In Praise of Dave Roberts
There's a lot not to like about Dave Roberts: lack of punch, inability to hit southpaws, and the frequent jaunts to the DL.
Still, the one thing that I've really begun to admire about him was the fact that he so often has amazing, drawn out at-bats, constantly fighting pitches off, and very seldom swinging at poor offerings out of the strike zone. He's the anti-hacktastic, disciplined opposite to the rest of the freeswingers in residence.
In fact, he would rank in the top 20 in all MLB in P/PA if he had enough ABs to qualify. To put that in perspective, no other Giant player can even sniff the top 40.
What does this all mean? Well, it builds up a pitcher's pitch count, for one. It lets the rest of the Giants hitters get a sampling of the opposing pitcher's stuff. Mostly, though, it means that he'll see many, many more pitches over the course of the season, which ultimately means seeing many more mistake pitches which he can then hit hard. That's certainly a refreshing change of pace from the rest of the lineup.
So here's to Dave Roberts, one of two Giants players whose at bats are actually fun to watch.
This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.
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8 comments
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Re: In Praise of Dave Roberts
by Bhaakon on Jun 16, 2007 5:02 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: In Praise of Dave Roberts
I still maintain that Roberts is pleasantly surprising to watch, however.
by Steve on Jun 16, 2007 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: In Praise of Dave Roberts
by Lyle on Jun 16, 2007 7:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: In Praise of Dave Roberts
cuz Bonds is shit.
by jtoj on Jun 16, 2007 5:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: In Praise of Dave Roberts
by Bhaakon on Jun 16, 2007 5:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Re: In Praise of Dave Roberts
by SloIsLonelyForTheOrange on Jun 16, 2007 6:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Roberts is easy to root for
by wilriv21 on Jun 16, 2007 7:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: In Praise of Dave Roberts
by allfrank on Jun 16, 2007 9:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

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