Jake Fox Must Play
Aramis will be playing third unless he starts hitting like Soriano. Fox can’t play middle infield and he can’t play catcher well enough. DLee’s certainly doing the job at first.
This means Jake Fox must play the outfield. He isn’t going to be the center fielder. So, the Cubs have a problem, given that Milton Bradley’s in right and Soriano’s in left. Plus, while Milton can in theory play center, Fukudome’s been leading off for us. Not to mention, Milton would probably get injured in five minutes playing center field.
Put me in, coach. I'm ready to play, today. Look at me, I can hit like a motherfucker.
Like I already said, the Cubs have a problem. Jake Fox is way too good of a hitter to be sitting on the bench. It isn’t like the Cubs have been scoring runs in bunches all season long so his production is very much needed. Dude can seriously hit. And speaking of ’serious’, everyone knows how serious I am about defense. But, a bat like Fox’s must find its way into the lineup, NL or not. It isn’t like Soriano’s some great defender.
I really don’t know what the Cubs are going to do. Soriano and Bradley can’t be traded. It’s unlikely that Fukudome can, should, or would be traded.
This season is still a long way from over and the Cubs are very much in it. I’d hate for Fox to get traded for relief help, something we do need. His bat is simply too valuable. He’s proving day in and day out that he can hit major league pitching and his AAA numbers were no fluke.
Anyone got any ideas?
Tags: Chicago Cubs, Jake Fox, Milton Bradley
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July 5, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I wouldn’t say that Fox has proven anything yet other than, he is capable of hitting major league pitching.
Cubs fans have seen similar outbursts from guys like Brant Brown and Tyler Houston, but then the league figures them out and they never hit well again.
I’m not saying that will happen to Fox. I like his approach and he seems like he has a pretty good understanding of what pitchers are trying to do with him. Nevertheless, there are more major league scouts and coaches looking at his game tape to find weaknesses, and they will find them.
The question will be how he adjusts back.
That said, this team is better off with a healthy, effective Soriano and Bradley, with Fox coming off the bench as the right-handed pop this bench has been missing since Karros in 2003 (when Choi started).
July 5, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Hey Aisle,
I don’t remember Tyler Houston having that much pop. I do, however, remember Brant Brown performing relatively well when he came up. I also remember him fancying himself a bigshot before he accomplished much… talking to Billy Corgan, the papers, and anyone else who would grant him more social standing than he had achieved up ’til then, or ever would. It was obnoxious.
I don’t see Fox as being a cocky idiot. I just see him as a guy who can flat out hit. Even when he makes field outs, the ball is usually hit pretty hard.
Similar to you, I’ve always pointed out how the league will adjust to a new young hitter and then the hitter has to adjust back. It’s why I told people to be patient with Theriot after 2007, and look what he did in 2008.
I agree with you that there will be an adjustment period. But still, we don’t know when or to what effect that will occur. Some guys come into the league and hit… and keep hitting.
Last year, Fox hit 31 homers in the minors and knocked in 105. In 2007, he had hit 24 jacks. This year, between the minors and the bigs he’s jacked 21 out already. I don’t know that Brant Brown ever produced like this.
We agree that Fox hasn’t proven anything other than he ‘is capable of hitting major league pitching.’ Where we disagree is… I’d like to see him continue to do so until he proves himself incapable.
Soriano and Bradley should get right and I hope they do. But there’s simply no good reason why Jake Fox shouldn’t be hitting major league pitching on a daily basis at this point in time.
I have a new nickname for Fox. Instead of Jake, I think I’m going to call him Jack because he’s always jacking the shit out of the ball.
July 5, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Soriano to the DL for a a couple weeks…by the time he gets back, Milton F. Bradley will injure himself badly, if history is any indication, and the problem will solve itself.
July 6, 2009 at 9:34 am
I agree with “no.”
Soriano can go on the DL for a couple of weeks to rest his knee, clear his head, and then go gface some minor league pitching to get his stroke and confidence back. By then, Sam Fuld probably will have returned to earth or Bradley will be injured.
As for Fox, I agree that he doesn’t seem like the douche that was Brant Brown. I’m inherently distrustful of anything that comes out of the Cubs minor league system since we have had so few position players that are actually above average players, so that may skew my opinion.
But the team needs a healthy, productive Soriano. We KNOW he is capable of carrying a team offensively. Fox is still an unknown and I’m uncomfortable resting World Series aspirations on a 26 year old rookie.
But that is just me.
July 6, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Well Gentlemen,
We can pretend the Cubs would DL Soriano for the fuck of it, but all three of us know that’s not going to happen. Plus, it’s not exactly a sound strategy to count on Bradley getting injured, despite the likelihood.
We don’t ‘KNOW’ Soriano is capable of carrying a team offensively. We know that every now and then he does it for a week at a time. We certainly haven’t seen it the last two Octobers.
I still think we have a legitimate problem with getting Fox into the lineup.
As for farm hitting, we have produced Theriot and Soto in recent years, which is more than the Cubs have come up with in ages. Plus, it isn’t like it makes Fox less of a hitter what’s happened in the past. I’d also add that the Cubs farm system has provided a lot this decade, and I mean a lot. There’s simply no disputing that.
Anyway, in other news, I’m happy to see the Tribune Era coming to an end.
July 8, 2009 at 7:04 am
Even considering all the dumb management decisions that they have made–and all owners make them–The Trib bought a team that had not made the postseason in what, nearly 40 years?
In the time it owned the team, it made the playoffs in ‘84, ‘89, ‘98, ‘03, ‘07, ‘08. That’s six potential World Championships. The Trib didn’t throw that pitch to Steve Garvey or make Durham miss that ball. The Trib didn’t buy Bartman that ticket or hypnotize the entire infield last year into booting routine grounders.
As owners, they were nowhere near as bad or stupid as the Wrigleys [they have certainly spent more money]. We can only hope that whichever group ends up buying the team has as much success and even more.
July 8, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Poignant and funny as always, Xi Whang.
I believe the Trib were sound owners this decade, but previously were not. They never spent what they could have in the past.
1984 was lightning in a bottle. 1989 wasn’t that good a team. God knows 1998 wasn’t that good. 2003 was a very good team. The last two years wer good and should have at least produced one NLCS victory. But, they’re the Cubs.
The Trib never spent before this decade. Maddux should have never left. Alfonso Soriano was the first time in my lifetime that the Cubs went out and signed a top free agent.
I believe the new owner is going to really care about winning and have an individual’s incentive to get it done. We’ll no longer have a faceless owner.