C.J. Cron is just awful..

[Chuck]

.244/.313/ with a weak ass .676 OPS

A slug defensively at 1B and streaky offensively at best. 

For a big man, the guy only has 3 HR thus far, but more importantly he's got a terrible approach at the plate. 

When he's down 0-2 he just slaps at any ball in the neighborhood. 

The Angels really need to find an answer for their DH/1B spot because I'm starting to believe that C.J. Cron is NOT the short or long term answer. 

[NrM]

Even in 2015 and 2014 Cron was basically replacement level. He's been worse this year.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Mr Meeseeks

[Second Base]

Patience gentlemen.

[tomsred]

Big night for CJ tomorrow.  Maybe two homers.

[TroutField]

Hasn't he been coming around at the plate lately? Defense seems to be slowly improving. I'm all for calling out our players but when you don't have any replacements there really is no sense in it. 

[Amazing Larry]

14 minutes ago, tomsred said:

Big night for CJ tomorrow.  Maybe two homers.

Then he rides the pine as punishment.

[kevinb]

36 minutes ago, ScottyA_MWAH said:

Patience gentlemen.

Just like for Choi isn't  gonna hit 320 put up 20 homers 20 doubles and have an obp of 400 and win an AL MVP

[m0nkey]

Weren't people here just saying he was turning a corner?

[Chuck]

55 minutes ago, TroutField said:

Hasn't he been coming around at the plate lately? Defense seems to be slowly improving. I'm all for calling out our players but when you don't have any replacements there really is no sense in it. 

I'd like to give Cowart a shot as he's hitting the ball well in AAA. Who knows, maybe Choi gets a shot since he's been playing well since being sent down.

[mulwin444]

Yeah, sure, dump him.  I mean, we can just replace him from our bench or minor leagues which is just bursting with offensive talent.  Or just trade for a legit bat from our prospect-rich farm system.

Hell, I don't know why his anemic bat hasn't been replaced already with the ridiculous amount of sluggers we have on this team...Eppler, call someone up, chop chop

[GrittyVeterans]

He sucks. This is what happens when you can't produce a lot of homegrown talent in terms of position players though. You end up with Cron getting 550 at bats.

They blew their international wad on Baldoquin (a crucial mistake), so any homegrown players that are going to be added must come from the draft this year. Given how bad their farm is, this is a massive draft for Eppler and his scouts

 

Having said all this, I wouldn't mind Cowart being called up and Escobar getting some reps at DH if Pujols can play first 

Edited May 24, 2016 by GrittyVeterans

[Angelsjunky]

Give him the rest of the year. I mean, what else can the Angels do? Maybe when Soto comes back he goes to DH and Bandy stays up, and Cron goes down and/or is traded. But he'd be selling low.

Meanwhile, Ji-Man is vintage Pujols in AAA, hitting .333/.444/.600...in 18 PA.

[Docwaukee]

Nice try Chuck.  It doesn't work unless you really mean it. 

[RuledByNone]

0.0 career WAR. If he's going to show something he better do it soon.

Slugging the same as Giavotella. If he at least hit for more power it would be easier to overlook his other faults.

[ELEVEN]

1 hour ago, m0nkey said:

Weren't people here just saying he was turning a corner?

More like crowning.

[TroutField]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

I'd like to give Cowart a shot as he's hitting the ball well in AAA. Who knows, maybe Choi gets a shot since he's been playing well since being sent down.

I'm all for giving Cowart a shot but with Escobar getting the job done at 3rd and Giavotella hitting well and playing good defense there really isn't a spot for him. Putting him at first would be a lateral move, he isn't a power hitter that will give you much more than Cron. His value comes in his defense at the hot corner. 

[nate]

Maybe we can trade for Trumbo

[Chuck]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Nice try Chuck.  It doesn't work unless you really mean it. 

Oh trust me, I really mean it. 

If something magical happens to Crin's bat and glove as a result of this thread I'll take it tho.

[halosfan1970]

2 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Oh trust me, I really mean it. 

If something magical happens to Crin's bat and glove as a result of this thread I'll take it tho.

Cron is drawing more walks this year. His OBP is almost respectable, and his average has been trending up since his terrible April. He seems to have a slightly different plate approach that is leading to more walks and in the long-run a probably a better average, but it is coming at the expense of power. Seeing a lot of singles to right this year instead of gap doubles or home runs. 

At 1B with a bad glove or DH, he's a 0.5 WAR guy. Disappointing.

[Jobu]

8 hours ago, mulwin444 said:

Yeah, sure, dump him.  I mean, we can just replace him from our bench or minor leagues which is just bursting with offensive talent.  Or just trade for a legit bat from our prospect-rich farm system.

Hell, I don't know why his anemic bat hasn't been replaced already with the ridiculous amount of sluggers we have on this team...Eppler, call someone up, chop chop

The definition of a replacement level player is that they can be easily replaced. 

[Blarg]

The last 12 games he has hit .209. The guy is a roller coaster at the plate, no telling if he has it this week or not. I don't mind his two strike approach of taking the ball the opposite way, his spray chart says he uses every part of the field.

http://www.fangraphs.com/spraycharts.aspx?playerid=12546&position=1B/DH&type=battedball

Edited May 24, 2016 by Blarg

[Inside Pitch]

755 career at bats -- career OPS+ of 105.   He's streaky, and he offers nothing defensively, but he hasn't been a complete zero, he's been meh....  

Also the people comparing him to Giavotella....   Gia has over 1000 career at bats and a career OPS+ of 83.  The closest he's come to league average was last year when he was at 96.   Don't look now but the average OPS by AL 2B this year is .761.  For DH's it's .744...  for 1B it's .732.   Talk about shit being upside down.  

Anyway, Cron has sucked, he's also nearly doubled his walk rate and cut his K rate this year, so there are some positives in there.  Hopefully he goes on one of his hot streaks.  

[fan_since79]

Two questions come to mind. Do we have a hitting coach, and does anyone even listen to him?

This is basic stuff. How did Cron get this far with such an awful approach? Yeah, I know. He's a streaky hitter with power. But he might go two months before getting hot again for a couple weeks. 

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

I'm kind of feeling positive about CJ Cron so far. I like to take a look at things at the end of May to see where players are because that's about the time you can start drawing some real conclusions.

Looking at Cron, the results have not been there. What we can say is, he has cut down on his strikeouts, making more contact, while also increasing his walk rate pretty significantly, from 4% to 8%. This is really hard to do. Making more contact has a naturally detrimental effect on your walk rate. Cron's biggest problem had been a penchant for swinging at pitches way out of the zone, something we have seen far less of this year.

Unfortunately, he just hasn't been hitting the ball with much authority.  His spray chart, and batting stats by count suggest he is trying to hit the ball the other way. What he needs to be doing is looking to drive his pitch in certain counts. His best batting average has come on 1-2 counts this season, which suggests that he is not taking advantage in hitter friendly counts. We can live with his 2 strike hitting, he just needs to start doing something with the pitches he sees earlier in the count.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Guy is streaky and I want to hate him but I'm hoping he hits a hot homer streak. Holding out some hope.