=== Shields ===
He looked mighty adequate out there tonight. Sweet.
..........
:- ) Like ice cream.
As we all know, a legit ML second base is an awfully high bar to set for Tui, and whether he could reproduce Jose Lopez' range factors .... I'd want to see him for thirty games at least.
What IS intriguing is that the Mariners have him there, no?
The scramble-and-dive up the middle: you know and I know that Jose Lopez does not get to that ball. Jack Wilson probably would have. What I liked was the full-body extension, the rrrrrreeeeeeeeeach to snare it in the webbing, and then the martial-arts popup in an eyeblink to throw the runner out from CF.
The power arm can play deeper -- and that extends the range right there. Thursday's dazzler was a case in point. That's not a play you make if you're not deep, or if you're lacking a SS's arm (as Lopez also has, of course).
............
I don't know if anybody agrees with me, but I take it as a necessary inference now that Tui would be fine at third base.
.............
Still trying to wrap the mind around Tui at 2B. He looks like Adrian Beltre, or Troy Glaus, or Johnny Bench, playing second. I can't think of another player, ever, who had that kind of chest at second base.
No, I guess Bret Boone in his Mariners incarnation, right? Boone was as big then as Tui will be, although shorter.
If Tui sticks at second, Bret Boone becomes his automatic comp -- body type, K/BB, power, power to right field, everything. Maybe he'll start referring to himself as The Tui?
.
=== The Double ===
Tui's double to deep-center was off a very high fastball, very outside black, and the swing reminded me of my boyhood hero Johnny Bench. Very compact, very physically powerful, nice opening up and extension.
It was nice to see the plate coverage: in addition to the high-away double, Matt Thornton came in and blitzed Tui with 97 jam pitches right on the hands and Tui whipped the bat around like a snake's tongue to foul them off.
Just one game, but hey, it's just one post. :- )
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=== Geoff Baker ===
... reminds us, at the Times, that Tuiasosopo was drafted as a SS. In fact he played there, in four different leagues, before moving to 3b.
The groupthink against Tui's infield play was so persistent, so ever-present, that I'm thoroughly ashamed to say that I'd completely FORGOTTEN that Tui was drafted as a shortstop.
The arguments against Tui-SS are very easy to make, cliche'd even, and were exactly the same arguments that Weaver faced re: Cal Ripken thirty years ago.
.................
But suppose you toss out the assumptions, and you start with a blank sheet of paper, re: Tui's defense? What then?
It'll be a lot of fun to actually WATCH Matt Tuiasosopo if he can get into some games. He sure was fun to watch tonight.
:- )
Cheers,
Dr D