Patterson Benched

July 4, 2005 by Brian C

Dusty Baker has taken the step of benching Corey Patterson and his .235/.273/.386 stat line. If we've needed confirmation that Patterson's act is wearing thin in Chicago - and not just with the fans - this is it.

In immediate terms, this makes a lot of sense. Jerry Hairston's one and only offensive skill is getting on base, and while the 6/14 stolen base rate he's currently sporting nullifies that less useful, he's still much better suited to the leadoff position than Patterson. And Dusty's taken the lineup reshuffling as an opportunity to move Todd Walker up to the two spot in the lineup, where he belongs. Hopefully, the Cubs will now have a few more baserunners on when their best hitter comes to the plate. I'm not sure about Hairston's defense in center, but I've always thought Corey was overrated defensively anyway, so I doubt it will be as big a loss as you'll hear on TV.

Long term, though, it's hard to see how Corey stays a Cub for much longer. I recently speculated that Corey may be headed out of town soon, and I think his departure becomes all the more imminent now. True, it's not going to help his trade value to be sitting on the bench now, but it's clear that the Cubs have decided that they're a better team without him in the lineup. It's hard for a player to overcome that perception. And this quote by Dusty, in the article I linked to above, just about gives the game away:

What does he have to do?

"Bunt more and concentrate on going to left field," Baker said. "You've got to start to left field and then come back. He fouls off a lot of pitches that he used to put in play. He's on the ball, but not centering the ball."

Simply put, these are not only things that Corey does not do well (duh), they are things that are completely at odds with the skill set he does have. The Cubs want Corey to be a prototypical leadoff man, but I can't help but think that it's only because he has speed, an area the Cubs are definitely lacking. But he's not demonstrated at any point that he's capable of handling that kind of role. If he finds success in the majors, he's going to look a lot more like Andre Dawson than Lou Brock (not to suggest that he'll be as good as either of those guys, no matter how he turns out).

We've been down this road before. We saw it with LaTroy Hawkins, and with Kyle Farnsworth, and with Mark Bellhorn. Sometimes guys just don't become what the Cubs want to become, and they're sent packing. And frankly, it might be time for him to go.

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