Milton Bradley - should he be a switch hitter?

by kifaru37 on Jul 1, 2009 7:47 PM CDT

OBP/SLG/OPS for Milton:

As a left handed batter in 2009: .329/.353/.652

As a right handed batter in 2009: .415/.500/.915

Career as a lefty: .361/.431/.792

Career as a righty: .389/.503/.892

After watching him hit another sweet ground ball to the first baseman tonight I thought "why the hell doesn't he just hit right handed all the time?".

Although Jim Hendry may never allow this, since it would make the team "more right handed" again.

Thoughts?

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Comments

If you're using OBP/SLG/OPS as your triple slash stats,

you kinda have to say that. Otherwise people are gonna think you’re claiming Milton is a career .370 hitter.

by ARob1 on Jul 1, 2009 7:50 PM CDT reply actions

yep meant to do that...

updated now

Ohhhh I don't know, I got a guy on the other line about some whitewalls - I'll call you back.

by kifaru37 on Jul 1, 2009 7:53 PM CDT reply actions

Interesting post, but I think you're incorrect.

Those numbers as a righty are hitting against LHP. If he’s a righty hitting against RHP, they’ll likely be much lower, and lower than his stats as a left handed hitter over his career. Obviously his left handed numbers this year are pathetic.

by ARob1 on Jul 1, 2009 7:58 PM CDT reply actions

would he be worse against righties as a right handed hitter?

I say no.

Ohhhh I don't know, I got a guy on the other line about some whitewalls - I'll call you back.

by kifaru37 on Jul 1, 2009 8:00 PM CDT up reply actions

He wouldn't be worse than he has been as a lefty this year,

but that’s assuming he doesn’t regress to his career norms, which I believe he will. You may be right, though.

by ARob1 on Jul 1, 2009 8:06 PM CDT up reply actions

you assume

Bradley, hitting RH all the time, would hit RH pitching better than he hits batting lefty. Got any evidence to back up your assumption? It makes more sense to assume that Bradley switch hits because he (a natural RH hitter) had trouble hitting RH pitching.

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
--Winston Churchill

by lookingdeadred on Jul 2, 2009 8:30 AM CDT up reply actions

Please explain to me how it's Jim Hendry's fault that

Milton Bradley supposedly isn’t allowed to give up switch-hitting, something that he has extremely good at for most of his career? Just because he hits left-handed pitchers better doesn’t mean that he’d hit right-handed pitchers better if he batted as a righty. But let’s set that aside. Say he’s holding himself back as a switch-hitter, how does Jim Hendry fit into this equation?

I ask this, because Jim Hendry has become everyone’s whipping boy of late. He’s even still being blamed for not getting DeRosa, even after DeRosa is now injured. But wait, the chorus cries, it would have been a good move if Jim had done it, you can’t second guess it just because DeRosa is injured?

And yet, I ask – isn’t that what you are all doing in regards to Jim Hendry’s 2009 club (which isn’t even over yet)? * sigh *

Randy Wells - You continue to astound me.

by DGU on Jul 1, 2009 8:22 PM CDT reply actions

Say he’s holding himself back as a switch-hitter, how does Jim Hendry fit into this equation?

he was signed to be a big LH bat

by jesus christos on Jul 1, 2009 8:57 PM CDT up reply actions

even though he's not one

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Jul 1, 2009 9:08 PM CDT up reply actions

But, how is Jim Hendry

keeping Bradley from changing his approach?

Randy Wells - You continue to astound me.

by DGU on Jul 1, 2009 9:29 PM CDT up reply actions

oh, i misread that

wells4roty

by jesus christos on Jul 1, 2009 11:27 PM CDT up reply actions

I think he needed the "Sarcasm" sign in his post.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 2, 2009 8:42 AM CDT up reply actions

Some of the fans will never learn

They will either put bulk of the blame on Hendry or MB. People need to realize MB was not the only one struggling, but Fontenot, Geo Soto, Soriano, and the inconsistent bullpen are also the main factors why the Cubs are doing bad.

