His mediocre performance this year is due to a .256 average. His BABIP is .271, well below the .313 his 19.3 LD% forcasts. He is still hitting for power and unless Petco freaks him out I think this is going to be a big win for the Padres.
Unless he somehow is just one of those catchers who can't get on the same page as his pitchers.
Now the Padres should flip Bard for Dukes. What's to lose?
Won't Greg Maddux be happy! (I believe he was one of a ever-growing list of pitchers who heavily preferred throwing to anyone other than Barrett.) I always sort of liked the guy though. He's currently in ubiquitous "Wake up the rivalry!" McDonald's ads here in Chicago, with Jermaine Dye, so my brain's first image of him is from that ad, in which Dye has painted a big fake Rollie Fingers mustache on his face.
8 Hasn't Maddux always been rather picky about who he throws to anyways? I can't see how this will help Barrett's new contract $ though. Seems to me like he should have kept his mouth shut and just produced. The Cubs basically cut his PT then send him to one of the worst hitters park (in possible the toughest hitting Division of parks) as a big F-U. Hopefully it all works out for him. I believe the SD-park factor is mainly mental anyways. They were complaining about it before the walls went up. Didn't seem to bother the WBC hitters...in March.
Now the Padres should flip Bard for Dukes. What's to lose?
I've always thought of Maddux as a very hard-throwning control knuckleballer.
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