« Passing the Mantle | Main | Some Numbers to Start »
June 23, 2005
Dodgers Should Keep Chin Up
This season, Dodger outfielders Repko and Grabowski – the Jasons - have hit a collective .190 with only 20 RBI’s. They have all of 35 hits between them, and 49 strikeouts. Repko hasn’t has an extra-base hit since mid-May. Grabowski hasn’t had two hits in the same game this season. Their failures have been especially damaging to the Dodgers because with Milton Bradley out, one of the hitless Jasons is always in the starting lineup.
While Jason and Jason flail away at big league pitching, Dodger minor leaguer Chin-Feng Chen keeps chipping away at whatever it is that’s kept him a minor leaguer. Chen – the first Taiwanese-born player to make a major league roster – was once thought to be a top prospect.
But he’s now in his seventh pro season, and fourth at AAA Las Vegas. Chen is the all-time home run king in Las Vegas history, but can’t get a call-up … even as the Jasons struggle to hit.
There’s talk that Chen strikes out too much, and that he’s a poor outfielder. But it’s hard to tell if that’s true. The Dodgers have given him only 14 at-bats in the major leagues over the past three seasons.
Until he gets a chance, no one will know for sure if Chin-Feng Chen can hit major league pitching. But right now, it’s pretty clear that the Jasons - Repko and Grabowski – sure can’t.
Posted by Nick Roman at 9:03 AM
