AA to Lind - Speak up next time

[Geddy]

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Alex Anthopoulos has a blunt message for Adam Lind: if you were confused last year and didn’t speak up, then you shouldn’t be complaining now.

On Saturday, Lind said he received conflicting messages last year from former Toronto Blue Jays manager John Farrell, who ordered him to show more patience at the plate, and former hitting coach Dwayne Murphy, who urged him to be more aggressive.

When in doubt, Lind decided, listen to the manager, even if he is a former pitcher and pitching coach. He added that he is looking forward to a consistent message from new hitting coach Chad Mottola.

Anthopoulos, the general manager, said he too reminded Lind that patience is a virtue, especially if your on-base percentage is below .300 for three seasons running.

Full Story

Basically Lind said that he was confused at the plate last year because Farrell was telling him to be more patient, while Murphy was telling him to be more aggressive. AA says he should have spoken up but also says he should have been more patient.

Hopefully the new hitting coach can get more out of him otherwise he will still be one of the biggest holes in the lineup.

[Raptor_Guy]

Well it's true I guess, the guy has had an awful OBP for 3 years, if that's him not being aggessive enough then I'm a little worried.

[BigLeagueChew]

Murphy : "Swing at everything as hard as you can!"

Farrell : "Fastball down the middle let it go, you still have another pitch coming!"

Lind:

[Schad]

Have to agree with Anthopolous here. If you're a professional baseball player, and you believe that you're receiving conflicting opinions and it's harming your approach, it's on you to discuss it with the relevant people. Your career, your responsibility.

[SharoneWright]

Seems like a bit of convenient revisionism by Lind to me.

[Shimso]

Have to agree with Anthopolous here. If you're a professional baseball player, and you believe that you're receiving conflicting opinions and it's harming your approach, it's on you to discuss it with the relevant people. Your career, your responsibility.

Especially when you're not exactly a rookie....

[Raps in 4]

Seems like a bit of convenient revisionism by Lind to me.

[RapsFanInVA]

So THAT's why he's sucked these last few years. Glad we got that all sorted out.

[tiger7]

How to strike Lind out every time. With two strikes throw a rising high outside fastball. He'll swing every time.

[frizzer1]

Lind and Hill used to be the stars of the future.
And the guy we dump is Hill, who has reverted to earlier form...I wonder if he was still feeling the effects of his concussion while he was here......no one is to blame but it's too bad.

[flatjacket1]

How to strike Lind out every time. With two strikes throw a rising high outside fastball. He'll swing every time.

Sad part is you just wrote a professional grade scouting report on how to render Lind useless. It shows that it doesn't take much time or energy to figure him out.

Let's just pray Gibbons doesn't test Lind against lefties for a year just to find out what Farrel did (he can't hit them).

[J-Roc]

Funny story. If the advice from one guy wasn't working,why not try the advice of the other guy.

[Michael Bradley]

Lind was also confused in 2010 when Cito and Murphy were telling him the same thing.

"Cito and Dwayne were both telling me to be aggressive. I couldn't figure out what to do".

Edited to add: I think Gibbons will platoon him. Gibby effectively used platoons during his last tenure here, so unless AA forces him to play LInd against LHP (doubtful at this point), I don't think we have to worry about Lind facing lefties too often. At least I hope so.

[akakalakin]

did Rios and Hill figure it out?

sort of

we can let him go for nothing, but guys with his potential, don't come along often and who cares about the money - clearly not an issue this time around

[akakalakin]

so all of professional baseball staff (coaches, scouts, consultants etc) were so stupid for all this time?

not buying it, they didn't just figure him out

[engageTHEmasses]

I learned how to pitch in video games by watching Lind hit in real life.

[U_Mad]

Lind is going to be such a black hole in this lineup....I'm already starting to rage in anticipation of his suckyness

[flatjacket1]

Lind is going to be such a black hole in this lineup....I'm already starting to rage in anticipation of his suckyness

I don't know about a black hole. Just not producing like a designated hitter should. I feel like he will have an OBP of around .330 with a slugging of .430 if he is injury free and plays everyday. Those aren't bad numbers, but for a designated hitter you expect a LOT more.

Still, considering he will be batting 5th or lower, I guess we don't need him to be that amazing. I think CM will help out a bit. The league wide slash line for a batter batting 5th is .260/.322/.436.

[satyr9]

I hate Lind almost as much as the next guy, but .330/.430 is probably above league average for DH PAs, so I don't know about expecting a LOT more. Even if you only take the main starters at their position, factoring out all the useless DH starts that go to throw-ins and giving a ton of guys credits for full years that didn't have them (Hafner/Ortiz) or guys that were platoon splits (Gomes/Jaso), the median AL starter at DH is between Hafner and Morales, smack dab in the .780's, which is above .760, but not some monumental feat.

Second, after his send down, every month of the season was .780+, albeit many with small samples.
Still taken together he was actually not terrible after his AAA stint last year. He still shouldn't be started against LHers and I'd be as happy as a the next guy for an upgrade, but if you expect .330/.430 that's not bad too bad for a DH anymore. I just want to avoid watching the guy who hit .273/.314/.587 in MAR/APR/MAY last year. If that guy doesn't come back, then I can live with Lind for the time being.

As for the original story. I think it's hilarious that Lind went so far in a, "Here's why I don't suck so much" ST piece that AA had to call him on it. Seriously, the list of ridonkulous things that players say to justify why the upcoming season won't be a repeat of the last season is so long and silly and yet no one ever says, "hang on a second if that was going on, why not just...?" In this case, trying to blame being like the worst ever DH for two months on coaching messages was so beyond the pale, AA actually gave a contradiction quotation when asked. That's pretty much unheard of for ST puff nonsense. Usually the react quotes are just, "that's why we're optimistic about his chances this year," even when it's a story about why a new super pillow is going to cure a players' night terrors and that will let him hit home runs instead of pop flies this season.

[Raptor_Guy]

Lind and Hill used to be the stars of the future.
And the guy we dump is Hill, who has reverted to earlier form...I wonder if he was still feeling the effects of his concussion while he was here......no one is to blame but it's too bad.

Uhh, well he clearly didn't feel those effects when he almost broke the record for HR's by a second baseman in 2009..