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2017 Series #38 | Red Sox @ Indians | Aug 21st, 22nd, 23rd, & 24th

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Yandy had some 1994/1995 young Manny Ramirez-like opposite field swings tonight...
 
BimboColesHair said:
Yandy's not a AAA player in my view...just nowhere for him on the roster when we are fully healthy right now.

But the guy is way too good of a hitter to be classified as a AAA hitter. And time will show that.

You know, kind of like when Jose first came up...
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You see him ending up as a similar hitter to Jose (~.300ish) or he's a talented player that shouldn't be judged off unimpressive numbers in his first, brief MLB stint like Jose?

Essentially what do you expect from him as an MLB hitter? And do you see his future at 3B, corner OF, or even 2B (not sure if he has ever played there?)
 
Urban said:
You see him ending up as a similar hitter to Jose (~.300ish) or he's a talented player that shouldn't be judged off unimpressive numbers in his first, brief MLB stint like Jose?

Essentially what do you expect from him as an MLB hitter? And do you see his future at 3B, corner OF, or even 2B (not sure if he has ever played there?)
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Both.

Minor league stats, while not the be-all end-all, can tell you things about what to expect from a hitter, especially certain stats. What you see if you get a chance to watch them in the minors can fill in the gaps a bit, but some traits you can tell by stats tend to show what kind of hitter a young guy will be in ample time in the MLB.

Jose played 231 minor league games before being called up to the majors. Had ~950 minor league ABs. In those 231 games and ~950 ABs, he showed 3 clear, workable traits that translate to the MLB as hitter. High contact rate that led to high batting averages, low K rates, and pretty decent stolen base figures.

Who knew that giving the guy more time than 140 games (many of which were late inning appearances as a defensive replacement or pinch runner) and around 400 ABs at the MLB level would show more of what he really was as a hitter, especially when you consider the circumstances of his 1st call up to the MLB (straight from AA at 21, not a single AAA plate appearance)...and lo and behold, when Jose turned the corner last year, and even in the 2nd half of 2015, what were the first traits to show up? High contact rate leading to a high batting average, and low K rates.

Same with Yandy. He has similar workable traits. Talking about a hitter who has walked more than he has struck out in 2 of his last 3 seasons in the minors, which is unheard of in 2017. A career .400+ on-base percentage in the minors, and on-base skills are usually the ones that translate the majority of the time. And like Ramirez was, he is a lifetime .300+ hitter in the minors, just he does it more by consistently making good contact, and wearing a pitcher down by working counts.

He had 70 ABs in the MLB before yesterdays game...70. I'm over here talking about how around 400 ABs wasn't even close to showing who Ramirez really was as a hitter, but we had people giving up on Diaz after 70. Why I am saying both.

Ramirez was a career .304/.355/.411 hitter in the minors.
His last 2 seasons in the MLB so far, since he broke out? .305/.358/.487

Those first 2 figures look awfully similar...

Diaz is a career .315/.414/.420 hitter in the minors.
No chance in hell he is the .186/.256/.200 hitter that he was before yesterday.

As for position. If he stays in our organization, I'd expect the same thing we saw with Jose last year. Playing multiple positions until he either takes one of them because he is producing too much, or out of necessity because of injury. That will most likely be 3B or a corner spot in the OF.
 
BimboColesHair said:
Both.

Minor league stats, while not the be-all end-all, can tell you things about what to expect from a hitter, especially certain stats. What you see if you get a chance to watch them in the minors can fill in the gaps a bit, but some traits you can tell by stats tend to show what kind of hitter a young guy will be in ample time in the MLB.

Jose played 231 minor league games before being called up to the majors. Had ~950 minor league ABs. In those 231 games and ~950 ABs, he showed 3 clear, workable traits that translate to the MLB as hitter. High contact rate that led to high batting averages, low K rates, and pretty decent stolen base figures.

Who knew that giving the guy more time than 140 games (many of which were late inning appearances as a defensive replacement or pinch runner) and around 400 ABs at the MLB level would show more of what he really was as a hitter, especially when you consider the circumstances of his 1st call up to the MLB (straight from AA at 21, not a single AAA plate appearance)...and lo and behold, when Jose turned the corner last year, and even in the 2nd half of 2015, what were the first traits to show up? High contact rate leading to a high batting average, and low K rates.

