With another 0-3 day in Arizona Monday, Joe Crede lowered his spring training batting average to .091. The poor play at the plate combined with his 4 errors (all throwing, I believe) have some wondering if he is as healthy as he claims.
From what I saw on the tube this weekend, Crede appears healthy, if just a little rusty. His swing mechanics look fine; the hands are high, there's no wasted motion. But it's not showing up in the results. He had a particularly terrible game against the Giants Saturday, which included an 0-3 on a number of hittable pitches and at least one 'Crede would have gotten it' moment. He couldn't have laid an egg against a more inopportune opponent.
And worst of all, we're not the only people to notice Crede's poor play. Jon Heyman quotes an unimpressed NL scout.
We posted about Williams posturing on the Crede situation yesterday. While I still think Crede gets traded, I'm beginning to see a scenario where the Sox get stuck with Crede.
For his part, Josh Fields has appeared just as unspectacular as Crede this spring, going 2-17 at the plate with 5 strikeouts and no extra-base hits.