Brad Eldred

[Lillian]

I was very impressed with this guy at Spring Training, and he is having another tremendous Minor League season at Charlotte. It's interesting to note that he is hitting almost exactly the same vs both Righties and Lefties.
His average is almost identical, and he's averaging a homer per 10 at bats against both. His 24 homers and 18 doubles in just 253 at bats give him a Slugging Percentage of .628.

Why not put Paulie on the DL, and call him up? He has always hit at the Minor League level, and is still young enough to have a future. He'll just turn 28 next month. He was injured and lost a lot of playing time in both 2006 and 2007, but he seems to be fine now.

At the beginning of the day, I think this wasn't even an option the Sox would consider. But while Paulie was in the game before today's game, he pulled something in his oblique. Now, you have to say it's definitely an option.

[Craig Grebeck]

No thanks.

[TomBradley72]

Originally Posted by btrain929

At the beginning of the day, I think this wasn't even an option the Sox would consider. But while Paulie was in the game before today's game, he pulled something in his oblique. Now, you have to say it's definitely an option.

I don't think it is. Swisher is a much better option than Eldred. And Anderson is a better option in CF than Swisher. So Swisher is out 1st Baseman until PK comes back. If PK goes on the DL...my guess is Ozzie will go for some speed off the bench, especially with games at the NL parks coming up.

[Chilli Palmer]

Originally Posted by Craig Grebeck

No thanks.

Thanks for the contribution.

[oeo]

Originally Posted by Chilli Palmer

Thanks for the contribution.

Eldred is a career minor leaguer. He's not very good.

No thanks.

[DumpJerry]

Lillian, you posted this about six hours before Paulie hurt himself.






Did you put a hit on him?

[munchman33]

Originally Posted by Craig Grebeck

No thanks.

Originally Posted by TomBradley72

I don't think it is. Swisher is a much better option than Eldred. And Anderson is a better option in CF than Swisher. So Swisher is out 1st Baseman until PK comes back. If PK goes on the DL...my guess is Ozzie will go for some speed off the bench, especially with games at the NL parks coming up.

Originally Posted by oeo

Eldred is a career minor leaguer. He's not very good.

No thanks.

I'd be willing to bet he'd hit big league pitching better than BA would.

[Daver]

Originally Posted by munchman33

I'd be willing to bet he'd hit big league pitching better than BA would.

And field what position?

You are making yourself look like a fool, it may be your best talent.

[Lillian]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

Lillian, you posted this about six hours before Paulie hurt himself.


Did you put a hit on him?

I was suggesting that Paulie be put on the DL for the hand injury. This just makes the argument stronger.

[Lillian]

I've been watching his progress at Charlotte all season, through the daily box scores. I went back and took a look at the daily log of his performance.
Here are some interesting facts:

He hit 5 homers in April, 14 in May and 5 so far in June.
He has had just 2 multi-homer games, with 2 in each of them.
He has 16 homers in his last 36 games, which is a 72 homer season pace.

Conclusions:
He has been pretty consistent, as opposed to simply being in a hot streak.
He has improved since the first month of the season, and has been very consistent for the last 6 weeks.

Eldred is a very big, strong man. When I watched him in Spring Training he didn't seem to be swinging for the fences, but hit some balls a very long way.

I don't think that it's fair to call him a "career minor leaguer", which would be to suggest that he has had a long career in the minors, and had proven that he couldn't be successful in the Majors.
Remember, he was injured almost the entire year in 2006.
The year before, 2005, he hit 12 homers, and 9 doubles in just 190 at bats for the Pirates, and combined for 40 homers in just 469 at bats between AA, AAA, and the Majors.

In 2004 he hit 38 homers in 482 at bats between AA and AAA.
His Minor League batting averages were very respectable in those seasons:
.301 in 2004
.297 in 2005

As I mentioned in a previous post, his split stats are remarkably similar. This is not a guy who needs to be platooned.

He'll turn 28 next month, and is still young enough to have a future.
His defense is not considered a liability at 1st. He has even been playing some outfield, though none of us would ever want to see that!
Why not put him in the mix at 1st and DH? With Paulie on the DL, and Swisher and Thome struggling, it just seems reasonable to give Eldred a shot.
The best home run weather is here, and this team needs something to get it jump started.
Eldred would make a great story, wouldn't he?

[TomBradley72]

Originally Posted by munchman33

I'd be willing to bet he'd hit big league pitching better than BA would.

I'll take that wager. Anderson is hitting .250 against major league pitching this year, Eldred (28 y.o. and still in AAA is not a good sign) is hitting .265 against AAA pitching. He'll never be called up...but if he is...you're on.

[DumpJerry]

Originally Posted by Lillian

I was suggesting that Paulie be put on the DL for the hand injury. This just makes the argument stronger.

I know. I was just teasing you because of your timing for starting the thread.

Can you please start a thread titled "When will the Sox go on a 30 game winning streak?" I think it will do wonders for morale.

[cws05champ]

Originally Posted by Lillian

I've been watching his progress at Charlotte all season, through the daily box scores. I went back and took a look at the daily log of his performance.
Here are some interesting facts:

He hit 5 homers in April, 14 in May and 5 so far in June.
He has had just 2 multi-homer games, with 2 in each of them.
He has 16 homers in his last 36 games, which is a 72 homer season pace.

Conclusions:
He has been pretty consistent, as opposed to simply being in a hot streak.
He has improved since the first month of the season, and has been very consistent for the last 6 weeks.

Eldred is a very big, strong man. When I watched him in Spring Training he didn't seem to be swinging for the fences, but hit some balls a very long way.

I don't think that it's fair to call him a "career minor leaguer", which would be to suggest that he has had a long career in the minors, and had proven that he couldn't be successful in the Majors.
Remember, he was injured almost the entire year in 2006.
The year before, 2005, he hit 12 homers, and 9 doubles in just 190 at bats for the Pirates, and combined for 40 homers in just 469 at bats between AA, AAA, and the Majors.

In 2004 he hit 38 homers in 482 at bats between AA and AAA.
His Minor League batting averages were very respectable in those seasons:
.301 in 2004
.297 in 2005

As I mentioned in a previous post, his split stats are remarkably similar. This is not a guy who needs to be platooned.

He'll turn 28 next month, and is still young enough to have a future.
His defense is not considered a liability at 1st. He has even been playing some outfield, though none of us would ever want to see that!
Why not put him in the mix at 1st and DH? With Paulie on the DL, and Swisher and Thome struggling, it just seems reasonable to give Eldred a shot.
The best home run weather is here, and this team needs something to get it jump started.
Eldred would make a great story, wouldn't he?

You make good points but fail to mention that he strikes out 4 times as much as he walks(76K in 257AB), he does not play good defense at 1st. He's your classic AAAA player...eats up AAA, not good enough for the majors.
He is another all or nothing type swinger which we do not need....I would rather Owens come up and see what he can do to spark the offense especially going into NL parks for interleague play.

[munchman33]

Originally Posted by Daver

And field what position?

You are making yourself look like a fool, it may be your best talent.

What the heck are you talking about, they're putting Konerko on the DL?