-3 with 3 strikeouts (so far)!! The ideal leadoff hitter. I'm sure glad that 3 good weeks at triple-A fixed Patterson, and now we can consider him for the CF job next year.

[greeg35]

You've been around this board long enough to know: strikeouts don't matter any more than other outs and they may matter LEAST for a leadoff hitter. Unfortunately his sub-human OBP does matter, especially for a lead off hitter. Choosing Patterson over organizational guys like Heether makes me angry.

[rluzinski]

If Patterson was a good hitter and struck out a lot, I wouldn't care how many times he K'd in the leadoff spot. Strikeouts matter in so far as how to affects a player's projection. though. Patterson has consistently had an above average K rate his whole career. That's fine if you are doing other things well to compensate for it. Patterson also has a below average walk rate and average power. I just don't get why the Brewers are wasting their time with him, much less batting HIM LEAD OFF. It's an embarrassment.

[DuWayne Steurer]

That's what I don't get. Why are we "kicking the tire" on this guy? He's got a more than large enough body of major league work to prove that, well, he sucks.

 

And ok, I can deal with him replacing Cam at the end of a lost season. But as the quote someone posted above shows, if Macha is batting a guy leadoff who carries a career OBP below .300, there's one of 2 things going on.

 

1.) He doesn't 'get it'. He just doesn't understand that low OBP = bad, and high OBP = good. There's a reason Prince/Braun is the #1 RBI duo in the bigs, and that's because by and large, the guys that have been hitting 1-2 (aside from Hardy early in the season) carry good OBP. And if Macha DOES know that having a guy with a .290-ish OBP leading off is bad, and he hits him there anyways.....

 

2.) He doesn't care.

 

Either one of these is grounds for dismissal. Sure, it might be reactionary, but at this point, I'm done with this guy. I want Bobby Valentine.

[JonnyLungs]

Could somebody please explain to me how Dusty Baker managed to sneak his way into the Brewers' dugout?

[sheethead]

You've been around this board long enough to know: strikeouts don't matter any more than other outs and they may matter LEAST for a leadoff hitter. Unfortunately his sub-human OBP does matter, especially for a lead off hitter. Choosing Patterson over organizational guys like Heether makes me angry.

Like so many other things in the 2009 Brewer season, this makes me steaming angry as well. It might be the single move that makes me the most angry and disappointed in Doug Melvin. Shame on him for this one, big time.

[endaround]

I thought maybe they called Patterson up in order to open space for Hart in AAA. If Hart can now go and Patterson still plays...

[joepepsi]

They don't need him. Gerut should be playing CF every day as long as Cam is sidelined. With Cat and Hart ready, RF is covered.

 

Mark me down as another one who liked Macha but has now soured on him. Letting Kendall bat 3 times late in two games over the weekend when the tying or winning run was on base is inexcusable. Especially against a RH closer when a lefty option was on the bench. Playing Patterson when he has no future with the team is exhibit B for firing him. Bringing Patterson up from AAA may be reason enough for firing Melvin.

[jhart05]

I have no idea why this guy and his career .295 OBP is leading off for any MLB club.

[JoeHova]

Has any team ever used two players as bad as Kendall and Patterson in their leadoff spot during the same season? It's probably happened before, but it sure isn't a point in Macha's favor.

[endaround]

In 2005 Jose Reyes bat lead off and put up the line .273/.300/.386. Yep he was given 733(!) PAs with a .300 OBP. Now who was his manager, hmm......

[Tbadder]

Playing Patterson is simply the lowest point that the Melvin era has sunk to. It is, in a phrase, inexcusable.

[jhart05]

I just don't understand it. Why? It makes no sense at all.

 

Why not put Gerut in CF? Give him some regular playing time again, to see if he can regain his 2008 form? Gerut was pretty good in 2008 with regular playing time.

 

Are they actually giving him an audition for the CF job next year? If they are, I don't know what to say, that's just sad. Because that's the only reason I can possibly think of for having him in the lineup at all.

 

Heck, I was never a TGJ fan, but I'd rather see him out there right now over this guy.

[JoeHova]

In 2005 Jose Reyes bat lead off and put up the line .273/.300/.386. Yep he was given 733(!) PAs with a .300 OBP. Now who was his manager, hmm......

That was different though, Reyes was a 22 year old hot prospect, not a washed up scrub. He's been in the .350's every year since. Patterson and Kendall have an approximately 0% chance of having a season with an OBP that high. Reyes could be justified as being groomed for the future. There's no justification for having Patterson or Kendall lead off. There really isn't a way to justify having either of them on the team at all.

[joepepsi]

If Patterson is the starting CF in 2010, wait, if he's even on the roster in 2010, I may stop being a Brewers fan. That's how significant the message will be to me.

[DougJones43]

I'm sort of curious...if Patterson is given a chance to win the CF job next year with a good spring, would that be enough to push anybody from "keep Melvin" to "fire Melvin"?

 

I think it could happen. And I think Kendall could be back next year. There's a legitimate possibility that Patterson and Kendall could be regulars in next year's lineup. *Shudder*

[JohnBriggs12]

Corey Patterson is a proven manager killer. Just ask Don Baylor, Dusty Baker, Sam Perlozzo, and Manny Acta. He's also knocked out some GM's. Look out Doug and Ken.

[endaround]

In 2005 Jose Reyes bat lead off and put up the line .273/.300/.386. Yep he was given 733(!) PAs with a .300 OBP. Now who was his manager, hmm......

That was different though, Reyes was a 22 year old hot prospect, not a washed up scrub. He's been in the .350's every year since. Patterson and Kendall have an approximately 0% chance of having a season with an OBP that high. Reyes could be justified as being groomed for the future. There's no justification for having Patterson or Kendall lead off. There really isn't a way to justify having either of them on the team at all.

 

My point is that we have the same guy in our dugout that ran a not ready Reyes out there in a year the Mets could have competed because Reyes was fast.