Tuesday, July 24, 2012
VIDEO: On Desmond, Zim, Werth
What's the impact of Ian Desmond's injury on the Nationals' lineup? How much longer can Ryan Zimmerman go before needing another cortisone shot? What's Jayson Werth's timeline to return from a broken wrist? Mark Zuckerman addressed all these topics last night on SportsNet Central.
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31 comments:
Zim has got to stay healthy. With all the talk about Desi's importance, Zim is still the heart of this team. As long as he can swing with ease and without pain, the Nats will score runs.
Look at all the HRs and RBIs he has accumulated in just one month. When Zim is healthy, he is not just a good player, he is one of the best in all of baseball, and he is proving it.
Danny and Roger will have to pick up the slack from Ian, and so far they seem to be doing that.
Zim is the heart of the offense. With Zim's offense raking Morse's has steadily picked up and he is about to break out. I expect both Morse and Harper to break out and start really raking anytime now.
Bill Ladson of MLB.com writes that Stephen Strasburg could pitch up to 180 innings this season.
Interesting...
Hey, guys - watch the bullpen fan cave video and see if you see what I saw - our lefty Sean Burnett appears to be doing everything else with his right hand?
Tcostant, I think what works most against going additional innings is Jordan's success this year. Hard to argue that his limit last year hasn't worked perfectly. Would he be the same of better if he threw 180 last year? Only someone smarter then me knows that.
I said "interesting" because I find it surprising. I tend to agree with you too.
Off topic, but Rendon hit another HR today.
"Off topic, but Rendon hit another HR today."
Talk about fast-tracking a guy, they already have him slated to move to high A Potomac from the GCL. Would not be a bit surprised to see him in the bigs by the middle of next year, if he stays healthy. The kid is actually a better hitter than Harp, and reportedly has a great glove, too.
Laddie Blah Blah:
Rendon started the season in Potomac, he was essentially rehabbing in the GCL. So it's not really fast-tracking, they're just getting him back where he belongs.
I don't think you can declare him a better hitter than Harper when he's played two games at High A. I've never heard any expert say that. Betting hit tool for average, maybe, but not by so much as to overtake Harper's ridiculous power potential.
baseballswami, Burnett might have been raised by old-fashioned parents. My mom is left-handed, but was raised (i.e. forced) to do most things right-handed and still does.
Or he could be naturally amphibious, like me. :-)
bowdenball
I know he started at Potomac. That is fast-tracking him right out of the gate, to begin with. Most players start out at low A Hagerstown, even Bryce last year. If they don't think Rendon is a better hitter than Bryce, why did they slot Rendon at high A and Bryce at low A? Huh?
Power hitting is certainly part of overall hitting ability, and both of them have that. Bryce certainly has more power potential, but that is not the be-all and end-all of hitting. Would you call Adam Dunn a better hitter than Mike Trout, just because he has more power?
Rendon does not strike out, and he draws walks like a sponge draws water. His OBP is off the charts. He had 4 plate appearances today, made one out, hit his homer, and drew 2 walks. Yesterday, in 2 plate appearances, he had a homer and drew a walk. Getting on base via a free pass is as good as it gets, because it demoralizes the opposition, and no one is better at that than Rendon. That is part of hitting, too.
Rendon is a better hitter than Harp. The numbers don't lie.
"I've never heard any expert say that."
Experts! Experts! You want experts? Check out the experts who managed MF Global Capital. You can keep the experts. I think for myself.
"Or he could be naturally amphibious, like me. :-)"
Are you, could you, possibly be Charles Shackleford - "Right hand, left hand, it makes no difference. I am amphibious."
If they don't think Rendon is a better hitter than Bryce, why did they slot Rendon at high A and Bryce at low A? Huh?
Rendon was drafted out of college. Harper was drafted at 17 years old, not even out of high school. That's why.
WaPo reports the Nats are in the market for a middle infielder to fill in behind Desi's injury, e.g. Marco Scutaro, Jamie Carroll, et. al. They reportedly would consider a AAA guy as well as a current MLer. Figured Rizzo would be doing this ever since Desi went down.
"Rendon was drafted out of college. Harper was drafted at 17 years old, not even out of high school. That's why."
No wonder Rendon is a better hitter.
Nah, I just like to quote Yogi Berra. :-)
Laddie Blah Blah said...
"Or he could be naturally amphibious, like me. :-)"
Are you, could you, possibly be Charles Shackleford - "Right hand, left hand, it makes no difference. I am amphibious."
July 24, 2012 4:00 PM
Rendon is a better hitter than Harp. The numbers don't lie.
Well, would a better comparison be, say, Rendon (age 22) this year to when Harper is 22 (three years from now)?
Jamey's in the first year of a two-year contract with the Twinkies, right?
