Quoting Korey

Mr. Patterson has several quotes in today’s Tribune. First, Paul Sullivan commentates that Patterson still considers himself a number 3 hitter. But he’s willing to suffer the humiliation of to the leadoff spot that Dusty seems ready to hand to him.

"Dusty and I talked, and the best way for me to help this team out is to bat first," Patterson said. "I'm all for that. I'm not going to sit and gripe because I'm batting first. That's not going to help me out, nor the team."

When is this kid going to learn to shut up? What he’s really saying is, “I really want to gripe because third is where it’s at! That’s the place for the best players and I’m one of those.” Well, Korey, you’re not. You never have been at any level above low A ball. You’ve always been a medium average, high strikeout guy. And those aren’t the guys that hit third. Hell, you’re lucky to be batting leadoff. You should be batting 7th or 8th, not first. You strikeout way too much to be a legitimate leadoff hitter.

But Korey recognizes that shortcoming in his game.

"To me, an out is an out, regardless of how you get it, a strikeout, groundout or whatever," Patterson said.

"Now there are certain times, I will admit, you have to put the ball in play, you have to make contact. I'll be the first one to admit it. I don't make any excuses or blame anybody else. It's something I need to work on, and I'm going to do that.

"I'm not saying I'm going to cut those down in half. But I think you will see improvement. I've always struck out a little bit, but that's just part of who I am."

"A little"? Here’s your career stats (They can be found here).

                    G  AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR RBI BB  SO SB CS  OBP  SLG  AVG
2004 Chicago NL   157  631  91  168  33   6  24  72 45 168 32  9 .320 .452 .266
2003 Chicago NL    83  329  49   98  17   7  13  55 15  77 16  5 .329 .511 .298
2002 Chicago NL   153  592  71  150  30   5  14  54 19 142 18  3 .284 .392 .253
2001 Chicago NL    59  131  26   29   3   0   4  14  6  33  4  0 .266 .336 .221
2001 Iowa AAA      89  367  63   93  22   3   7  32 29  65 19  8 .308 .387 .253
2000 Chicago NL    11   42   9    7   1   0   2   2  3  14  1  1 .239 .333 .167
2000 West Tenn AA 118  444  73  116  26   5  22  82 45 115 27 15 .338 .491 .261
1999 Lansing A    112  475  94  152  35  17  20  79 25  85 33  9 .358 .592 .320
Total NL          463 1725 246  452  84  18  57 197 88 434 71 18 .303 .431 .262
Total AAA          89  367  63   93  22   3   7  32 29  65 19  8 .308 .387 .253
Total AA          118  444  73  116  26   5  22  82 45 115 27 15 .338 .491 .261
Total A           112  475  94  152  35  17  20  79 25  85 33  9 .358 .592 .320

Korey's had one season in his career worthy of a #3 hitter. That was 1999 in Lansing. Since then, he's struck out 614 times in 670 games. If strikeouts were a batting average, he'd be hitting .242 above A ball and .252 in the majors.

This guy has all the talent in the world. He's just to in love with his press clippings. This is put up or shut up year for Korey. If he has a good year, he's in line for about $15 million over the next three years. If he has a bad year, he's likely to be traded to free space for Felix Pie or a trade for a Juan Pierre.

Stop talking to the press, Korey, and look at your performance. You need work.