Chris Duffy

[drpiranha]

Chris Duffy was just named by the manager to start most of the games for the Pirates as the CF and will be leading off. He has started the last 5 games, including tonight vs. a lefty (he hits left).
He is 25 and seemed to average around .300 with about 30 SB and 10 HR's in the minors.

Thoughts anyone?

[garf112]

From Baseball America:

"He is an outstanding defensive center fielder... hits for average and battles pitchers... good speed... strikes out far too much and walks far too little for a leadoff hitter... needs to work on bunting... plate discipline will likely decide whether he becomes a starter or fourth outfielder."

His 16/57 BB/K ratio certainly doesn't say that he has improved in that element. Will he be a solid center fielder for the Buccos for the next few years? Probably not. Can he contribute to your fantasy team the rest of the year if he is playing everday? Absolutely, especially if you need some steals. He has always hit around .300 and was there in AAA this year, which means, even though his plate discipline isn't great, he will get on base at a better pace than most guys with similar walk/K numbers. Also looks like he is hitting for a little more power this year as well.

[SHOCKandAWE]

Well. I have been able to watch him play live his 3 of his last 5 games and I can tell you that Mac wantsw him to be the guy.

Dont look for a ton from him in this lineup. Lawton inthe #3 hole is just aweful and the pirates don't even have a solid #2 guy.

Once the pirates trade Lawton look for Duffy to get even more playing time.

[Mercer Boy]

Well said...I'm thinking Duffy will be in CF for the rest of the year. It's time to go young now that we're almost in the basement.

Supposedly he is not the greatest hitter. He's been doing OK so far, but he doesn't have much power. He is fast and scrappy though. If you're looking to get steals from him, I don't think he's going to steal much - at least with Lloyd still at the helm. He just doesn't have the runners take off very much. No one on this team has the "green light" unlike other teams with players like Figgins, Reyes, Crawford, etc. Everything is called from the bench.

I really wouldn't think about using Duffy in fantasy at this point. This team's going to keep declining, and we just don't score enough runs for him to accumulate runs or steals as a leadoff guy should.