Fontenot was expected to be decent at 2B (not as good as Derosa last year, but still put up respectable numbers). Geo has been doing well as of late, but for bulk of the season he has struggled. And Soriano is just being Soriano (on and off).

The bullpen blew 13 saves this season. Hopefully Shark will do better this time around or Hendry better make a move for couple of RP. If the pen was decent this year, this team would easily be 5-7 games above 500.

I have no doubt Soriano will heat up, but Fontenot needs to start putting up some respectable numbers and the pen needs to be improved (I do believe Hendry will acquire some RP). also, with the addition of ARAM this team would easily be in 1st place with being at least 10 games above 500.

by Geo4MVP on Jul 1, 2009 9:13 PM CDT up reply actions

Well youd have to know how he hits righties as a RHB

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Jul 1, 2009 9:08 PM CDT reply actions

Exactly

This guy has probably played his entire life – beyond t-ball – as a switch hitter. Who knows the last time he stepped into the box batting righty against a right handed pitcher? If you think he struggles against righties from the left side, I expect it would be considerably worse from the right.

Most lefties suck against left handers because they just don’t see that many growing up in the game. Bradley might not have seen a righty, batting from the right side, in 5, 10, who knows how many years.

"Writing is exciting and baseball is like writing. You can never tell with either how it will go or what you will do." -- Marianne Moore

by duboisdm on Jul 1, 2009 10:51 PM CDT up reply actions

All we have to do is...

…go back to the time this Jake Peavy guy pitched against us in Chicago. He threw a fastball to Milton, and he hit it to the concession stands in the bleachers.

He’s capable of hitting righties, not like he can hit lefties, tho. That’s what’s most concerning.

by serbianking33 on Jul 1, 2009 9:37 PM CDT reply actions

Bradley must

Switch hit, because that’s why he was signed. The Cubs wanted a left handed power bat.

"Check the magic of a winning season and there are always reasons beyond the talent." Ned Colleti

by wrigleyrocker12 on Jul 1, 2009 10:04 PM CDT reply actions

Looking at his 2008 stats, it appears that he had about seven at-bats as a right vs. RHP

by Pre on Jul 1, 2009 11:30 PM CDT reply actions

right hander*

by Pre on Jul 1, 2009 11:31 PM CDT up reply actions

bradley

heres a crazy idea. how about trying to trade bradley to detroit for ordonez??? both are struggling badly and a change could benefit both. only problem is maggs makes a hell of a lot more money.than bradley. hendry what made you think this was a good idea?

by NOMAR on Jul 3, 2009 10:17 AM CDT reply actions

I love the way you drop in with your lower-cased insights. You bring a certain amount of

quaintness to this blog. Keep bringing the heat , NOMAR.

"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 3, 2009 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions

I swear NOMAR makes the last comment on every thread.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Jul 3, 2009 10:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Yep, I like the way he swoops in at the last minute and puts the cherry on top of the thread.

"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 4, 2009 9:32 AM CDT up reply actions

hendry what made you think this was a good idea?

well, NOBODY expected his numbers to be as low as they are. Typically he is an OBP machine.

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on Jul 3, 2009 11:13 AM CDT up reply actions

I notice today that Zambrano batted RH against RHP

in the at bat where he drove in a run against the Brewers. Has he given up on switch hitting?

by ChipSet on Jul 3, 2009 4:31 PM CDT reply actions

No, his wrist was hurting and he said it doesn't bother him when he bats right-handed.

"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Jul 3, 2009 5:37 PM CDT up reply actions

Yes, I read that later

But he was still productive. Without that RBI we would have lost 1-0 in 9 innings. It just begs the question, if a switch-hitter is truly a better batter from one side than the other, is batting from the weaker side really offset by the righty-lefty “advantage”?

by ChipSet on Jul 4, 2009 9:10 AM CDT up reply actions