Josh Willingham...Slump or Chump?

[tds1273]

Thanks for all the replies. Bit of a relief to hear that this is mostly just a slump.


Rather than people(my self included) here asking whether he is better than this guy or that guy, would anybody who is in the know care to post an up to date ranking of the top ten catchers(based not only on where they are now, but where they should end up)? Is the order that yahoo puts them in using their O-rank fairly accurate?

1. V.Martínez
2. J.Mauer
3. R.Hernández
4. J.Willingham
5. I.Rodríguez
6. K.Johjima
7. J.Varitek
8. J.López
9. J.Posada
10. M.Piazza

...sort of brings me back to Barrett(side question in OP), why is he ranked so far back from the rest of these guys? Piazza is 243 and Barrett, the next best catcher, is all the way at 368.

[KOSTAS]

Well he has a nice series coming up in Coors so if he is going to snap out of it, why not now?

[PlayingWithFire]

1. V.Martínez
2. J.Mauer
3. I.Rodríguez
4. J.Willingham
5. J.Varitek
6. R.Hernández
7. K.Johjima
8. J.Posada
9. J.López
10. M.Barrett

[johnsamo]

I've seen this before, a really good athletic type tears it up in the minors on pure talent then gets hot when he goes to the show because they don't know his weaknesses yet, then the pitchers learn either what NOT to throw him or what to throw him and he struggles.

THe question now is, can he adjust or not? It's not a given that he does adjust. Some player's don't, some do. Watch his stats closely and it should become evident this season. Look for how he does against pitchers who earlier got him out. If he starts hitting them or his walk rate goes up, he's on the right track.

That's why I don't put as much value on great Minor league stats like some guys do. To me, all that means is he has talent, but in the show, talent isn't enough. The pitchers are just too good in the show to get by with talent. YOu've got to have the smarts to adjust once the pitchers know how to pitch you, that's not something a super talented guy has to do in the minors. He can just see the ball and swing there, but in the show, you've got to out think the pitchers too.