Corey Patterson Profile of the Season

Patterson is having a good season in my eyes. He has suffered from the usual ups and downs from a player still in the learning stages. But the key is he is learning. And you always want to see that from young players. My typical whipping boy Alex Gonzalez never showed signs of improving or wanting to improve. That is why Toronto gave up on him.

The splits on Patterson are interesting. I pointed out these splits when he was in a slump and alot of people were saying he was a bust and demanded he be sent to AAA or benched.

The splits in Patterson's numbers show a patient hitter below the surface. With nobody on base he probably tends to over swing and strike out more. But with runners on base he either concentrates more or attempts to put the ball in play more. He understands what to do with runners on base, and change his approach.

None on he hits .271 - .318 OBP - 7 HR - 17 BB - 66 SO's - 262 AB's
Runners on he hits .294 - .355 OBP - 10 HR's - 47 RBI - 17 BB - 45 SO's - 194 AB's.

The runners on stat is what I want to see out of Patterson's over all numbers in future years. People get on base ahead of him and he is pretty good at knocking them in.

RISP shows signs also of being a more patient hitter.

RISP - .247 BA - .343 OBP - 33 RBI - 13 BB - 28 SO's - 93 AB's.

While the batting average is not what we would want he has shown the ability to take the walk to extend an inning. I despise .250 hitters who have .280 OBP. I can live with a .250 hitter who gets on base around .340-.350. At least they are still in some aspect helping he team. Hopefully in future years he can raise that average.

Two surprising splits is his hitting with RISP and 2 outs and close and late.

.280 BA - .357 OBP - 21 RBI - 5 BB - 15 SO's - 50 AB's

Close and Late..

.297 BA - .350 OBP - 6 RBI - 5 BB - 21 SO's - 74 AB's

The last split is what some people might refer to as the Clutch stat. I dont really buy into that. If a guy knocks in a run in the 1st inning and that is the only run in the game, isnt that clutch as well? Does clutch only happen in close and late situations? I just like to see his OBP around the .350 mark in key situations.

Currently Pattersons totals stand at..

.284 BA - .337 OBP - 25 2b - 5 3b - 17 HR - 54 RBI - 68 Runs - 23 SB - 34 BB - 113 SO's.

The Batting average is good. The OBP needs to get a bit higher. Extra base power is fine. Steals are fine. Needs to walk more around the 70-80 mark to be ideal. And needs to cut down his SO's alot, though I think he will always be a 100+ a year strikeout player.

Overall I think they are excellent numbers to build off of in the coming years and he is proving last year's half season was no fluke.

One final note is his outfield defense. Which has been outstanding. He is quickly gaining a reputation of a powerful and accurate outfield arm. He has 7 assists, and 4 DP's from the OF to go along with 1 error and a .996 Fielding %.

In comparision Jim Edmonds has 9 OF assits, 3 Errors, 2 DP's and a .988 Fielding %
Steve Finley - 5 OF assits - 2 Errors - 3 DP's - .992 Fielding %.

Winning a gold glove on the other hand? I don't see that happening. With the way Gold Gloves are slanted to the ones that are better offensively, Patterson is still way behind the likes of Edmonds, Finley, and Beltran in that regard.

Keep up the good work Corey, and keep on improving and working on your bunting skills. You have a bright career in Chicago.