Does Dusty Baker even listen to what he’s saying, or does he just talk so he can hear his head rattle? From Mark Sheldon’s story about Juan Francisco’s promotion to the majors yesterday:
“Like a lot of September call-ups, I’ll use him to pinch-hit and maybe play third base on days that Rolen doesn’t play,” Baker said. “That’s it for now. We’re working him out in the outfield. But you just don’t come up in the big leagues and just play outfield for the first time.”
Oh really, Dusty?
I present to you one Drew Sutton. Sutton, of course, made his major league debut this year for the Reds.
Sutton has played six games in the outfield for Cincinnati; in four of those games, Dusty penciled Sutton into the lineup as a starting outfielder.
Guess how many games Sutton played in the outfield during his entire minor league career, dating back to 2004?
Wait for it…..
Zero.