Is Sam Fuld Aaron Hicks' downfall?

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Willingham adds a wrinkle (or two) to the Twins Roster.

I agree that trading him at some point last year or in the offseason would have prevented a bit of the roster crunch the Twins seem to be facing at any moment.

 

I don't know that the Twins would have tried to sign Kubel if they didn't already have Willingham - they were sort of mutual insurance policies. "If Willingham gets hurt, we'll have Kubel" or "If Kubel is truly washed up, we'll have Willingham."

 

When Willingham is healthy, I think he is worth having in the lineup against lefties instead of Kubel - I think the ideal world would have a better defender in LF/RF and Willingham/Kubel/Colabello being one player that is a primary DH.

 

If any of these guys were good/great outfielders, it would be a pretty easy decision to take that guy over the rest.

 

I think the bigger crunch will be RF/DH - I suppose Arcia could be sent down to AAA so he gets to play everyday and Colabello can continue to ride his hot streak, but I would be a little surprised if the Twins did that. Pinto will deserve some of those DH at bats too.

 

I guess it's an ok problem to have too many guys that you want to be hitting in your lineup.

[Dman]

Fuld has had an incredible first two games. If he could do that night in and night out then maybe Aaron would have to worry a little, but typically he is a low .200 hitter which is not any better than Hicks. Also Hicks can hit for power and has a canon arm. I realize Aaron's batting average is low but if you compare him to Revere who he replaced their OBP is nearly the same and Revere was our lead off man when he was here.

 

I am concerned about Hicks number of K's and how easy pitchers seem to be able to strike him out sometimes, so if he could just make a little more contact I think that would solve a lot of his problems. Easier said than done at that level though. I'm not ready to give up on him yet especially not for Sam Fuld.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I still maintain that it would have been best for Hick's development to play in Rochester. He's hitting better than what he was last year, which is good, but I have a feeling he's going to put up less than stellar numbers and still end up there at one point.

[Winston Smith]

Most, and I don't know what % it is, baseball people say a player needs 1000 at bats before you can really tell what you have. Hicks has less than 400 so give the guy the rest of the year. Can the Twins really afford to give up on the guy already when he is only 24?

[Mike Sixel]

I don't see anyone saying to give up on him....but maybe I missed a post.

[ashbury]

Most, and I don't know what % it is, baseball people say a player needs 1000 at bats before you can really tell what you have.

 

Tom Kelly is associated with that quote (no doubt there are others), and my understanding is that he would say it when discussing some phenom with good early stats who hadn't yet gotten a full season of pitcher-batter-pitcher-batter adjustments under his belt. The converse that you have to let a questionable bat get 1000 PA was not meant as a corollary, again as I understand the quote.

 

That said, I do want Hicks to get his 1000 PA.