rasmus on lefties

[Jocephus]

Colby Rasmus expects to improve against left-handed pitchers this year.
Rasmus, 23, went 17-for-106 (.160) against left-handers last season with just four extra-base hits and 10 RBI. "When I was up there hitting against them, I didn’t feel over-matched or anything," the center fielder said Thursday. "I just didn’t come down with some hits. This year, (I need to) just get up there and relax and don’t try to do too much with one at-bat. ... I had never really struggled against lefties a whole lot in the minor leagues."
Source: St. Louis Globe-Democrat

http://www.globe-democrat.com/news/2010 ... handed-pi/

[go birds]

I fully expect him to improve in all aspects of his game.

Would also like to see him hitting in the 6 hole so perhaps his speed can be utilized.

[Leroy]

I wonder what his dad thinks.

[Freed Roger]

mind games is what it looked like to me. he didn't look inept. just lacking the confidence.

[cards2468]

It's tough to hit a lefty when you rarely face them. Let him face lefties regularly and he'll get a hang of it.

[phins]

It's tough to hit a lefty when you rarely face them. Let him face lefties regularly and he'll get a hang of it.

It's tough to win with a guy in your lineup, not a pitcher, OPS'ing like .400 against lefties. It's the big leagues, and we're a contender. I'm not a huge fan of letting players get experience at something if it isn't in the best interests of the club to do so.

I'm in favor of letting him play some against them, I guess, but I'd much rather have a guy who can spell him in CF who rakes against lefties personally.

[cards2468]

It's tough to hit a lefty when you rarely face them. Let him face lefties regularly and he'll get a hang of it.

It's tough to win with a guy in your lineup, not a pitcher, OPS'ing like .400 against lefties. It's the big leagues, and we're a contender. I'm not a huge fan of letting players get experience at something if it isn't in the best interests of the club to do so.

I'm in favor of letting him play some against them, I guess, but I'd much rather have a guy who can spell him in CF who rakes against lefties personally.

Rasmus should be our CF for years to come. Do we really want him to be a platoon player for the rest of his career? He needs some experience against lefties at the big league level at some point.

[phins]

It's tough to hit a lefty when you rarely face them. Let him face lefties regularly and he'll get a hang of it.

It's tough to win with a guy in your lineup, not a pitcher, OPS'ing like .400 against lefties. It's the big leagues, and we're a contender. I'm not a huge fan of letting players get experience at something if it isn't in the best interests of the club to do so.

I'm in favor of letting him play some against them, I guess, but I'd much rather have a guy who can spell him in CF who rakes against lefties personally.

Rasmus should be our CF for years to come. Do we really want him to be a platoon player for the rest of his career? He needs some experience against lefties at the big league level at some point.

He doesn't have to platoon strictly, but if he is OPS'ing anywhere near .400 against lefties, then it's just silly not have another option.

[Fan_In_NY]

My feeling that even in a pretty strict platoon you have opportunties where he will face lefties. If he starts producing in those at bats I am pretty sure TLR will have him see more and more at bats in those situations. He had 115 PAs against lefties last year and stunk. I dont think that he should never appear against a lefty ever again, but if playing the platoon gives the Cards and advantage it should be utilized. Hopefully he hits them better than last year and can see even more time against them (maybe like 150 PAs). I still think Rasmus is going to have to have some days off, and if they are against lefties 1 game every week or so I think he will still have a chance to prove himself.

[Fat Strat]

I was about to disagree with Colby about him hitting lefties pretty well in the minors. I didn't think he did. Looked up his minor league splits and he was right... No real problems against lefties:

0.275 0.371 0.455 0.826

I would think that he should be able to make some improvements against lefties this year. Might have just had some bad luck against them.