Chris Duncan and why he's not playing everyday

by thefordhamflash on Aug 9, 2007 2:19 AM EDT

Can someone please explain to me as to why Chris Duncan is not yet an everyday player for the Cardinals? It seems to me (and I know this might sound crazy) but it benefits baseball teams to have their second best hitter in the lineup. I know that most of the time that Duncan is not used it is against a lefty which to me makes no sense. the only way that Duncan is going to get better against left handed pitching is for him to face it in a game situation and learn to make adjustments. There have been many fine left handed hitters that came to the major leagues and initially struggled against lefties but over time were able to actually start games against left handed pitchers. I think it would be in the Cardinals best interest to see this season as what it is - a lost cause - and begin to build for the future. This involves giving Duncan more playing time and calling up Rick Ankiel and seeing what he does against major league competition.

2 more things -

please sign Kyle Russell

for the love of god take down that text messaging screen at the games, I thought I was going to a baseball game not a damm carnival.

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haha...

the text messaging screen is great...i tried to get 2 messages put up at my last game (1 succesful (bring back Haren!) and one unsuccesful (don't listen to dave, anthony!)

we had some giggles

by lopey986 on Aug 9, 2007 3:31 AM EDT reply actions

wishful thinking

i would love it, but Russel is bound for Texas...again. cant blame the guy though. man he is a masher.

by onephinepeace on Aug 9, 2007 5:49 AM EDT reply actions

Don't give up on Russell

they knew going in that he wanted 1st round $$$ and wouldn't have chosen him if they didn't plan to make him a good offer.

by chuckb on Aug 9, 2007 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Jeff Gordon

He seems to think otherwise. According to him...a deal is right around the corner.

"I'm hungry. Not for food. Just for baseball" Amaury Cazana Marti

by bobbyballgame1 on Aug 9, 2007 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Lefties

I think just about everyone except Tony would agree with you fordamflash. To further justify your postition, did you know that the Cardinals have played 35% (39 of 111) of their games against a lefty starter? Duncan has started a few of these games, but sitting your 2nd best hitter 30% of the time is not a good strategy. What scares me more is that TLR will do the same thing with Ankiel even though his splits this year show he is better against lefties. At least the Cards are improving against lefties overall, their record is now 19-20 in games started by southpaws.

by lefty fan on Aug 9, 2007 9:51 AM EDT reply actions

I was at the game last night, too.

In fact, I think I was sitting next to you, Fordham Flash. You gave me some peanuts, it was very polite. Anyways, I think a very good analogy to this situation is Ryan Howard, who also couldn't hit lefties when he came up.
You diary does fail to point out the hidden-genius motives of LaRussa in sitting Duncan last night (sarcasm, anybody?). He needed him to pinch hit! LaRussa has already shown his willingness to sit his best player indefinitely in the hopes of saving him until he really needs him. Thats all he was doing last night. And look! We one by one run!
By the way, that was my first time at the new Busch (I live in Boston now and have become a huge JD Drew fan). It was actually pretty nice. Other than the text mesage screen, the only other major oversight was the lack of a traditional scoreboard. Oh yeah, and the 3 mile long ramp to get up to the nosebleeds. But, as we all know, the new Busch just happens to contain a World Series trophy, which makes it pretty much awesome.

by johnnyawesomo on Aug 9, 2007 10:48 AM EDT reply actions