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Every team in MLB wishes that it had a fleet footed, power hitting center fielder to roam the outfield and to dominate the opposing team. At one time, the Cubs had that. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.
The Cubs selected Corey Patterson with the 3rd selection of the 1998 Amateur Draft and I was immediately on the Corey Patterson Bandwagon. He was a five tool player who absolutely dominated high school (don't they all?) and looked to be on the fast track to Wrigley Field. While his minor league stats indicated that he'd have difficulty succeeding because of his high strikeout rate, he still continued to excel and rise through the Cubs farm system. Each stop was filled with glorious stories about how Patterson would run down balls in the alley, throw runners out at home plate and win games with towering home runs......Cubs fans couldn't wait for him debut for the Cubs.
In 2000, Patterson was called up to Chicago at the end of the season and played in 11 games. While his stats aren't mind blowing, he did have two homers.....and 14 strikeouts. We all chalked it up to being a rookie and learning the ropes. He played good defense and had a strong throwing arm. While he only stole one base, we could all see that he had excellent speed. I was more excited than ever.
When Patterson didn't make the Opening Day Roster in 2001, I figured it was because Don Baylor was in love with Gary Matthews, Jr. Yes, that Gary Matthews, Jr. Anyways, Patterson ended up getting called up that season and playing in 59 games for the Cubs. He hit .221 with 33 strikeouts. This should have told us something. Still, we held out hope that Patterson was going to be the player to take the torch from Sammy Sosa and carry the Cubs into the playoffs for years to come.
I could break down his career year by year, but you get the point. Patterson never panned out. He struck out too much. The Cubs tried to make him a lead-off hitter, they tried to hit him eighth, they tried to hit him in every spot in the batting order. They tried to teach him to have patience at the plate and once even brought in Brett Butler to teach him how to bunt for base hits. Nothing worked out.
He tore his ACL the season the Cubs made the playoffs (2003) and while he had his moments (24 HR, 32 SB's in 2004); he was eventually traded to Baltimore for......I can't even remember. That's how good the deal was. How the mighty had fallen.
Patterson has played the last season and a half in Baltimore and still has the same problems. They've moved him around the batting order much like the Cubs did. They've tried to give him freedom to work through struggles himself and have just let him 'go out and play' at times. Still, he's scuffling. Patterson has now played 224 games for the O's and while he has stolen 65 stolen bases.....he has struck out 142 times. He's coming up on 2,000 career at bats in the majors and has a career on-base percentage of .296.
Patterson will be a free-agent this offseason and teams are not going to be pushing each other over to sign him. He's a 28 year old player with a ton of tools, but he doesn't know how to use them. I've heard rumors that the Cardinals might give him a shot, maybe the Twins. Some teams are looking at him as a 4th outfielder and I've heard about some playoff teams trading for him to be a runner off the bench in the playoffs. I'm fairly sure that this is a far cry from what Patterson imagined his first time leading up to being a free agent would be like. I'm 100% positive that this isn't how he, or the Cubs, saw his career going.
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2008 Cubs Preview
He was productive on my fantasy baseball team last year, stealing like 40 bases or something, and was especially valuable in the first half. His second half was not good, though.
Corey always struck me as a very streaky player, someone who could go on a tear for like two to three weeks, then do nothing for the next month. It's hard to tell what the deal with players like that is... is it that their head isn't into the game for the full 162-game season? Is it that they do well when they hit that point of the season where they play like a bunch of slumping teams, or slumping pitchers, but they can't perform against regular quality major leaguers on a daily basis?
I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if Corey Patterson has one more good half left in him somewhere in his future; I also wouldn't be surprised if he never as another good run, either. His biggest asset is his speed, and he's getting up their in age, where his speed is going to slow down a bit.
The Twins makes sense, especially if they lose Torii Hunter. Patterson, when healthy, can play everyday. Which is better than me, I guess.
He has the tools to do it, but for some reason he can't do it consistently. He actually almost made the All-Star team one season, so he has been capable of going on a good streak. His little bro (Eric) is an up and comer in the Cubs system.
I could see Corey signing in somewhere like San Diego (If Cameron leaves) and hitting a ton of triples one year and making the All-Star team.
Without getting too technical...
Corey Patterson has one of the bigger holes I've ever seen in a guy's swing. It's a shame he hasn't been put on a team like, hmm I dunno, more patient hitters in the lineup and/or a decent hitting coach. Don Baylor is a joke as a hitting coach..
For a perfect comparison, look at Granderson last year and this year (with Sheff and without). I would compare those 2 only because of their speed, position they play, and youth. Grandy struck out a lot last year. This year, he's making a solid run at being top 5 CF in the AL.
Actually Boney, when Patterson was with the Cubs they had Jeff Pentland who is/was one of the better hitting coaches in the game. I believe he's with Seattle now. Don Baylor was the manager, not the hitting coach.
On top of that, the Cubs brought in everyone they could to help Patterson....then Patterson complained that he was getting too much advice.
It wasn't for a lack of trying on the Cubs part.
He does have a huge hole, but for some reason he doesn't want to change that. It has to do with Corey, not the players around him.
Granderson isn't exactly a good comparison. He has 29 bb's and 88 k's in 90 games this season. He's just hitting for more power this year than in the past (look at his extra base hits).
patterson was playing with the Cubs when i still watched baseball, and i always believed him to be one of those guys who had all the stuff but no maturity to go along with it. As i step back, though, I don't think it was a maturity issue at all, I think he lacked focus. In my memories eye I seem to think he was one of those fellas who took a different swing every cut he made. Sometimes it was there and others it wasn't. That is kinda what w=makes me think he really lacked focus.
people get all caught up in 'focus' and when a laid back guy doesn't succeed they say it's because he doesn't focus enough. That was something the media was always saying about Patterson. I always thought he tried and was focused. He played very hard on defense, it was just that he struggled on offense.
He is/was just a laid back dude. They say his bro is very, very energetic. Almost the opposite kind of personality.
fair enough, I would think that you would have a hard time laying back if you were striking 147,000 times.