Thought it was about time we got a thread on this guy. Over the last month he's hitting right at .300 with a 16-9-17 line. Through 134 at bats this season he's got a 21-10-20-.231 line. That average looks bad and he's striking out nearly 21% of his at bats, but if his .219 BABIP adjusts even up to .280, his average would be .275 (assuming my math is correct this early in the morning). That might be a bit optimistic, with his low LD%, but we aren't talking about a guy with over 30% K rate like Mark Reynolds that will kill your average. I don't think he can keep the 20% HR/FB rate up, but even if he brings that down to 10% (close to league average) we're still talking about a guy that would hit 26+ HR over a 550 at bat season.
Plouffe plays a number of positions, so he has Yahoo eligability at 2B, 3B, SS, OF, so a 25-HR .270 hitter with his positional eligibility would really play. A 1st round pick in 2004, he's just about to turn 26 this week. Here is something I read early this season on CBS, before Plouffe started this hot streak:
Trevor Plouffe April 11, 2012 3:08 pm
When you combine his 2011 numbers at AAA Rochester and with the Twins, Plouffe managed 23 HR with 64 RBI and 6 SB in 478 AB last season. Since Plouffe is on a team with marginal talent in place at some positions and has the ability to play all over the field, he may see his playing time and offensive production increase this season. He is someone to keep in mind when the injury bug bites.
Looking at old BP thoughts, they were really high on him in '05 and '06, saying he's a long way from contributing but he "still holds considerable promise" with a good approach at the plate and needs to age and fill out some to gain power. It looks like maybe he's finally done that.
He doesn't play on a great offensive team, he doesn't play in a good ballpark, and right now he doesn't have a premium lineup spot. However he is an intriguing play at SS and even 2B.
Thoughts/comments on Plouffe? Hopes/dreams? Hate? Fear?
This was my writeup in the cheering and venting thread. He would have been considered a potential late bloomer. Raw tools and a little young for his league until the last season or two.
As a Twins fan I comp him to JJ Hardy with a lot worse defense. In the minors he was never awful but he was never really good. He didn't strike out too much but he barely walked and he had good gap power. And now that gap power turned into HR power which isn't unusual as a player hits their mid 20's. But I'm surprised that he's hitting this many HR's. And for the last 2 years he's walking alot. Prior to last season I would have predicted him to be a relatively unimpressive hitter with the following line: .260/.310/.420. That's alright if he sticks at SS (which seems unlikely now) but the BB's and power could up that line considerably if he can sustain it. .270/.340/.450 could happen and that plays at 3B/OF.
The biggest knock on his defense is that his throws are all over the place. He could have been a pitcher throwing in the low 90's but in the field he is all over the place.
I took a flyer on him in my 30-teamer draft as a possible starter (basically anybody starting is worth something in that league). I nabbed him as my MI in another deep league a couple weeks ago, and he certainly hasnt dissappointed. Even before he was starting it seemed every hit he had was a HR.
You never know with guys like this. Sometimes all it takes is an opening and they blossom when they get a chance to start. The other nice thing in deep leagues with tight benches is his position eligibility. Basically he can play anywhere but 1B and C.
I picked him up for my MI spot could not be happier so far. Yeah, the numbers he is going to put up is nothing special. On my team I was looking for anyone better than Sean Rodriguez (TB). MI is so thin is my 10 team league due to the face that we got SS, 2B, MI, UTIL, UTIL,UTIL, UTIL, spots.
So I hopping he is a solid pick up and I would add him if you need help in MI spots
Drafted him in AL only league where we have no pickups and very very unique eligibility rules where only about 10-12 players can play at more than one position as true "utility" guys (basic example - Adrian gonzalez is 1B and will be 1b all year no one adds or changes eligibility, guys who are Dh stay DH only all year and we have no U spot but do have a DH spot so no matter how many times Morneau plays 1B he will be DH all year). He has been a godsend there between his hot streak and that I can pop him into many roster spots (1,2,3,ss,DH).
Dangled him in trade when he first started getting hot looking for OF depth and best offers were things like chone figgins or middle relievers, couldnt even get the few owners who were interested to talk about bench OFs
its been surreal to see him added everywhere now but obviously hes so hot why wouldnt folks.
"I'm the man with the ball. I'm the man who can throw it faster than F***. So that's why I'm better than anyone in the world." - Kenny Powers
Here is a great analysis with breakdowns of his swing mechanics for the last 3 years. They only show one swing from each season but it looks like there has been a considerable change.
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by hot4tx » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:31 am 
