Jack Cust

[Honus Wagner Rules]

For some reason I like Jack Cust, the ultimate "Three True Outcomes" ballplayer. After an awful April he's been on fire the past week. His BA has jumped from .188 to .244 since May 1st. He had just 11 hits all of April. He has 6 hits in 11 May ABs already. Right now he's at:

.244/.426/.427, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 16 R, 25 BB, 30 K

I bet he has his slugging percentage over .500 before June 1st.

[mlazar]

For some reason I like Jack Cust, the ultimate "Three True Outcomes" ballplayer. After an awful April he's been on fire the past week. His BA has jumped from .188 to .244 since May 1st. He had just 11 hits all of April. He has 6 hits in 11 May ABs already. Right now he's at:

.244/.426/.427, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 16 R, 25 BB, 30 K

I bet he has his slugging percentage over .500 before June 1st.

I like Jack also, but with the Frank Thomas signing and forcing Geren to have to play Jack in left field he costs the A's as many runs as he produces with his fielding and inability to get to balls .

[hellborn]

There was a long discussion about Jack late last season...

http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=61047 .

The Thomas signing does hurt him, but at least Frank is a righty. I think they'll both do some damage this season.

[Imgran]

I like Jack also, but with the Frank Thomas signing and forcing Geren to have to play Jack in left field he costs the A's as many runs as he produces with his fielding and inability to get to balls .

[Buffalo A's fan]

Is it just me, or has Frank Thomas been nothing different than he was early on in Toronto? He's seemed ok, and had a "double yesterday" but the it was just the sun in the outfielders eyes.

Sometimes I'd rather just have Cust DH and a better outfielder out there. I dunno, hopefully Thomas starts doing better. I mean .206 isn't really very good for your DH.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I like Jack also, but with the Frank Thomas signing and forcing Geren to have to play Jack in left field he costs the A's as many runs as he produces with his fielding and inability to get to balls .

Is Cust THAT bad in the outfield?

Cust reminds me of Randy Bass and Ken Phelps...

[NineWorldSeries]

Why, oh why, did I draft Cust for my fantasy team this year?

[beane4pres]

Is Cust THAT bad in the outfield?

Cust reminds me of Randy Bass and Ken Phelps...

My only complaint of Cust was in Anaheim when he took his eyes off of the fly ball LOOOONG before it reached his glove and made a very stupid error. The error was with 2 outs and part blame goes to Duke for serving up the fatty meatball of a home run, but still it wouldn't of happened to him if Cust didn't make such a little league play. But really, he hasn't been all that bad.

And as to go for Frank Thomas, the guy always starts out slow and he has HOF stats. I think he will heat up and once he starts hitting the ball out of the park, it'll be a very streaky run. Cust will be in the top 5 for OBP which is in my opinion, the most important stat for a offensive hitter.

[Zito75]

Is Cust THAT bad in the outfield?

Cust reminds me of Randy Bass and Ken Phelps...

Yes he is. He is a slugger- a "one demensional" player. He reminds me of Glenallen Hill in the outfield- or Ken Phelps. I feel like cueing the circus music when he circles under a ball.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Yes he is. He is a slugger- a "one demensional" player. He reminds me of Glenallen Hill in the outfield- or Ken Phelps. I feel like cueing the circus music when he circles under a ball.

To this day I never understood why major leaguers don't work more on their defense. I realize t hat certain players have more athletic ability but I believe that through hard work any player no matter how nonathletic (by this I don't mean a player that is obese) they can't be at least competent on defense?

[mlazar]

To this day I never understood why major leaguers don't work more on their defense. I realize t hat certain players have more athletic ability but I believe that through hard work any player no matter how nonathletic (by this I don't mean a player that is obese) they can't be at least competent on defense?

I agree that, let's say an infielder can take 1000's of grounders and learn different techniques and get better with good coaching ( ie: Ron Washington/ pupil Eric Chavez) ... I think an outfielder that doesn't have good speed can sometimes make up for it with having a good ability to get a jump on the ball, but I think that is a gift that is not learned... I don't think Jack has that...yes, he'll make a routine play, but never take away a hit ... he won't make errors that show up in the stats ,because he never gets to any balls outside his little patch of outfield he has matted down !!! in my opinion over the course of 140 games out there he will have to have huge offensive #'s to make it worthwhile being there :crossfingers:

[Zito75]

To this day I never understood why major leaguers don't work more on their defense. I realize t hat certain players have more athletic ability but I believe that through hard work any player no matter how nonathletic (by this I don't mean a player that is obese) they can't be at least competent on defense?

I also agree with you... And here are few thoughts on why defense is overlooked:

1. Players are getting lazy and comfortable in their huge contracts.
2. Players are just getting lazy.
3. "Scoring runs wins games," plus it's glamorous.
4. Chicks dig the long ball!

[street_thug]

Cust is an awful outfielder. Both he and Barton has dropped routine pop ups but none has led to any damage until the Anaheim game, and we were lucky to get out of that one.

On a positive note, Cust was named the AL player of the week. His 1st since this same time last year.

[beane4pres]

Cust is an awful outfielder. Both he and Barton has dropped routine pop ups but none has led to any damage until the Anaheim game, and we were lucky to get out of that one.

On a positive note, Cust was named the AL player of the week. His 1st since this same time last year.

Cust should be a DH, but we already have 3 on the team with M Sweeney and Big Frank in the lineup, so he'll have to be in the OF but he leads all AL in OBP which is probably the most meaningful stat for a offensive player.

Barton is a converted catcher to first base. Not only that, but he's a rookie. So he'll make stupid errors and mistakes and probably have a buttload of errors this season, but you'll see a VAST improvement in his defense starting maybe later this year and most definitely next year.

[Zito75]

Barton is a converted catcher to first base. Not only that, but he's a rookie. So he'll make stupid errors and mistakes and probably have a buttload of errors this season, but you'll see a VAST improvement in his defense starting maybe later this year and most definitely next year.

True. We should all be glad that Dan Johnson is gone.