Same with Yandy. He has similar workable traits. Talking about a hitter who has walked more than he has struck out in 2 of his last 3 seasons in the minors, which is unheard of in 2017. A career .400+ on-base percentage in the minors, and on-base skills are usually the ones that translate the majority of the time. And like Ramirez was, he is a lifetime .300+ hitter in the minors, just he does it more by consistently making good contact, and wearing a pitcher down by working counts.

He had 70 ABs in the MLB before yesterdays game...70. I'm over here talking about how around 400 ABs wasn't even close to showing who Ramirez really was as a hitter, but we had people giving up on Diaz after 70. Why I am saying both.

Ramirez was a career .304/.355/.411 hitter in the minors.
His last 2 seasons in the MLB so far, since he broke out? .305/.358/.487

Those first 2 figures look awfully similar...

Diaz is a career .315/.414/.420 hitter in the minors.
No chance in hell he is the .186/.256/.200 hitter that he was before yesterday.

As for position. If he stays in our organization, I'd expect the same thing we saw with Jose last year. Playing multiple positions until he either takes one of them because he is producing too much, or out of necessity because of injury. That will most likely be 3B or a corner spot in the OF.
Click to expand...

What are some of the statistics that should be seen as red flags for minor leaguers? Moreso ones that are "not so obvious" (like say high K rate with low contact) Was there anything in someone like Matt LaPorta's box score that would predict him struggling in the majors?
 
Urban said:
What are some of the statistics that should be seen as red flags for minor leaguers? Moreso ones that are "not so obvious" (like say high K rate with low contact) Was there anything in someone like Matt LaPorta's box score that would predict him struggling in the majors?
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Funny you mention LaPorta...I was just looking at his stats after writing that about Yandy.

One thing that actually translated for him was his on-base skills, as in creating ways to get on base by other means than getting a hit.

OBP was almost 70 points higher than his career BA.

But anyways, LaPorta is a weird case. His issues and why he failed weren't really box score numbers.

For one, he had hip injuries which plagued him a bit, sapped him of some skills, and forced him to have surgery twice. That sure didn't help much. He also admitted to not being the healthiest of people as a professional after he retired.

Last was that he was pretty Charmin soft mentally.

Called up and sent down numerous times. Surgeries and failures at the MLB level chipped away at him. He eventually began to pout and spout off about fans complaining about him. He just wasn't cut out for MLB life.

But don't get me wrong, there are AAAA guys who you just can't peg as busts by looking at their numbers alone. Again, that's where watching them actually play comes in.

And I've watched Yandy play for a few years now. There's a reason I am on record in one of the older minor league threads saying Yandy is the best pure hitter in our entire organization, MLB roster included...and that wasn't from me looking at stats.
 
Does a guy like LaPorta even get to say he "retired?" What a trash player. If we hadn't gotten Brantley that trade would have been awful.
 
Can we get a write up on what derailed Andy Marte now?
 
I forgot Marte died. Yeesh. That's a mood killer.
 
BimboColesHair said:
Funny you mention LaPorta...I was just looking at his stats after writing that about Yandy.

One thing that actually translated for him was his on-base skills, as in creating ways to get on base by other means than getting a hit.

OBP was almost 70 points higher than his career BA.

But anyways, LaPorta is a weird case. His issues and why he failed weren't really box score numbers.

For one, he had hip injuries which plagued him a bit, sapped him of some skills, and forced him to have surgery twice. That sure didn't help much. He also admitted to not being the healthiest of people as a professional after he retired.

Last was that he was pretty Charmin soft mentally.

Called up and sent down numerous times. Surgeries and failures at the MLB level chipped away at him. He eventually began to pout and spout off about fans complaining about him. He just wasn't cut out for MLB life.

But don't get me wrong, there are AAAA guys who you just can't peg as busts by looking at their numbers alone. Again, that's where watching them actually play comes in.

And I've watched Yandy play for a few years now. There's a reason I am on record in one of the older minor league threads saying Yandy is the best pure hitter in our entire organization, MLB roster included...and that wasn't from me looking at stats.
Click to expand...

Living in Florida for as long as I have, the rumors down here are that LaPorta, a former Gator, was juicing as early as his UF days.
 
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