Jim Leyland on Matt Joyce: "I really like Joyce a lot. "Joyce is not a regular player up here...

Jim Leyland on Matt Joyce:

"I really like Joyce a lot.

"Joyce is not a regular player up here yet, by any means. Joyce is a prospect for this team next year. Joyce is not a slam dunk to be on this team next year. Is he one of the top candidates? Sure. But is he a slam dunk? Absolutely not."

From the Detroit Free Press

about 1 year ago Ian Casselberry 7 comments 0 recs |

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Love to see that...

Why should he be a favorite though with a world beater like Gary Sheffield in front of him?

Check out www.spotstarters.com for more news on the Detroit Tigers.

by spotstarters on Aug 18, 2008 11:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow

talk about a Clintonian statement right there. Say everything and nothing all in one long breath.

Corey Ettinger writes for Infieldirt.com, a site that is primarily Twins related, but which has frequent notes, stories, and thoughts from other teams around baseball, with a focus on the AL Central. If you live in the Fargo area, you can listen to Corey on the Derek Hanson show every Tuesday at 3:30 on AM1660.

by Corey Ettinger on Aug 18, 2008 11:46 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

he should be a slam dunk. someone tell jimmy to take his head out of his ass.

by wepri31 on Aug 18, 2008 11:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Pitchers Caught Onto Him

He seemed to be, but he isn’t anymore. He hasn’t had a HR or a multi-hit game since July 21 and 29 respectively. Pitchers have figured out that he’s prone to chasing inside changeups and they’ve used that against him, resulting in a pretty abysmal August so far.

He could be our LF next season but he’s really going to have to earn it towards the end of this year and in spring training. I think the likliest scenario is that he and Thames platoon there.

Don’t be fooled by his stats, he and a really hot start. He’s hitting .205 in August with two doubles, no HR and an 11/2 K/BB ratio.

by MacRae on Aug 18, 2008 12:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Baseball is a game of adjustments. This pretty much always happens with young kids. They hit, pitchers figure out how to stop them, they adjust to beat what pitchers are doing and the cycle continues.

by Corey Ettinger on Aug 18, 2008 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Understood. But Joyce hasn’t adjusted, at least not yet. Point is that if he doesn’t adjust over the next 6 weeks his chances of being Detroit’s everyday LF in ’09 are slim.

by MacRae on Aug 18, 2008 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

not that i disagree, but I think once Matt gets consistant playing time he’ll be able to adjust faster to being pitched differently. i can’t imagine it would be easy to play as little as he does and still be phenomenal in the box.

by wepri31 on Aug 18, 2008 4:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs