Monday, June 07, 2010

Who Will Sit When Mike Stanton Arrives?

The Marlins will call up Mike Stanton on Tuesday making him the second most anticipated young player to start his career on Tuesday night. The other is some pitcher from the Nationals. Stanton, all of 20 years of age, has a 1.167 OPS in AAA and is regarded as a can't miss prospect. But when he gets the call, which outfielder will sit?

Cameron Maybin has been playing a great centerfield despite not hitting much and is a former first round draft pick. Do you give up on him? Cody Ross has been one of the Marlins's best hitters this season (.819 OPS and batting .300) and plays good defense in right field. Chris Coghlan had a slow start this year, but last year's rookie of the year is batting .520 in June and has raised his average to over .260. Last year's great success for him came mostly in the last two thirds of the season. Do you sit him?

The move will already cost super defender, Brett Carroll his roster spot. Too bad the guy can't hit because there may not be a better outfielder in the majors. But be that as it may, none of the others seem to warrant being benched in favor of Stanton. Stanton has played mostly right field in the minors, so that seems to mean that Ross is the guy who will have to move? Will Ross move to centerfield, which would weaken the defense?

It will be interesting. Perhaps the Marlins will have a four-man outfield with Stanton playing every day and the other three playing three out of every four days. It doesn't seem right to give up on Maybin. Coghlan is a potential superstar and Cody Ross is a solid player that gives the team chances to win. We'll just have to see how all this plays out.

1 comment:

Josh Borenstein said...

I'm guessing Maybin gets the short end of the straw. Coghlan's recent surge has saved his playing time.