McGraw has some interesting words for his offense

[Vladman1327]

Brad Wilkerson, outfield: "Brad hasn't made the adjustments. Sure, he has been banged up. Even when we were in Montreal, I wanted him to get more aggressive and not be so fine in the strike zone. If you are going to drive in runs, you have to expand the strike zone. You can't take a pitch [like Wilkerson did in the ninth inning on Friday against the Mets]. I expected more from Wilky. I expected the learning curve to go up, not backwards."

Cristian Guzman, shortstop: "Guzman is a disappointment. You would never think that a guy that has had the success he's had could be that far off. The thing I think Guzman needs to improve on, I didn't think it would be difficult. I thought it was simply look for the fastball until you get two strikes, and then you scramble like everybody else. He hasn't been able to do that."

Vinny Castilla, third base: "Very disappointing. He is not even close to having the year that he has had in the past. Vinny has to make adjustments. We talked about making adjustments because he's older. You can't do the same thing at 35 or 36 like you did at 30. Vinny has not come through like we thought he would. We didn't expect him to hit .300, but we expected him to drive in runs. He drove in 131 runs last year. He has 53 RBIs with a little more than a month to go."

[Kenz aFan]

If I was a player, I would take everything Tom McCraw says and toss it out the window. If I'm hitting .250 why should I listen to a lifetime .246 hitter? If this team had a real owner instead of MLB, Tom McCraw wouldn't even have a job.

[Senators2005]

If I was a player, I would take everything Tom McCraw says and toss it out the window. If I'm hitting .250 why should I listen to a lifetime .246 hitter? If this team had a real owner instead of MLB, Tom McCraw wouldn't even have a job.

Unfortunately there aint no way Frank's gonna give up his golfin' buddy.  

I know we are all hoping there is gonna be a real shake-up when and if we get some new ownership.

[Izarkrane]

Okay, maybe you're right but as we know, it's not always the best players that make the best teachers, ya know?

[rileyn]

If I was a player, I would take everything Tom McCraw says and toss it out the window. If I'm hitting .250 why should I listen to a lifetime .246 hitter? If this team had a real owner instead of MLB, Tom McCraw wouldn't even have a job.

Well what about Frank?  He sounds like he tries to work with the hitters too and there is only a few people in the history of the game that could hit like him.  I'm not completely ready to blame the coaches - I think this is on the players.

[Dave B]

i dont think coaches deserve all the blame or even most of it.  if you are a major league player, you shouldnt need someone to tell you how to hit. you are not 10 years old.  especially if you have been successful in the past.  these guys are not zombies you do everything the coaches tell them.  you can always go back to what worked in the past.

i think a lot of it can be chalked up to injuries, except guzman.  

guillen is meeting or exceeding his numbers (if he didnt play in RFK his homers would be way up), and he's hurt.
nick johnson (health in question) was/is having a break out year.
schneider is having a break out offensive year.
church if healthy is breaking out.

you cant neglect these people and only talk about, castilla, wilkerson, and guzman. especially when castilla cant walk and wilkerson is held together with duct tape.

[CapitolCityGoofball]

I really don't agree with McCraw - how does a career .246 hitter get a job as a hitting coach?

Wilkerson:  How is he going backwards? Aside from the obvious drop in HR this year from last year's spike, his numbers are well within his career averages.  What unmade adjustments is McCraw talking about?  He has never been a contact hitter or had a great eye.   The media and team really hyped him up after the hot April inlcuding the  game 2 cycle.  But even while batting .323 in April, he still had 27 SO in 24 games.   I still like him though, team just needs to realize he is a number 6 or 7 hitter, no more.

Guzman:  He has looked so utterly clueless 95% of the time in the field and at the plate, I think we need to ask if he has some personal off the field problems.  I recall a few players having terrible years where divorce or family illnesses were later disclosed.  The story came out recently that the team asked him to change his hitting approach all year and recently rescinded the request.  I have not noticed him hitting in a different style lately, just having (occasionally) more success.

Castilla: I do not understand why everyone is so surprised at Vinnie's performance this year. He is on pace for the same type of year he had in 01-03, with the typical decline you expect from a guy who just turned 38.  Throw out 04 with the Rockies.  If Bowden thought he was getting the 04 Castilla he deserves to be canned for that alone.
3 seasons 01-04 with Houston, Tampa, Atlanta
average season 20 HR 76RBI .256BA

  The disparity with his Coors field years including last year is striking.
6 seasons 95-99,04 with Colorado,
average season 38 HR 112 RBI .296BA

[JMW IV]

if you read the entire article for this, you can see the Off-season propaganda machine already at work.  just look at the differences between the flowery praise of some players and the scathing venomous criticism of others.

they are preparing to ship Brad off somewhere in the offseason, and to get a new SS and 3B next season.  they are bringing these guys down in public so as to not get a negative reaction when they do get rid of them.

not that their own offense performances speak well for them, but I don't think it really is kosher for the hitting coach to be going after them in the media like this.

which is why I believe that it's the formulative stages of the GM 2006 season propoganda machine.

[Ryan Zimmerman]

Sheesh, ''Castilla isn't having the season, we hoped he'd have'' It's because, he was hitting at coors field.