I’m no fan of putting Jason Tyner in the DH spot, although under the current lineup conditions I suppose picking a DH against a right-handed pitcher is more guessing game than science.

But I’m thrown by those who think that Tyner should be in left field and Jason Kubel should be the DH when both are in the lineup. There seems to be a school of thought that because Tyner is speedy and lacks power, he must be a defensive standout. Not true. He has good range and a below-average arm. If Tyner played every day, he would get assists only because opposing teams would see him as someone whose arm could be challenged. Remember Jacque Jones?

Kubel is unpolished and, yes, during the first couple weeks of the season he gave me the shudders when he played left field. But, just as his offense should improve with consistent at-bats, he has improved steadily at getting to balls in the outfield — and his arm is strong. (I don’t think either player has played enough games to provide an adequate sample for range-factor statistics, and Kubel’s legs were an issue throughout 2006, even when he was playing the field.) Being the third-best outfielder with Torii and Cuddyer is no reason to feel bad.

In other words, complaining about Tyner getting DH at-bats is justified. Thinking he should be taking Kubel’s spot in the field is misplaced criticism.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 6:48 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.