102 Days....
That’s how long your old pal has been off the interweb much to the
chagrin of the loyal readership. That’s more time off than someone on long
service leave! There’s a plethora of conspiracy theories as to why the
Defensive Specialist has been absent floating around so this is probably the
best forum to debunk a number of them:
No – the Defensive Specialist was not leading Seal Team 6 in the hunt
for Osama Bin Laden.
No – the Defensive Specialist was not busy creating the wedding gown for
Kate Middleton.
No – the Defensive Specialist was not working with the Australian Prime
Minister to draft the new carbon tax.
In all honesty, the Defensive Specialist was side tracked by a 10-month-old
baby who decided that she flat out did not enjoy sleeping. Long time readers
probably just regurgitated their morning lattes hearing the news that one of
the games sharpest minds was waylaid by an infant. In response to your snort,
the Defensive Specialist offers this statement:
“There is a reason why sleep deprivation is used as torture”
Anyway with the sleep issues now in the past, the Defensive Specialist
thought it was time to ease himself back into the drivers seat and start
pumping out some content. Today, lets take a look at a couple of Aussies in the
big leagues.
Back when the Defensive Specialist used to write more, you may remember
a post outlining how tough Hughes plight was going to be playing the role of
utility man. Inconsistent at bats makes keeping ones swing fine-tuned pretty
tough to do. Fortunately Hughes managed to pick up some regular playing time
before being demoted back to AAA. The stint in the minors lasted briefly and
Hughes was back in the show playing predominantly at first base but also
filling in around the infield. The thing that really stood out in the early
days of Hughes season was his steadfast desire to get on the fastball ASAP (and
who can blame him, it beats the hell out of flailing against hellacious
breaking stuff). The downside to this approach is that you don’t really give
yourself much of a chance to walk resulting in a paltry on base percentage. While
Hughes is not being confused with Rickey Henderson of late (second all time
base on balls), the number of pitches he is seeing each at bat is increasing
which means he’s either developing more of a discerning eye or his manager has
gone all junior baseball on him and told him not to swing until he has a
strike!
Spence was the second person from the 2010 MLB draft called to the big
leagues, which is pretty damn impressive when you consider the feat. Making
things more interesting is that he doesn’t fit the mould of a “quick to the big
leagues” reliever. Instead of a polished power arm, Spence comes at hitters
from numerous arm angles with an array of breaking balls and a reliance on
touch, feel and command. In 12 appearances Spence has allowed a solitary run (a
big fly to Andre Either of the Dodgers) while punching out 7. It seems he’ll
play the role of LOOGY (lefty one out guy) meaning that he’ll take on the
opposition’s big lefty bats late in the game. The Defensive Specialist is
intrigued to see if Spence can survive as a reliever without power stuff at the
big league level.
Before the Defensive Specialist develops RSI from all this typing, it’s
important to make you aware of an outstanding show featuring the San Francisco
Giants currently playing in the US. Called “The Franchise” it chronicles the
Giants trials and tribulations during the 2011 season. So far the Defensive
Specialist has only been able to find the show on YouTube. Check it out:
Welcome back Defensive Specialist!
ReplyDeleteHa Hi there. Got Heeeeeem!
ReplyDelete