Good grief, I’m already tired of this subject and we are only a week into spring training. Here’s a link to what is likely to become a weekly article about Drew Stubbs and his shortcomings. Didn’t Joel put this one to rest a while ago?
At any rate, at least Dusty Baker is exactly correct in this instance:
“It’s easy to say get him out and get somebody else in. You’re inviting a similar problem that’s further down the learning scale. You don’t give up on players with ability. Where you going to find players with Stubbs’ ability? They weren’t No. 1 draft choices for nothing.
“You hope he gets it tomorrow. It’s hard to sell patience to people and to the person who’s learning.”
Baker says Stubbs isn’t playing just for offense.
“Stubbs is a different animal. Stubbs is probably as big a part of our defense as anybody in the league. When the Big Red Machine went and got Cesar Geronimo, they didn’t get him to hit. They got him to play center field. To win, you’ve got to prevent runs. People just see offense. But to win, you better catch that ball. . . Look how many runs Stubbs saves.”
Stubbs stands on the precipice of becoming the next Adam Dunn to Cincinnati’s sports talk radio call-in aficionados. I’m not sure I can stomach this. No, he isn’t perfect. Yes, he took a step back last season. Be patient.
Boy, people really hate strikeouts, don’t they? I’ll never understand it….