A lot of talk about Nick Gonzales not being able to play short because his arm strength, while I agree obviously he has a weaker arm we did just sit through an awful lot of IKF at short who finished below him last season.
He also finished above Key and just below Triolo who are both gold glovers. Those two and IKF also all played entirely on the left side of the infield which is obviously a further throw and you’d have to throw harder compared to Gonzales being entirely at 2B.
Not saying he should be playing short this season, I just wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the path they go barring any further signings/trades.
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If griffin isn’t the SS we failed as an organization and we aren’t winning much this season. Nick should be the everyday 3b if he can handle it for now with triolo the guy off the bench to give everyone a breather. Or defensive replacement late in game.
I’ve never thought gonzo has a bad arm.
I also will never believe that graph because IKF literally has the worst arm
I’ve ever seen in an IF, well… since Raphael Belliard.
Anyways… You can’t go into the season with Gonzalez and Triolo starting. I’m not saying they don’t belong on the team, but they aren’t starters on a good one. Triolo especially…. He’s all D. He has had brief stints “successfully” hitting- always at the end of the year- but it’s hardly reassuring going into the season watching him swing late and slap fly balls to RF when there’s guys in base. You need a massive amount of production coming from somewhere else, to make up for that dearth on the left side. Other position players are “solid” but not enough to make up for that.
EVERYTHING COULD CHANGE if Davis and Cruz
Hit this year above average. Changes everything.
But… I’m not banking on that happening.
I’m not worried about Gonzalez arm. I’m worried about the fact that he was only able to drive in 30 runs, mostly from the heart of the order last year.
Barely walks, almost no power… I could go on but the guy just can’t hit. I could care less how he plays the field. We need him to hit.
O’Neil Cruz’s arm strength is 98.2? What do you have to do to get a 100?