Dear Dee, You just don't get it, do you? You don't seem to understand your role, your purpose Let me try to clarify things... Your job -- first and foremost -- is to get on base You should be slapping the ball around -- ON THE GROUND Your swing is WAY too big and looping for a leadoff hitter Any time you hit the ball in the air you're doing the other team a favor There's a saying Dee, that you can't steal 1st base You can't fully utilize your speed if you don't get on base I'm going to refer you to someone who might be able to help He played in the bigs, a good portion with the Dodgers He once won the MVP by stealing 104 bases His name is Maury Wills I once saw him bunt 5 times in one game I have yet to see you bunt 5 times in a week
We can't over-react to this. Just as he hit 300+ last year and was going crazy, this is a deviation from the mean. I agree, he doesn't look good and somewhat defeated, but that is going to have to be addressed by DBB and team, that IS what they are paid to do. Dee will be fine, take a deep breath.
I honestly don't know why we aren't seeing him bunt more. Even if it's a terrible bunt, with Dee's speed the defender has to make a great play.
He's so young and raw that it is the responsibility of the coaches to pretty close to demand that he attempt a bunt at minimum of twice in every at bat or at least show it. DBB should fine the kid or make him do push ups if he doesn't, aka Willie Mays Hayes. It could also be that he is a slow starter and due to seeing him so little that we don't yet realize it. Bottom line though use it or lose it Dee!!!
Once upon a time you would send a guy like this down to the minors for awhile and get some work in with the coaches. But who would we play at SS? That's a problem. We would need to get rid of AK and find a utility infielder who could fill for a couple of weeks and not suck so bad with the bat. Dee comes back up and gets a fair shot at his position again.
like bestlakersfan said, he hit 300 last year. he's not a .200 batter. i dont think he's a 300 batter eitherbut he probably .270-.280. lets just see what he's batting at the end of May
I want to see him bunt at least twice a game. He should be doing drag bunts, push bunts to the SS, etc.
Agree with most of the above. We don't have any other options at SS right now. No way he is gonna hit near .200 the entire time, but he is NOT playing to his strengths at all. The coaching staff really needs to drill that into his head. I actually like that lineup Chris posted on page 1.
To me, this is a classic case of a talented ballplayer coming up before he's learned all he needs to learn to succeed in MLB. This happened to Kemp too, but a kid like Dee has some limits to what he can do...like hit for power, make contact, and have a good eye. The later three are curable with more minor league games under his belt with proper coaching. These three things are essential to a guy like Dee and his physical abilities/limits. I really think Dee can be an above average to great ML SS...but he has to learn things, and leading off for the 1st place LA Dodgers with new ownership and higher expectations is a hard place to learn the game.
I don't mind Sellers coming up and getting some experience - I think that's making good use of the utility slots. But I don't get any sense that there is any plan to break in minor leaguers for the second half roster - not with this GM. Ned would be more apt to bring in another ageing contract player to fill in the gaps. Replace Kennedy with his clone. But this attitude could change - maybe even starting today.