WaPo reports the Nats are in the market for a middle infielder to fill in behind Desi's injury, e.g. Marco Scutaro, Jamie Carroll, et. al. They reportedly would consider a AAA guy as well as a current MLer. Figured Rizzo would be doing this ever since Desi went down.
"Well, would a better comparison be, say, Rendon (age 22) this year to when Harper is 22 (three years from now)?"
Sure, and you could extend that for each year of their entire careers. Harp will have more HRs, but Rendon will have a higher BA and OBP. SLG would be interesting, as both men can hit XBH, and Rendon would start from a higher BA than Harp. Rendon will put more BIP, and Harp will have more Ks.
Rendon has the potential to be a league batting champ, and Harp the league HR champ. The batting champ is generally considered by all to be the best hitter in the league.
Rendon is a better hitter than Harp, using that yardstick. You don't have to accept that, of course, but that is how the two skills are generally regarded, even by the "experts".
And Wonk
No wimping out with the excuse that Rendon's numbers this year will be MiL numbers. You want to make the comparison, then let's make it. Rendon is not only beating Harp's numbers in the majors, he is already beating the numbers Harp put up in the minors. And his SLG is already higher than Harp's, at either level of play. OBP? You want to go there?
Rendon is a better hitter than Harp. The numbers don't lie.
Desmond not in the lineup won't hurt the Nats. Werth in the lineup, will. The way Zimm is playing, I'd give him a shot every day!!!
And Wonk
No wimping out with the excuse that Rendon's numbers this year are MiL numbers. His BA, OBP, and SLG numbers are all better than Harp's at either level. You want to make the comparison, then let's make it. Too bad it's already July, so we won't have a full year's comparison for HRs.
Rendon is a better hitter than Harp. The numbers don't lie.
Laddie, I'm not sure you get fully what I'm saying. Baseball history shows, time and time again, that decent hitters at 19 become superstars by 20 or 21.
E.g., Al Kaline at 19 -- full season, BA .276 with 4 HR. At age 20 he lead the league in hitting at .340 with 27 HR.
Mickey Mantle at 19 -- 100 games, BA .267. He was .311 at age 20, and led the league in hitting a few years later.
ARod -- .232 at age 19, led the league in hitting (.358!) the next year.
Ken Griffey -- .264 at age 19, followed by five straight years of .300-to-.323
Mike Trout -- .220 at age 19 (last year). This year he leads the AL in both HR and BA.
I didn't cherry pick these guys (they were the only ones I could think of off the top of my head who were playing at that age -- besides Mel Ott, who was already in his _third_ year at age 19, so I didn'tlook him up). Go ahead -- find _anybody_ at age 19 and compare them to their stats at 20.
Sure. It doesn't _seem_ like Harper could ever lead the league in hitting. That's what anybody would have thought about Trout last year, too. Right?
Until you take his age into account.
So, my point: you can't compare Rendon to Harper yet. Let's talk in Sept of 2013 and see.
I'm not saying Harper _will_ hit higher than Renden. I _am_ saying that only a fortune teller would know at this point.
My point is that we won't have any idea of where his ceiling is until after _next year_.
That's not to denigrate Rendon at all. Maybe they will both fight it out for the batting title?
But, when you say "the numbers don't lie", my response is: "right, look at the numbers of other 19 year olds and what happens to them when they are 20".
Those numbers don't lie! ;-)
"Or he could be naturally amphibious, like me. :-)"
You pitch AND catch??
C'mon rabbit, there's no way Desmond not being in the lineup won't hurt the Nats. He's wasn't having the July that Zim is having when he went down, but he has been the best SS in the NL in 2012 and he was starting his second half with all-star quality numbers. Zim's July has been .400 .464 .853 with 9 HR. Desmond's abbreviated July: .356 .431 .644, with 4 HR. No matter how much slack Espinosa and Morse (for example) pick up while he's out, the "what if" that we need to keep in mind is "what if . . . the Nats had Desmond's production along with Espinosa's improvement and Morse getting back to form?
"No wimping out with the excuse that Rendon's numbers this year are MiL numbers."
I like Rendon, too, but I don't think you can make much of a comparison until both are facing MLB pitching. The fact that Harper's MLB numbers have been better than his MiLB numbers makes the comparison even more difficult. Because he's older, we might think that Rendon should be further in his development than Harper and maybe that would have been true if Rendon hadn't had the injury and Harper had stayed at Syracuse until the all-star break. But Harper's development seems to have accelerated since his call up and Rendon hasn't had the chance to do the same thing. I'm sure the Nats are hoping that Rendon is better than Harper. That will give them the high-class problem of having to find a place to put him.
LOL!
'Chili Mo' -- Section 3, My Sofa said...
"Or he could be naturally amphibious, like me. :-)"
You pitch AND catch??
July 24, 2012 5:30 PM
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