Newly acquired centerfielder Carlos Gomez has a lot of potential. Where have we heard that before? I can't fool you, you know that I'm talking about 2nd baseman Rickie Weeks. Potential is about the only thing these two players have in common though, as Gomez is more of a defense first player whereas Weeks is all about the offense. And from the look of this picture, Gomez is also all about the ladies. When I did a Google Image search for Carlos Gomez and this came up, I knew that I just had to use it. I wish that I could say pictures like this on the outfield wall were the reason that Gomez struggles at the plate, but if he can clearly see this hottie from 400 feet away, he should be able to tell if the baseball coming at him is a changeup or a slider. And since he then would have go-go-Gadget vision, he should be able to see the ball so well that his batting average would rival that of the great Ty Cobb. But I don't think his vision is the problem for his offensive struggles (he doesn't search for excuses and blame his eyes like Bill Hall or Corey Hart). In fact, I don't really know why he has yet to put it together at the plate. And I attribute that to the fact that I just haven't seen enough of him to formulate my own opinion. Only 2 Spring Training games have been televised thus far, and for the last few years he played with the Minnesota Twins. I'm sure that at some point during the year when I am able to watch him play some more games, I'll come up with my own theories.
Last year Gomez hit .229 with 3 HRs, 28 RBIs and 51 runs scored. That's pretty terrible, but the nice thing about it is that there is tons of room for improvement. Maybe a change of scenery and the words and support from a new coaching staff will help him reach that potential. But for the time being I can compare him to two baseball players - 1 real and 1 fictional. The real one people in Milwaukee know well from watching him roam center field the last few years - Mike Cameron. With Mike Cameron you knew that you would be getting stellar defense and a low batting average out of him, but you would also be getting 25 HRs and 80 RBIs. In Cameron's case you could ignore the strikeouts and low avg because of the defense and power numbers. Gomez doesn't have power, so that's why a fictional baseball player comes to mind - Willie Mayes Hayes (from the movie Major League). Early word on Gomez is the he hits too many pop flies, and since he doesn't have power, they end up being caught. With his speed he should hit the ball on the ground and leg them out. I wish that Dale Sveum would make him do 20 push-ups for every ball that he pops up, but I don't think that the Player's Union would allow that.Gomez is probably the fastest player on the team, which is amazing considering that the Brewers also have Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart Alcides Escobar and Ryan Braun. But the problem with Gomez is that he can’t get on base enough to take advantage of that speed. His career OBP is a measly .273, which is horrendous considering that he has little to no power. That means his only asset is his speed, and he’s not even putting himself in a position to use it. So like Rick Peterson (the Brewers new pitching coach) has his hands full with Manny Parra, Dale Sveum has the fortunate / unfortunate (depends on how you look at it) task of getting Gomez on base more often.
The nice thing about Carlos Gomez (just like Alcides Escobar) is that we are only really counting on him to provide defense for the team. I don’t know how many of you really follow baseball on a regular basis, but pitching and defense win games. Sure homeruns are great and here in Milwaukee
I don’t have a jersey of Carlos Gomez because I want to wait to see whether or not they are committed to him long term. So instead of a picture of that I have provided a picture of Gomez Addams. Because every time that I hear the name Gomez, that is what comes to mind. It's too bad that Raul Julia died after making Street Fighter. He never got a chance to redeem himself. He must have felt bad for unleashing that unholy beast upon the world, and realized that he could either be the sacrificial lamb or live a long life knowing you helped create that monstrosity. I too would have died to atone the sins which that movie brought upon the world. But back to Carlos Gomez. We have a young centerfielder Lorenzo Cain moving up through the minor leagues, and if not for an injury that kept him out most of last year, I wonder if it would be Cain and not Gomez tracking down balls in center. Speculation runs rampant in baseball, so time will only tell if Gomez is the answer or if it is someone like Lorenzo Cain. But if Gomez puts up numbers like I'm predicting, the decision might be easy:.240 avg, 4 HR, 38 RBIs, 65 runs scored, stellar defense and lose playing time to Jim Edmonds and Jody Gerut as the season goes on.
With Gomez I'm hoping that I'm wrong about his stats. But these numbers are pretty consistent with his brief major league career. I'm hoping that Dale Sveum can turn him around and make him more than just a defensive player. And speaking of being wrong, I have a feeling that Corey Hart is going to come out and stick to all the haters and people who doubted him. If you've been following my blog posts over the last few months, then you know how I feel about Corey Hart. But after everything I have said (and trust me, I've said more than my lion's share of shit about Hart) how could I possibly add anymore to the ongoing Corey Hart saga? But that my friends, is a topic that will be covered tomorrow. Brewers! Brewers! Keep Turnin' Up the Heat!
- pookon -
www.pookon.com
email: pookkondotcom@gmail.com
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