I am pretty sure the number one requirement to be an Athletics analyst is that you have to say that a player should "use the entire field" as many times as possible. Hey Bip Roberts, "why is Josh Reddick struggling?" Roberts: "Everything with him starts up the middle, and he is not doing that well." How about you Fosse, "What's up with Cespedes?" Fosse: "Trying to pull everything and not looking to go the other way." And Hatteberg, "What gives with Chris Young?" Hatteberg: "He just isn't using the entire field like he is capable of."

Of course. No problem. Why isn't Chili Davis having the guys use the entire field?

Well, he is trying. And it isn't going that great. Allow me to let everyone in on a little secret: hitting to all fields is hard. HARD. It takes the right swing, approach, build, and even a little luck. Hitting to all fields is the holy grail of hitting. And like Indiana Jones showed us, chasing after it can be dangerous.

How hard is hitting to all fields? Let's take a look at the hitters since 2002 who have put up a better than league average wOBA to pull, opposite, and center fields.

Not a lot of names there. And the names there are absolutely the best hitters in the game. But some pretty good hitters aren't on the list as well. No Jose Bautista, Joe Mauer, or Carlos Beltran, to name a few.

My point is that maybe shooting for the absolutely best-of-the-best isn't the best fit for everyone. For example, we know that a mid-90s fastball, wipeout slider, and 12-6 curveball are pretty difficult to beat repertoire for pitchers. But would it make sense to try to have Tommy Milone develop into this kind of pitcher? No. Take Reddick for example. Sure, last year his opposite field numbers weren't great. And with all the effort he and Davis have spent trying to get him "to use the whole field" his opposite field numbers have risen (yet still below league average). But his center-field and (especially) pull numbers have nose-dived. Was this a smart move? I say no.

So while telling a hitter to "use the entire field" isn't a bad thing, we just need to keep some frame of reference of how difficult that really is. I'm talking to you Fosse.