Daily Graphing: Corey Patterson — The Hardball Times
I have no quarrel with the graphs or the logic that says Corey Patterson isn’t as good as he could be. But I think we have to move away from the simplistic truism that players will get better by improving their walk rates. It’s awfully stale.
And it isn’t necessarily true. A lot of players balance a diverse set of skills that have made them major leaguers, and taking pitches isn’t an important part of that. Adding patience can be a negative, especially when it throws a player off his rhythm. Maybe the Cubs efforts to make Patterson a leadoff hitter hurt him.
Patterson needs to walk more if he’s going to bat leadoff or high in the order. If he’s going to hit down in the order his other skills are enough to offset his shortcomings, most of the time. It’s too bad that he seems incapable of improving his game, but that’s why we admire superstars. They do things that guys like Patterson can’t imagine.
So, Patterson isn’t looking like a superstar today. But if he is used properly in Baltimore he’s going to be a differencemaker in AL only leagues. His price isn’t going to collapse, but even at $20 (unless his confidence is now totally shot) he’s a bargain. (We’ll have to read the leaves of ST to make a better judgement.)