The 31-year-old free agent outfielder has compiled a .284 career batting average over nine big league seasons between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics, but we like to think of his time in Oakland (one stupid season in which he hit just .240 with 10 home runs and 46 RBI) as a transitional period into better times. It was statistically the worst season of his life.
Heading into the 2011 season with the A's, DeJesus brought with him a 241-game errorless streak, which just so happened to be the longest active streak among major league outfielders at the time. He then went on to make four errors in 250 chances to round out a nice a .984 fielding percentage. Obviously, not only is he flipping adorable, he has a pretty reliable glove. Plus he's a switch-hitter, so there's that.
While he's spent most of his career as a center fielder, DeJesus has played the corners for the last three seasons, where he's expected to play in Chicago. Spankin' new Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer had this to say about his new outfielder:
"We're very excited to sign David. He's a player who does a lot of things very well, including running the bases and getting on base, and he doesn't strike out very much. These are all areas we wanted to improve on going into next year. He's a player who's very versatile. We can work him in a lot of different spots in the lineup. Our priority was to get more balance in our lineup from the left side, and David being a switch-hitter helps us in that area."
[ESPN Chicago]
1 comment:
Look at those pipes. /drool
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