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 The man you see pictured to the left is Micah Hoffpauir, career minor leaguer in the Cubs Organization. I now firmly believe that if it wasn't for Hoffpauir, the Cubs might hold Matt Murton in higher regard. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
First, who is Hoffpauir.....he is a left handed hitting first baseman who would have been called up to the Cubs last season if he hadn't been hurt, which happens frequently in his career. Hoffpauir has a very smooth swing with some power and a pretty good eye at the plate. He's not the quickest base runner, but he's a veteran ballplayer (28 years old) and makes fairly good decisions on the bases. Hoffpauir got off to a very hot start in camp this Spring but it wasn't until he started to play some innings in the outfield until I thought he might be bad for Matt Murton.
So why is Hoffpauir even being talked about? Well, while Murton is better at getting on base, Hoffpauir is better at hitting for power and driving in runs. Next, they pretty much cancel each other out with their fielding, which is average at best. With the right handed dominant lineup that the Cubs trot out on a consistent basis, Hoffpauir's power from the left side is something the Cubs really covet....especially if Kosuke Fukudome or Alfonso Soriano go out of the lineup for an extended period of time. I don't think they really mind putting Murton in there to 'plug a hole in the dam' but I'm getting the feeling that the Cubs think Hoffpauir would actually provide more offensive production than Murton and based on what I've seen this Spring.......I can't say they are wrong.
While I still feel that the Cubs are jerking Murton around, this is beginning to make a little more sense to me. Even though Murton has taken his demotion like a real pro, I wonder what he'd do if Hoffpauir was called up to the Cubs before him.
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2008 Cubs Preview
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I don't know about Micah Hoffpauir, but the Cardinals have Jarrett Hoffpauir in AAA that looks to be their future 2B. Could even see some time in the big leagues this year.
I thought Micah Hoffpauir was the name of the Amish kid in the Harrison Ford movie Witness.