Something tells me that he is gonna hit over .350 soon, if no this year. Call me crazy, but before he entered the bigs there were some crazy asses suggesting him as the next .400 hitter. Ya he is a catcher, but I think he will approach .350 in the next 3 years.
Pogotheostrich wrote:Best all-around catcher in the game, IMO. But to hit .350 as a catcher isn't very easy. That is a lot a wear and tear over the course of a season.
Makes you appreciate Ivan Rodriguez a little more doesnt it?
Based on his age and his #s so far, 350 doesn't seem out of line at all. His walk and K per at bat ratios are good and roughly inline with last years, it's just his hits per at bat that have jumped this year. There are only two explanations for this, (1) he's just on a hot streak/run of good luck (i.e... hitting it where they ain't), or (2) he's just becoming a better hitter. Taking into account that last year he wasn't very streaky and the fact that hot streaks and good luck don't usually last this long, the evidence points to the "better hitter" scenario being the likely reason for his improved #s.
There's also been an uptick in the power #s, not a huge jump, but significant if it continues. The interesting anomaly I see in his #s, he's hitting better in away games, which is really odd in general, but especially in this case because fake turf should bump up his home stats stats a bit. Turf, as a general rule, turns a few on grass ground outs into singles.
It's still to early to say this is the next Tony Gwynn, or (if he has more power) the next George Brett, or dare I say it, (if he has a LOT MORE power and talent in him) the next Ted Williams, but so far, he looks to be heading to one of those kinds of hitters, any of them being a darn good fantasy baseball keeper.
The two big question I have are: (1) how much power potential does he have? (2) What's his mental make-up? Is he a work-a-holic constantly learning Pujols type of player, or a Mickey Mantle party boy type guy who'll reach a certain level and then coast on his talent.
If anything, he may be too good a hitter to keep at catcher for him to reach his full potential at the plate. Besides the regular wear and tear of catching, there's also the increased likelihood of play-at-the-plate collission injuries. Considering he's already got an arm calibrated to throwing from home to 2nd base, 3rd base seems the obvious spot for him.
I agree. I've seen quite a few of his ABs and the guy can handle a bat with the best of them! Its hard to predict .350 but I can see him hit .320+ at least a couple times in his career, which is very nice for a catcher.
I just noticed something huge in his splits.... His performance against lefty hitters is HUGELY better this year. That means either he's faced weak lefties so far this year or, like I said earlier, he's just becoming a better hitter.
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by jhofingers » Thu Jun 01, 2006 4:16 pm 
