?? for those that were Expos fans

[rileyn]

Somebody give me the scoop on Jose Vidro.  I keep hearing that when he gets hot he is amazing, but we new Nats fans have not seen that side of him yet.  Is it true?  What do we have to look forward to, or is what we see what we get?  I know he has had knee and ankle problems this year, but he seems to have limited range at 2B.  Also, it must be killing him that the Nats are under .500 with him in the lineup and about 20 games over without him (2-5 since his return from the DL).

Please don't think I am calling him a bum, but I keep waiting for him to pick up this offense.

[DelNatsFan]

From what I've seen It sure isn't his fault that they're 2-5 since he's beenback. He's been hitting.

[rileyn]

I am not blaming him at all.  I just want to hear from those that have followed his career.

[Ray D]

Can't answer the question but would like to offer this regarding the "limited range" observation.   Before his injury I thought he had very limited range at second, waving at balls that I thought he had a chance for, never ever diving.  But in one of the recent games (since he's been back) he dove for a ground ball.   Makes me think he was perhaps not 100% before the injury and now is.

[DelNatsFan]

Can't answer the question but would like to offer this regarding the "limited range" observation.   Before his injury I thought he had very limited range at second, waving at balls that I thought he had a chance for, never ever diving.  But in one of the recent games (since he's been back) he dove for a ground ball.   Makes me think he was perhaps not 100% before the injury and now is.

I think you're talking about the Sunday game vs the Phillies. He went deep in the hole behind second to make a play. Loked real sharp

[Ryan Zimmerman]

Vidro is AMAAAZIING...he can even hit for 300 on a regular basis.

He hasn't played a while and I know Vidro, he'll get back on track in like let's one week or two.

[UMDNats]

hes been gettin on base, but hitters behind him havent been able to produce besides guillen. now with church back and wilson on the team, i think that 2-5 record can improve.

[Kenz aFan]

Vidro is hitting, yes, but he's not hitting like the Vidro I've seen over the years. He's not driving the ball like he used to, nor is he moving the runners into scoring position like he once did with great regularity. He used to be awesome against right handed pitchers, he seemingly did almost anything he wanted against them. He hasn't done that in a least a couple of years. The Vidro you see is only a small part of what he used to be as a hitter.

[mar (AKA pasqual AKA JMG)]

Vidro is hitting, yes, but he's not hitting like the Vidro I've seen over the years. He's not driving the ball like he used to, nor is he moving the runners into scoring position like he once did with great regularity. He used to be awesome against right handed pitchers, he seemingly did almost anything he wanted against them. He hasn't done that in a least a couple of years. The Vidro you see is only a small part of what he used to be as a hitter.

Yeah.
I know your views on Jose, ken.
Me, I'll reserve judgement until season end, but he's not quite the guy he used to be so far (tho realistically he's been back only a few games).

For history - which was the original question - Vidro moved thru the minors and came up on the strength of his bat. There was a brief attempt to make him into a 3rd baseman (like just about every other Expos prospect at the time) which was abandoned (wisely) and he made himself into a very good 2B over his first couple of seasons.

He doesn't have that jaw dropping ability of, say, Robbie Alomar in his prime, but he is very steady with at least average range and a good arm (for 2B NOT 3B :wink:  ). He and Cabrera were one of MLB's best DP combinations.

He is one of the Nats very few legit .300+ hitters and when going good is a line drive machine who can hit gappers anywhere on the field. He has occasional power tho likely not much in RFK. Career he is a true switch hitter who hits about the same for average from either side.

Only thing that really scares me about him - and here I veer towards Ken's view - is the curse of the Puerto Rican infielders. I am partially (mostly) kidding but did you ever see two similar guys get old as fast as Alomar and Baerga? It was like one year they were All Stars, the next busts of the season.

If the trade rumors are true, Marlins seem to think Mike Lowell has suffered the same fate. Literally since last season's All Star game he just went down the tubes and has not hit well at any time in the past 12 months.

Scary  - tho probably only exists only in my mind