#39 Wendell Fairley. OF. B-L, T-R. BD: 03/17/1988. 6'2", 195 lbs.
2009 Stats: Low A- .243/.323/.333.
Don't ask my why I put Wendell Fairley at #39. I could have just as easily put him #50. I do think it's too early to write him off. Aside from a pretty good IsoOBP, that's a pretty ugly line from Augusta, but there may be some mitigating factors: 1. I wouldn't totally write off any toolsy player with that kind of plate discipline, although it's not clear the Giants organization particularly values it. 2. Augusta is a pretty tough place to hit HR's in. 3. The Sally League is generally a pretty good league for pitchers. Fred Lewis hit .250 there once upon a time. Thomas Neal hit in the .270's. Pablo Sandoval was darn near left for dead after his season there. Fairley is penciled in as the starting LF for San Jose this year. Although it's too early to write him off, this is a very important year for him. BTW, his mug on his milb.com player page reminds me of Jeffrey Leonard and his Penitentiary Face. Dude looks like he might have a chip on his shoulder!
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Dr B, a question and a comment--
ReplyDeletefirst, nice work on the blog so far and the rankings. Oseguera and Ronick are 2 that never got a peep on McChron, but could be significant.
The question--how was Fred Lewis as a CF? As I recall, he played mostly center in the minors, and then became a flop in left. 54
Fred Lewis is pretty much the same in CF as in LF. He can cover the ground, but tends to mess up on easy plays. I think the Giants felt that the rigors of playing CF were distracting him from developing his offense, and then he was taking his offensive problems out to CF with him. I think they thought moving him to LF would break up that vicious cycle.
ReplyDeleteFred Lewis is statistically a good OF, but the gaffes on easy plays tend to stick in people's minds and so his reputation on defense is terrible. Personally, I would favor giving Fred another chance in LF and batting leadoff over DeRosa, but I guess that's water under the bridge.
slow response here, thanks for observation.
ReplyDeleteMoving Fred to LF did NOT help anything, did it? I guess there is a principle there about confronting your issues or avoiding them. Not that I can put into words Fred's "issues"--maybe something about reacting to fly balls or judging them? I don't know if that improves with practice and coaching, since there is really no time to think about these things in the outfield.
I agree about giving Lewis more time to develop. Considering how rarely we develop any hitting talent, it's dumb to discard Lewis mainly over attitude and not communicating well with Bochy.