May 17, 2004

Cesar Crespo. He has not walked in 59 plate appearances this season. I've always thought that an OBP below .300 is not acceptable for a major league player; Crespo's OBP is .196. ... I wondered how many 3-ball counts Crespo has seen. Checking his splits at ESPN, I counted only 58 PA -- and I found only one 3-ball count. ... I looked at my scorecards to double-check. I counted 60 PA, so while the totals do not match exactly, they give you a pretty good idea of how bad Crespo is. What follows is the number of times he put the ball into play (or struck out) on which counts:
     ESPN   Me

0-0 7 7
0-1 4 4
0-2 10 10
1-1 6 6
1-2 9 10
1-0 6 6
2-0 3 3
3-0 0 0
2-1 5 5
2-2 7 7
3-1 0 1
3-2 1 1
58 60
I found two 3-ball counts: a full count on April 11 and a 3-1 count on May 16. As we see, Crespo is usually hacking at the first pitch he sees or he's quickly in an 0-2 or 1-2 hole. ... Of course, Crespo isn't in Boston to hit. He plays a variety of positions -- and that is what he has done. But he has been shaky in the field as well, his dropped pop-up in the first inning on Saturday, being the latest example. ... Can't the Red Sox find a utility infielder who can muster a .200 on-base percentage?

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