It's
still hard to fathom that Eric joined the league way back in 1999.
He was widely considered the worst pitcher the league had ever seen,
posting ERAs above 7.00 in his first two seasons. He was drafted
by the Horsemen in the 2001 draft, but due to injuries, played only
a handful of games. He played a semi-full season in 2002, posting
the best hitting numbers we've ever seen from the kid, and improved
pitching to boot.
His hitting
is a fundamental nightmare, but he is inexplicably able to post
decent numbers year in and year out. His career batting average
is a surprisingly respectable .256 and he's actually got 34 homeruns
in 379 career ABs. Still, at the core he's simply a mistake hitter
who has real problems against guys who can pitch to certain areas
of the strike zone. If he goes oppo, he messed up, and he has real
problems with his back foot. Still, leave one in his area and don't
be surprised if he hammers it.
His pitching
has improved dramatically, but it's still nothing impressive. He's
picked up some speed over the years and is more able to throw strikes
than in the past (54 BBs and 103 ERs in 55 IP his first two seasons,
17 BBs and 27 ERs in 28 IP since), but batters are never afraid
while at the plate. He benefited from having three hard throwers
in the rotation with him, as they kept the opposing hitters off
balance before he comes to the mound. He'll never be a Cy Young
candidate, but he's making the most of what he's got.
Eric's fielding
was absolutely horrid his first two seasons. Fielding a groundball
cleanly was cause for celebration as he seemed to have little/no
hand-eye coordination. However, he's improved in this aspect of
his game as well. He doesn't look pretty while playing defense,
but he seems to get the job done way better than he has in the past.
He still doesn't know much about positioning and needs a pitcher
or teammate to advise him. |
