Ned Yost, about pinch hitting for Escobar late "Yeah, not right now. I'm not gonna do it. I don't...

Ned Yost, about pinch hitting for Escobar late

"Yeah, not right now. I'm not gonna do it. I don't care what anybody says. I'm not gonna do it. This is a kid that I think is gonna hit one day. I want him having as many at-bats as he can get, because there's gonna come a time when we're in line to win a championship and I want him to be able to handle himself in those situations.

Even we tied the ballgame up today, I would have been without the league's best shortstop if we came back. So we're gonna have to find ways to get him going and get him productive in those types of situations"

About previous experiences with development

"I've gone through this with players before. I went through it with JJ Hardy. JJ Hardy was hitting .170. Everybody was screaming about JJ Hardy, 'why are we not pinch hitting for him? how much longer are we gonna go with a guy that hitting .170?' next year he hit 25hrs and made the all-star team. So, I got a little bit of an idea of what i'm doing here.

I think this kid is gonna hit and yeah, it hurts right now. Do I think about pinch hitting for him every time in those situations? Yes, Yes, I'm dying to. But I know it's in our best interests right now that we don't do it. For big picture thought, yeah I wanna do it. But, this kid, I think, is gonna hit one day.

I want him in these situations. I want him in these clutch situations. I want him one time to be successful in it and then hopefully that will take some of the burden off of him and he can be successful more and more and more. But we're gonna have to have him.

Ya know, when we get good, we can't be taking the league's best shortstop out of the game in the 8th and 9th inning, to pinch hit. We just can't. We gotta have him. We have him productive in these spots. And the only way to do it is to keep running him out there."

About Escobar hitting hurting the team:

"It's gonna be a benefit to all the other guys when he becomes successful in that. So it's a give and take situation. Yeah, it's detrimental right now, to the team, a little bit. But there's no guarantee that anybody I put in there to pinch hit is gonna get a hit. I mean, there's no guarantee. Escy's hitting .200, even if I got a guy who is hitting .300, he's gonna get one more hit in ten at-bats, than Escobar is. So there's no guarantee that if I pinch hit there, we got a guy on. But it does increase our odds.

But down the road, it's gonna benefit them greatly that he's gonna be able to be productive in those situations and be able to go back out there and play his gold-glove caliber defense in the field, help us win ballgames"

The MP3 of the presser where these quotes are taken from (link goes to .mp3, Escobar discussion starts at 4 minutes in and finishes out the clip)

The Devil on Ned's shoulder is telling him to pinch hit for Escobar. The Angel tells Ned that it's for our own good to bat him in these situations. Or Devil Neddy is dancing around Angel Neddy's grave chanting "I am evil Ned Yost, I am evil Ned Yost"

12 months ago BHWick 12 comments 1 recs |

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I just don't think that 60-70 AB's spread over the course of the season is going to be that detrimental

To his development.

Again, Escobar isn’t JJ Hardy. Hardy’s numbers were always better than Escobars at every step of the minors.
And again, even if Escobar hits his ceiling as a hitter, its still probably not good enough to warrant him batting in the 8th or 9th of a close game.

"We don’t have guys with a long history of being effective in the seventh and eighth innings."
~Trey Hillman, master of understatements.

by RoyalPug on Jun 9, 2011 3:35 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

that and

Hardy started 104 of 162 games in 2005, far below the pace of Escobar’s. And Hardy had 2006 in-between his .170 season (2005) and his 25 HR year (2007). But he was injured in May 2006.

There are legitimate points here and Ned undermines them by talking too much (and dancing himself towards and away from saying that hitting Alcides Escobar is detrimental now).

Also, if you listen to the audio, the delivery of “So, I got a little bit of an idea of what i’m doing here” is in the tone of “You stupid fucks, i’m the expert here, just shut up”… so, you say Ned had a problem with the media in Milwaukee?

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by BHWick on Jun 9, 2011 4:06 AM EDT up reply actions

This is where he goes off the rails. He has to be aware of this right?

And again, even if Escobar hits his ceiling as a hitter, its still probably not good enough to warrant him batting in the 8th or 9th of a close game

Glad I came, just wish I hadn't stayed so long.
Rock Chalk Talk

by Warden11 on Jun 9, 2011 7:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Why don't you pinch hit for J.J. Hardy when he started the game

Well Ned you did 7 times when down in the 9th in 2005. There could have been a few other times I saw when he was the cause of the PH, but there was a double switch or position change, so I don’t know if it was a direct PH for Hardy

May 16th – 9th inning, down 2-5, Jeff Cirillo pinch hits for J.J. Hardy
June 13th – 9th inning, down 3-5, Chris Magruder pinch hits for J.J. Hardy
June 17th – 9th inning, down 5-9, Jeff Cirillo pinch hits for J.J. Hardy
June 21st – 9th inning, down 2-4, Lyle Overbay pinch hits for J.J. Hardy
June 24th – 9th inning, down 1-2, Wes Helms pinch hits for J.J. Hardy
July 16h – 9th inning, down 3-5, Chris Magruder pinch hits for J.J. Hardy
Aug 10th – 9th inning, down 0-3, Wes Helms pinch hits for J.J. Hardy

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Jun 9, 2011 7:51 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

I agree with ned

These games Do not matter. In fact, every loss gets us closer to the #1 pick next year. Eyes on the prize, boys.

by billexgordler on Jun 9, 2011 8:15 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

The problem is

that we don’t have a pinch hitter such as Overbay, Helms, Cirillo, or ever a Chris Magruder!

Scouting the Royals
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by 306008 on Jun 9, 2011 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

We are all short-sighted fools?

If the Royals is indeed totally focusing on development for 2012 and beyond then it is perfectly fine. I totally understand sacrificing short term for the long run, TRUST THE PROCESSSSS.

But then why don’t they do more like, bat him first to get even more at bat?

I am probably the only Royals fan in Hong Kong?

by Yamfun Cheng Kamfun on Jun 9, 2011 8:41 AM EDT reply actions