On Juan Pierre

Len Kasper pre-empted my thunder during the broadcast of the first game of the doubleheader the other day when he mentioned that Juan Pierre has played every single game this season. I had wondered whether Pierre had missed a game earlier in the week and double checked that he hadn’t, but I hadn’t seen this mentioned anywhere in the writings I read. I’m curious: why isn’t this something more of a notable story?

But, it’s not like it’s a secret or something, so I shouldn’t get possessive about it. After all, it’s Pierre who’s the one playing every single game. Since I hadn't heard anyone mention it until Len the other day, I almost figured he must have missed a game somewhere along the way until I looked it up.

Playing every game of a season is an impressive feat. It's even more impressive that -- knock on wood -- this could be the fourth season in a row with 162 games played for Pierre. It makes me wonder why some people aren’t keener on re-signing him. I’m all for it. It makes perfect sense.

Not only has Pierre started every single game, but he’s still hustling and going all out on every play. He missed a couple of very difficult catches last week, but they were the sort where he sprinted all out and crashed into the wall, or came up just short. He also made a few impressive catches ranging wide into the alleys. It’s nice to see him hustling so much on a team hovering near 20 games under .500.

Granted, he’ll be a free agent, so he’s playing for a contract. I’m certain that’s plenty of motivation for any player in his position. So that certainly factors in. But I get the sense that he’s the kind of player who would be legging those fly balls in the alleys out anyway.

Here’s why I think there isn’t more excitement in Cubs Nation about Pierre: fans tend to like guys who hit well in significant games. For the Cubs, the only significant games of the season came early, as they struggled to hang in contention. That’s when Pierre slumped. As a result, there’s this unspoken disposition to look at Pierre as a guy who didn’t produce when it counted, when something was still at stake.

Who knows whether the Cubs could have squeezed a few extra wins and changed the arc of the season if Pierre had been hot in late April and May. I suppose it’s possible. But it wasn’t like he was that bad, and he certainly wasn’t the only leak in the lineup.

I mean, what have the Cubs been using at centerfield? Would we rather have had Corey Patterson running out every day to a chorus of cat calls, running up the Cubs therapist bills? A where-is-he-now like Damon Buford? Someone on their way out like Lance Johnson? Or maybe they should have brought Pie up so he could struggle for a few years and wind up with another team to become an All-Star like Gary Matthews Jr.? It’s not like we’ve had any solid centerfielders in a while. The only guy we could forget about while he did his thing was Kenny Lofton briefly in ’03, and maybe CP in the first half of the same season.

Now, no one is saying that Pierre is the best centerfielder in the NL. That’s Andruw Jones, followed by Carlos Beltran. Pierre is in the next tier.

But, while obviously we’d love to see a guy like Jones or Beltran running out every day, there would still be the problem of a Cubs leadoff hitter, and there are only a few positions it could come from, with few likely candidates. Other than Lofton, the Cubs haven’t had a leadoff hitter in years, and it’s been a huge hindrance. Pierre, in that respect, is a perfect fit, solving a significant and recurring Cubs problem. Not that it would be the only problem, but it’s as big as any of the others since the bullpen is solid.

One obvious drawback with Pierre is that his throwing arm is flimsy. No getting around that. But that’s only half the story with centerfielders. You want a guy -- again, like Andruw Jones or Carlos Beltran -- that can range alley to alley as well as throw well. But there aren’t many of those around, and if you had to weigh one against the other, I’d suggest, you’d rather want a guy with Pierre’s exceptional range than a guy with less range who throws better. Extra outs are better than limiting extra bases, I figure.

Plus, he’s been hitting really well the last couple of months, especially that .345 he hit in July, with only 2 strikeouts the entire month. Impressive.

So I hope the Cubs sign Pierre to another contract. I like his hustle and attitude, and how he doesn’t argue with umpires’ calls. I like that we can tell how much he enjoys the game. I like that he steals bases. The Cubs only stole 65 as a team last season, meanwhile Pierre’s on pace to steal nearly 60 himself. I like that he only strikes out about once a series, and lately a lot less than that. I like most of all that I can pencil him in at the top every single day, the only solid spot in the entire lineup this year.

Next year will have enough question marks as it is. I’d really like to see leadoff hitter not counted among them. For that, I can’t think of anyone better than Juan Pierre. I hope he’s the Cub centerfielder for at least a while longer -- a few more seasons, if not more.