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2007 The Pirates have corned the market on FOGies--Fourth Outfielder Guys. Their farm system is practically the Fourth Outfielder Factory. If a young outfielder is just good enough to not start, the Pirates will sniff him out and make sure he stays that way. You can buy just one or you can buy them in bulk at a discount. McLouth? Duffy? McDuffy? Butter or no butter, salted or unsalted, cinnamon and sour cream varieties, frozen and unfrozen. Move away from Pittsburgh? They`ll ship a case to you so you never have to feel lonely. McLouth isn`t quite as good as Duffy, and plating only 6.3 percent of the men on base when he batted, the worst mark in baseball among hitters with 150 PA. Of course, he can`t really play center either. No matter how scrappy you are, people notice when you do this little with that much playing time. 2006 McLouth finds himself in an all-too-common developmental pickle: he lacks the glove for center and the bat for a corner. He hasn`t shown adequate plate discipline since arriving in the high minors, and the power has never been there (career Isolated Slugging Percentage of only .135), or wasn`t until last fall, when he hit four home runs in his last six games. Sometimes, stuff happens. He`s left-handed, can steal a base, and he gets high marks for being a gamer, so he`ll be around for a while as a popular outfield reserve, perhaps lucking into a Joe Orsulak sort of career. 2005 Some optimistically compare McLouth to Lenny Dykstra, but that's code for a white guy who can run and get dirty. It's expected that he can play center field, and with his line-drive hitting skills, he's probably a lot of people's idea of a fine fourth outfielder. As long as Tike Redman's in center, that means he's got a shot at a regular job. He's young enough to keep picking up power, and within the system, he's the guy with the best shot of winding up in center or right by 2006.
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