Joey O

[alwz4gbp]

How much longer are we going to be subjected to his horrific offensive game?  I'm not saying that they need to rush Pratt, Made or whoever but his spot in the order has now been a black hole for over a year.  It simply can't be ignored any longer.  Send him to the minors to work on hitting or send him to the spring training complex to get some individual coaching.  Something.  Anything.  It's been a rough start for most of the team but his continued struggles have reached a critical juncture in my opinion.  The season is at the 10% mark, how long until Murph just can't take it and pulls the plug?

[adambr2]

I guess my speculative answer to this would be they simply don’t have any better available options, so I would guess they’re going to be waiting until Pratt is ready.

If late July rolls around and they’re in clear buy mode, Ortiz is still completely unplayable and Pratt just looks overmatched at AAA, I could see a small move for some rental infielder. But even if that comes to fruition, it’s months out.

[Playing Catch]

47 minutes ago, alwz4gbp said:

how long until Murph just can't take it and pulls the plug?

How long until the Front Office pulls the plug?

I think Ortiz has until about May 15th to demonstrate he's the best candidate. I think his developmental door has basically closed, so I feel like May 15th is about the time when one can be confident that it's not just a slow start for an improved Ortiz (if indeed he has improved, which would be a dubious claim). I've felt that the team has been patient enough. He has such a gifted defensive skillset, you really want to give him as long of a leash as possible, which they've now done, IMO.

His transition to the bench has already started, what with Hamilton getting as many innings at short as he has. So far, Hambone has looked passable there, to me. But in more of a David Eckstein kind of way (sheesh. Eckstein is 51. I feel old).

[GAME05]

Pratt? Isn't Jett the most logical next guy up? Plus if they're willing to move Jett around his rookie year, he'd be a big help making up for some of our outfield absences, too.  Add in Jett's versatility would mean a little more playing time for Rengifo/Hamilton, which I sure wouldn't mind, plus I'd prefer them to Perkins/Jones/Matos.

Or is this just a temporary thing and once Chourio/Yelich/Vaughn come back, the  -offense/+defense of Ortiz is a lot more tolerable?

[Frisbee Slider]

It’s worth noting that baseball reference has Ortiz above replacement level.