Left Field

[10,000 Casts]

I'm sorry but sometimes I feel like I am watching a Monkey and a football out in left field, teach Delmon Young some fielding basics!!!

[bobbymalone]

twins are doing better this year than any year in recent memory and most of the twins related posts in the baseball forum are complaining about how bad everybody on the team except joe mauer sucks.

can't wait to mauer goes 0-5 some night so i can check on here the next morning and here about how bad he sucks too.

you guys should move to NY if you want a team of allstars.

move to baltimore if you want to biotch about how bad all the players are.

BTW - statistically Young is about the same as anybody else the Twins stick out there in the outfield... but that's right all the other outfielders suck too.

[PierBridge]

Good Vent Bobby!...

In fairness to Delmon he has improved greatly from being arguably the worst outfielder "deer in headlights" in the league the last few years. He'll never be a good defensively but if he keeps hitting we shouldn't nit-pick to much. I do see him as DH eventually though.

Obviously Span is our best outfielder far and away. Frankly how I see it Kubel actually gets a better jump on the ball then Cuddy or Young.

But yeah Young is our worst fielder for sure.

[solbes]

He's closed the gap a lot this year. If you compare him defensively to most of the other MLB starting left fielders, he's not going to impress anyone. His hitting this year is right there with the best of them though, so I'll take it. I see alot of catches that are more exciting than they need to be, but I don't see alot of errors out of him. Mostly I'm just happy to see the improvement in his fielding and hitting this year.

[DonBo]

When he does catch the ball, he's got a heck of an arm. Remember how brutal Morneau was when he first started playing first base? Delmon's come a long way. We could do worse.

[toughguy]

When he does catch the ball, he's got a heck of an arm. Remember how brutal Morneau was when he first started playing first base? Delmon's come a long way. We could do worse.

I remember that about Morneau too. I went to one of the first games he started over Mientkiewicz. Morneau dropped a ball costing us an out and I yelled "what do we need to do to get a decent fielder at 1st?" Well that turned out ok huh?

I know Delmon's been in the league for many years now so what you see is about what you're gonna get. He is hitting better and is quicker this year with the weight loss. He's no allstar but he's serviceable. We could have much worse out there.

[10,000 Casts]

1. He misplays countless flyballs, he is so herky jerky that I get nervous evertime a ball gets hit to LF.

2. His arm strength is below avg maybe avg.. Teams run all over him.

3. He sometimes doublesteps off his throwing foot.

4. His bad plays have cost us a couple games already and come Fall when the Tigers are 1 game back, those will count!

I'm not asking for a team of all stars, everything that he does is coachable.

[bobbymalone]

1. He misplays countless flyballs, he is so herky jerky that I get nervous evertime a ball gets hit to LF.

what is your definition of "misplay" and "countless"?

[10,000 Casts]

first play that sticks in my head is the top of the 8th vs Atlanta, Twins up by 1 and he should have called off the infielder who wasn't even close and the ball fell right in front of him, that was "misplayed" and cost us the game.. there are other ones too..

He has had a few since then that an avg outfielder would have gotten including the one last night that fell right in front of him on the warning track in the later innings. He needs to grow a pair and take a better angle on that ball and catch it..

I will change "countless" to "more than a Major leaguer should"

There has also been a couple times this year when he threw to the wrong base or missed the cuttoff..

[SledNeck]

1. He misplays countless flyballs, he is so herky jerky that I get nervous evertime a ball gets hit to LF.

2. His arm strength is below avg maybe avg.. Teams run all over him.

owned

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2909515

[10,000 Casts]

thanks for posting that but... that was in 07? I never really paid any attention to him in TB but from what I have watched over the last 2 years, he is no where near that list, Cuddyer on the other hand should be on there, he has an absolute cannon..

Direct quote from Blylethen after DY misplayed a throw that should have gone to the cutoff and instead he threw a moonball to home earlier this season, "we asked Gardy this morning what he thought of Young's arm and he said that it was Average..

If your manager thinks that it is avg then it is avg..

[mr_jman]

I wonder who will be on the chopping block post next week??? A pitcher is my guess (we're about due for a I hate "insert pitcher here"!)

What no one has mentioned is the fly balls Delmon has gotten to that would have fallen in front of him a year ago. He has more speed than ever before. Anyone else on here want to say the players are still adjusting to Target Field, cause I still think they are! Delmon realy struggles on deep balls going over his head, but he is making most of the catches in front of him.

No he is not an above average fielder but I think he does do a "good enough" job..... Anyone saying that Delmon OR ANY ONE PLAYER loses a game on one play is dumb. As we've covered in other posts. The game of baseball takes all 9+ guys to win a game or lose it.

[10,000 Casts]

sorry, he missed an easy catch which allowed the man on 3rd to score which tied the game in the 8th, I guess we'll say that he gave up the tying run, not that one man cost them the game..

[bobbymalone]

sorry, he missed an easy catch which allowed the man on 3rd to score which tied the game in the 8th, I guess we'll say that he gave up the tying run, not that one man cost them the game..

Mauer cost them the game by going 1-4. He should have had 3 more home runs and it would have been at least 8-7 Twins. Mauer sucks. We need to trade him.

[10,000 Casts]

there is a difference between missing a routine fly ball with a guy on 3rd and hitting 3 homeruns in a game.. and the game I am talking about, the twins were up 2-1 in the 8th..

[toughguy]

+1 pt for you 10,000. Delmon just watched a ball bounce all over Miller Park allowing the Brewers a run in the 3rd. There may have been a play at the plate if he picked the ball up on his first attempt.

[10,000 Casts]

ya, I saw that, all too common...

[toughguy]

-1 pt 10,000. Delmon delivers with a 2 run single.

[SledNeck]

Delmon is an RBI machine

[zamboni]

Delmon is an RBI machine

Well, almost 3 seasons after a bad trade, we finally are getting some return. We'll probably see the Rays take the better end of that deal to the WS again this season, making it 2 of the last 3 years. Delmons a DH, nothing more. You keep bringing up that article where it talks about how great his arm is, it is because runners have to wait and see if he catches the ball and tag up, once he doesn't catch it, he catches the runners between bases. It isn't runners testing his arm, its the fact they think he can catch a routine pop up, ball drops at his feet, he picks it up off a hop and throws. Cuddyer throws guys out that are on a full sprint and are trying to test him. There is a huge difference between the defense of the two, I don't throw salt over my shoulder when a pop flys hit to #5.

[10,000 Casts]

I agree on the DH, I just wish we had someone to put in LF... Kubel?

[SledNeck]

Do you throw salt over your shoulder on a 2 strike pitch to cuddy?

[zamboni]

Said it before, say it again- Cuddy had 32 HRs last year, will Delmon ever hit over 30?

[10,000 Casts]

Cuddy does have a history of alot of strikeouts.. But he is still pretty clutch and plays a good right field, and he has a gun and can play about any position on the field..

He is 10 times the ball player than DY will ever be..

[solbes]

He is 10 times the ball player than DY will ever be..

?!?

I would say that about either of the M&M boys, but certainly not Cuddyer. They are both good players. Likely the kind of guys that are your third, fourth, or fifth best hitters on the team depending on the season (with Kubel also being in the mix). This year Delmon is clearly the 2nd or 3rd best hitter on the team and sits much higher than Cuddyer.