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PROGNATSTICATIONS: Matthew Lecroy


Hi, I'm Larry. This is my brother, Darryl,
and this is my other brother, Darryl.

There exists this sort of George Washington students cabal over at Baseball Primer. Or at least there was a year or two or three ago; I don't know if the fellas have un-cabaled, or whatever happens to cabals when they no longer exhibit the characteristics of a cabal. Anyway, I haven't really seen much in the way of obnoxious Colonials-pride in my semi-regular lurkings over there, which is strange since, as you might have heard, the mighty Buff & Blue is freakin' twenty-five and one right now.

I didn't post enough to be part of the GW cabal, but by my recollection a guy named Will Young was a member. It seems to my that he was an undergrad at the time, but judging by his home page, lordy lordy, looks like we've got another law student.

If he should wish to practice law in Virginia, I'd tell him the same thing a friend once told me: "Good luck and all, but now that I've passed the bar, I think I'd really like to see you suffer when you take it."

Eh, you guys know me; I'm not that cruel. I just prefer never to visit Roanoke again, and never to use the words "Rodeway Inn" in sequence anymore or let them anywhere near my credit card again.

Where was I? Yes, big Matt Lecroy. It turns out Will Young is a Twins fan---a buddy of my internet buddy SethSpeaks---and back in 2003 he wrote the following description of what it is like to watch Lecroy (attempt to) run the bases:

As I attended the Twins Opening Day game in 2000, there was very little about which to get excited. The Twins started numerous rookies, and found themselves down 1-0 after the first pitch of the season. However, the one aspect of the game that my brother Greg and I particularly enjoyed was the debut of Matt LeCroy. He doubled in the game for his first career hit, and really struggled to make it to second base. He really was the slowest person I have ever seen attempt to run. Anyway, because of his jolly picture and his slow, chubbiness, my brother and I nicknamed him Flounder. The nickname has stuck throughout the years . . .

By this testimony and by the account of pretty much anyone who has availed himself to a mere modicum of observation on the matter, Lecroy is brutally slow. The guy started off the exhibition season yesterday with a bases clearing single. That kind of thing, I'm sure, is no sweat to a guy like Lecroy. Clark Kellogg needs to invent an exclamatory term for such a feat, like Lumberosity!

So, he's slow. But that's okay, because I'm sure that Jeremy Wariner, while really fast, might find bashing lefties to the tune of a near-900 OPS to be as much of a struggle as Lecroy finds running the bases to be.

All that said, there exist considerations other than lumberosity in making this particular Prognatstication:

  • Lecroy's got some pop in his bat.
  • Will that pop translate to RFK?
  • There is no one else, other than Marlon Byrd, who might be considered a viable right bench bat.
  • Consequently, Lecroy is almost assured to get significant playing time, though some of that could be in eight or ninth inning, short reliever situations.
  • Lecroy could also be the primary back-up catcher, given Robert Fick's right elbow "loose bodies," though Lecroy's first appearance at catcher produced "mixed results."
  • Lecroy figures to get some starts at first base versus lefty starters and, should Nick Johnson sustain (yet another) injury at some point, Lecroy could assume more regular duy at first, depending on what happens with Daryl Ward.
The message is that Lecroy could get 200 at-bats, or he could get 350 at-bats. Who really knows?

Here are Lecroy's stats from the past four seasons:

YR    AB    AVG    OBP    SLG    R    HR    RBI
02    181    .260    .306    .448    19    7    27
03    345    .287    .342    .490    39    17  64
04    264    .269    .321    .424    25    9    39
05    304    .260    .354    .444    33    17  50

As always, my prediction will be in the comments.

* * *

I'm heading out of town tomorrow---to Dallas, actually. I'll be gone over the weekend and will be back in town on late Monday night. Thus, I'm going to post one more thing here, and I'll probably close up shop and be inaccessible until Tuesday. Building a time machine for the purpose of voiding the Wilkerson-Soriano trade requires all the attention I can muster, as you might imagine.

Until then, good night and good luck. Hint, hint . . . Check out what my latter-day-Murrow fellow Natty bloggers have to say for the next few days.