Off Topic
With the off-season in full motion, and being tied into the beat of fandom on social media, the folks here at Nine News decided to take on some of the pressing issues on this ill-fated gathering of baseball players whose expiration date reads Sometime in October. And, first things being first, we knew we had to focus on Robert Chenoweth—the team’s longstanding first baseman who left the team in order to rake in some $72M in El Paso cash.
In six seasons with the Nine, the 28-year-old Brit hit 169 homers (40 of them last year) and drove in 509 runs. His career .272/.311/.516 line was created mostly against left-handed pitching, though last year saw him take enough at bats against RHP to prove he can hit them just fine. Some insiders say the platoon system was one reason Chenoweth desired to skip out of Yellow Springs, though outwardly no one has said as much. Factor or not, it’s not easily apparent that the Nine had $72M in grunt to keep him.
Needless to say, however, fans were not happy to see a favorite leave, and have been leveling the barrel at Nine management for most of the off-season.
“Who’s On First?” they say, “and don’t answer I don’t know.”
Well … the answer is probably complicated. Or worrisome. Or both.
Options are plentiful, actually, though none are as exciting as seeing Chenoweth’s name punched in. Four names come to the forefront.
The first two are left-handed bats: Wilbur Lewis and José Macías.
Lewis (25) has spent two seasons on the YS9 roster, hitting right-handed pitching. His rookie season was more successful than his sophomore stint, but either way at 6’5”, 205 pounds he’s shown great power, clubbing 23 homers in 427 AB. Macías (23) has always been a tweener prospect the club like because he can reach the gaps as well as he can drop bombs—of which he hit 33 in a somewhat successful run through AAA Indy. Macías apparently gets the edge defensively, too—which is perhaps why Wilbur Lewis trade rumors are simmering (stories saying a spider’s web was found in Lewis’s locker—reading “Some 1B”—are unverifiable). On the other hand, the darker edge to Macías is that scouts report he can have trouble with the hit tool—his average has slipped precariously as he’s made his way through the system, leading some to question if the kid’s development will catch up enough to let him hit at the big-league level.
Such are the decisions teams ponder.
Other options include switch hitters Derek Cumming (25) and Kosaku Nishimura (22).
Cumming is a known commodity, having played third base for the past couple seasons to mostly positive, though unspectacular result. The team likes his speed on the basepaths, and that he’s shown growth even at the big league level. The idea here would be that rookie 3B Banger Dan appears to be ready, and that Cumming could slide over—which would improve the team’s defense. Nishimura is coming off a more-than solid AAA season, and appears to be ready. Scouts say he’s kind of an Anti- Macías in that he’s not going to hit for a lot of power, but can spray the ball around the field.
Both Cumming and Nishimura have an advantage of being switch hitters, meaning they could free up a roster spot for use … somewhere … which is a value the team is known to enjoy perhaps to excess.
So, who’s it going to be?
Who knows? That, we suppose, is why it’s on the list of nine Nine questions for 2049.