VOTTO

[Matthias]

Three letters: ISO.

Votto's ISO (Isolated Power) last year was .2262, just ahead of Vlad, Carlos Lee, David Wright, Justin Morneau, Hunter Pence, Torii Hunter, and Ken Griffey, among others.

I'm not saying Votto isn't good but that number was taken in 84 AB and is higer than his minor league ISO.

Sure, small sample size, but still reason to have him on your radar (it's why I drafted him this year).

Also it's not so out of line from his minor-league numbers.
Year Team G AB BA OBP SLG ISO
2002 R-Reds 50 175 0.2686 0.3416 0.5314 0.2628
2003 R-Billings 70 240 0.3167 0.4518 0.4875 0.1708
2003 A-Dayton 60 195 0.2308 0.3476 0.2872 0.0564
2004 A-Potomac 24 84 0.2976 0.3854 0.5595 0.2619
2004 A-Dayton 111 391 0.3018 0.4186 0.4859 0.1841
2005 A-Sarasota 124 464 0.2565 0.3295 0.4246 0.1681
2006 AA-Chattanooga 136 508 0.3189 0.4085 0.5472 0.2283
2007 AAA-Louisville 133 496 0.2944 0.381 0.4778 0.1834

His weighted-average ISO for his minor-league career is .1868 and power develops as you age. So last year, small sample size, a bit... 84AB's aren't enough for a real read, but it's not tiny. And in the context of his minor-league numbers, it's not fluky. Especially given his home park and the Reds pretty healthy offense, I expect him to continue to have a solid year.

[wildbill]

Bah. He was hitting about .290 with a OBP around .360 and 4HR's in 93 ABs on the season before yesterday. He was already a solid CI starter in mixed leagues and one of the top 5 rookies in baseball.

Well I've seen he spend more time on the WW then on someones team in a 12 team mixed on yahoo, where btw he was ranked in the mid-200s for the season prior to yesterday. He was ok, but he wasn't exactly tearing it up.

Furthermore from an ESPN article:

He'll have to prove he can hit for power against teams other than the Cubs, as six of his 11 career home runs and 16 of his 35 RBIs have come against them, and these teams don't meet again until the week before the All-Star break.

So he hasn't exactly been raking it against anyone but the Cubs so far. I'm not saying he's a bad player, just that after a career game this seems an awful lot like last year with Salty after he got traded...unrealistic expectations for the short term.

[Matthias]

Bah. He was hitting about .290 with a OBP around .360 and 4HR's in 93 ABs on the season before yesterday. He was already a solid CI starter in mixed leagues and one of the top 5 rookies in baseball.

Well I've seen he spend more time on the WW then on someones team in a 12 team mixed on yahoo, where btw he was ranked in the mid-200s for the season prior to yesterday. He was ok, but he wasn't exactly tearing it up.

Sort of, but he didn't have a full-time job until May 11th which doesn't sound that significant but it does give him 20% fewer ABs than a normal starter. And I don't know the exact Yahoo algo but my guess is that it factors in counting stats which he'd be at a significant disadvantage in versus the guys who were above him on the list. Even if you take out yesterday, if you added 20% to his totals, it would put him at 5HRs, 20 Runs, and 20 RBIs which would put him as a solid 1B with his AVG and OBP.

Yesterday certainly makes him look great but it doesn't completely change his outlook is what I'm getting at.

[Oatsdad]

I just grabbed Votto and dropped Swisher. I hate bailing on someone this early, but Swisher is just KILLING me...