By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:40 a.m. Saturday
MIAMI -- The modern thinking among baseball's youngest and brightest is that small sample sizes are perilous. It is not revolutionary, obviously, but the wealth of statistical knowledge available these days strengthens the case all the more.
Not so for those on the field. Not nearly as much, anyway.
When they like what they see, they want to see more of it. Until they do not like it, then do not want to see any more of it.
And so it is, in the positive sense, right now with John Russell and Garrett Jones. As you can read below in the Notebook, he spoke with such strong tones about Jones that it would be easy to forget that Jones had played two games to that point, going 0 for 4 in one and looking like a terror the next by nearly hitting for the cycle and thumping the ball all over the diamond. At one point, Russell paused and said, "I don't want to put too much pressure on him."
Well, there it is.
Jones has been a decent, though not spectacular hitter in the minors, and he legitimately was blocked in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see how he pans out. At the same time, whether it was his performance Thursday or something the coaching staff saw and liked in his technique or even something statistical, it would seem there is little question that the day-to-day world of managers vs. the long-term views of any front office coexist only in parallel dimensions.
Linkage to the general coverage ...
> Game story: Pirates 7, Marlins 4. Charlie Morton has some pretty dynamic stuff, and this, really, was the first time he put it all together. Check what Bob Walk and Jack Wilson have to say.
> Audio: Morton, on the subject of the night.
> Notebook: The story behind Paul Maholm's minor ailments. Also here are updates on Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Doumit.
> Opinion: Bob Smizik calls Sanchez an easy choice for All-Star.
And from other realms ...
> Video highlights: Clips from last night's game on MLB.com. One is a 44-second package of Morton pitches.
> The opponent: The Marlins, as covered by the Palm Beach Post.
> The Royals, as expected, signed a top Nicaraguan prospect whom the Pirates had followed and developed for two years. Orlando Estevez, a good man who frequents McKechnie Field in the spring, is Kansas City's Latin supervisor and the scout credited with the signing.
> The Washington Observer-Reporter dissects Wilson's comments this week.
> The Pirates and Rays do joint charity work in Bradenton.
Posted
Jul 04 2009, 12:40 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic