Dave Duncan Comments On Yanks & His Son
From Jon Heyman -
The Yankees have had first-base issues for most of the year, and they’ve continued to disregard a big season Shelley Duncan has had for their Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre team, a decision that has upset Shelley’s father, noted Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. ‘It’s pretty disappointing,” Duncan told SI.com. Duncan’s other son, Chris, with similar skills, is the Cardinals’ cleanup hitter.
Dave Duncan also said, “I read the papers, and it sounds like they’re looking for a player that can do the things [Shelley] can do … Traditionally, the Yankees don’t promote from within. In most cases, they go get players with big-league experience.”
The Yankees appear to be giving Andy Phillips another shot after Josh Phelps didn’t cut it (and Doug Mientkiewicz and Jason Giambi got hurt), and have looked into acquiring Shea Hillenbrand and others (Teixeira’s very unlikely as they won’t part with top pitching prospect Phil Hughes).
One NL executive said Shelley Duncan, who has 24 homers, 76 RBIs and a .289 batting average, “possesses big-time power” and should get a chance. That exec said he’s “a little stiff” in his movements but it’s nothing that should prevent him from getting a look.
“This is not the first year he’s put up offensive numbers. He’s put up offensive numbers every year he’s played,” Dave Duncan said. “I feel like he’s dealt with it as good as anyone possibly could have, and probably a lot better than I have.” The good news for Shelley Duncan, 27, is he’s a six-year minor-league free-agent at year’s end, which will give him a chance to go somewhere else.
I dunno. Shelley has some issues making contact in the minors. That would only be worse at the big league level, no?
I dunno. Shelley has some issues making contact in the minors. That would only be worse at the big league level, no?
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Maybe, maybe not, but he should have gotten a look by now. If the Yanks call up Durazo before Duncan, I’d say the writing’s on the wall.
Papa Duncan should worry about looking after his boss’ Budweiser and not let him (LaRussa) drive in Florida.
Snooze….this just all screams as “Waaaaaaaaaa, Waaaaaaa, Waaaaaaa, my son could hit a ball, Waaaaaaa, Waaaaaaa, the Yanks should call him up”. If he’s so good, how come this is the first time anyone has ever mentioned his name as someone the Yanks should call up?
BTW, by “first time” I mean this year. Prior years I don’t remember anyone screaming that Shelly should be called up.
If he’s so good, how come this is the first time anyone has ever mentioned his name as someone the Yanks should call up?
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Duncan is hitting .292/.376/.571 at Scranton. Even if he isn’t the real thing, it couldn’t hurt to take a flyer on him for a week, especially when you’re considering options like Hillenbrand, Phelps and Damon @ 1b.
What have you got to lose?
Raf – All he can really do is DH and from the looks they aren’t gonna put Damon on the bench or DL. So I see it as kind of moot. The Yanks feel they need to get Damon going and they keep running him out there, if they get fed up with that then I agree they should give Shelly a chance.
The thing is this, the Yankees aren’t going to do anything with Damon, DL or bench. I right time to have given Shelly a chance was in May or June, but at this point we need to win games and not give him 15 at-bats only to see him fail and then he’s sent back down.
I think it ends up being a waste of everyone’s time.
but at this point we need to win games and not give him 15 at-bats only to see him fail and then he’s sent back down.
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Therein lies the problem.
Damon, on the season is hitting .238/.339/.330. From the DH spot.
Now THAT’s a waste of time. He needs to go to the DL or figure out whatever it is that he needs to to to become a productive player again.
The Yanks need to win games. That’s even more of a reason to bench/DL Damon. If they can find AB’s for Thompson, or Basak, or Cairo, then they can find AB’s for Duncan.
Apparently the issue for the Yanks with Shelly is his fielding — not his hitting. Torre said they “only see him as a DH” in the big leagues. It’s pretty absurd, considering the year he’s having, that there hasn’t even been a suggestion they’ve considered him. He’s old, he’s not a prospect, but he’s done everything he can at the highest level of the minors. Shelly was a strikeout machine last year, but this year he seems to have made strides. Would he pan out at the ML level? Probably not. But how do the Yanks know they don’t have a mini-Adam Dunn on their hands?
Right now, with Phillips hitting, it doesn’t seem like too big of a deal. But when the Yankees were struggling to score runs, and they were getting no production from first base, it was ridiculous that they didn’t at least consider calling up Duncan.
I’m surprised his father said anything. But I understand where he’s coming from. The good news for him is that he can bring his son into his own organization next year.
How many millions is Damon making this year? And how much is he owed for the next two years? That’s why he’s going to play — the fact is the veteran with the big contract is going to play, it’s why he’s making that money: done it before, and is likely to do it again (current yips aside) Steinbrenner & family would not be happy with multi-millionaire Damon on the bench.
While I do hope Damon can turn it around (if healthy), I wouldn’t mind giving Duncan a flier and see if he can’t turn into the 1998 version of Shane Spencer for a couple of months. What does it hurt, with the way Damon has been playing? The money’s spent, don’t let it get in the way of winning some games.
How many millions is Damon making this year? And how much is he owed for the next two years? That’s why he’s going to play — the fact is the veteran with the big contract is going to play, it’s why he’s making that money: done it before, and is likely to do it again (current yips aside) Steinbrenner & family would not be happy with multi-millionaire Damon on the bench.
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Tony Womack was benched, you can come up with other veterans who have been benched when they didn’t perform.
If Duncan outproduces Damon, Steinbrenner & family wouldn’t care.