As far as I am concerned, Reed can do anything that Murton can. If Murton was slugging like a corner outfielder should, I would call for him to come up. He has never show the power that I would like to see from a left fielder. As long as he is hitting singles, I would rather have Reed.

Matt Murton sucks. He is a poor man’s Ben Grieve. Eric Patterson at least provides multiple skill set and versatility. Maybe Patterson can make himself into a Willie Harris type. That would be an asset on this Cub team.

We seriously have a BP writer that’s willing to judge a player on 41 minor-league at-bats? Kahrl needs to start with the shutting up or start trying to justify her existance with some actually insightful baseball writing, because this is sheer trash.

My feeling on Matt since ST was if he hit the minors for more than a couple of weeks, Hendry would never see good value for him in trade. Now, I’m really left to wonder, as he’s not even viewed as the 1st call-up in a situation like this.

if they don’t start—starting Patterson at second, batting leadoff and putting DeRosa in left batting 2nd. Or vice-versa.

...maybe he’s just drawing too many walks. He’s got 10 BB in 41 ABs. And, in his last 10 games, he’s had three multi-walk games. (He drew two yesterday.)

I understand Murton’s limitations as a player. But I’m not going to fault him for drawing walks if pitchers aren’t giving him anything to hit.

True. But he isn’t hitting to warrant a call-up right now. So I understand management’s reasons to leave Murton in Iowa for now.

The one game I watched, he absolutely killed a ball that slammed off the wall and forced him to hold to a single.

Then again, Patteson hit the ball well, too, and two of his at bats were line drives to the outfield.

He bats righty. Lou is obsessing over getting left-handed bats (not named Pie) in the lineup.

Additionally, Lou expected to be playing guys on roster, not whomever he called up. Fontenot’s inordinate suckitude yesterday is the only thing that changed that.

but I just don’t understand why the Cubs are scared to give him playing time. Versatility is nice, but if you can’t hit or get on base it doesn’t matter much how many positions you can play. As SoutherCub mentioned, Patterson is no gold glover at any position and he is simply not that good a hitter. Ditto for Fontenot. FWIW, Murton can play RF. That’s actually where he spent most of his time last season. He’s not good but he’s not going to kill you defensively.

Another FWIW: Cwyers did this little study recently and found that Murton is an Ok baserunner.

First off, there’s the little matter that he ain’t hitting.

Oh, he’s hitting alright. He’s just not hitting with power. Christina is fully aware of the small sample size but still uses it against Murton. That’s not what a stats person should do. Last year Murton hit .331/.407/.570/ nin 150 Abs in AAA. Did he all of a sudden forget how to hit minor league pitching? I’m guessing no.

he doesn’t make consistent contact the way Johnson does (the way you might want from a pinch-hitter)

What does she mean by “consistent” contact? Cause Murton is in fact a better contact hitter than Reed.