Comments on: First-Round Woes: Tyler Colvin

By: CircleChange11

CircleChange11 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:31:44 +0000

I remember watching Cubs’ 1st round pick (89) Earl Cunningham play in Peoria (90), and this dude was just a strikeout MACHINE! … problem is, he was an outfielder not a pitcher.

Drafted out of HS, 6’3 225 (in the days when 225 was BIG).

107 BB’s v. 789 K’s. Yeah, he’s from the Shawon Dunston School of Hitting, only without the contact. *grin* Cunningham’s career ‘slash stats’ = .224/.283/.397

The guy taken right before him? Frank Thomas, Cunningham’s statistical opposite.

See, I linked [1] Cubs 1st round pick with [2] Lack of plate discipline.

By: RickStevens

RickStevens — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:21:21 +0000

I don’t know what metrics you use, but they are wrong. The Cubs will have anywhere from 4-6 players on the top 100 list this year, with probably 8 in the top 150. They will be right in the middle of the pack, as far as farm systems go. Likely in the 14-18 range.

By: Emel

Emel — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:16:26 +0000

Great idea this, showing maturity in your response. I mean, her, awesome thoughts

By: Walter Guest

Walter Guest — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:08:58 +0000

And then there were Roberto Clemente and Yogi Berra. When you can only name a few good hitters whith semi-poor plate discipline it makes my point. There were/are very few. There are very few who learn it after reaching the majors. I named two.

It’s easy to check a college hitter for plate discipline pre-draft. They keep stats. High school also.

All I’m saying is it would be an interesting research. My intuition tells me to stay away from free swingers because that’s a hard habit to break and the results are lousy.

By: joser

joser — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:45:46 +0000

But how many players stay in baseball while getting worse at O-swing as they age? Vlad’s even more of an outlier than he seems, but you only need one to refute the “doomed” assertion.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:47:15 +0000

Vladimir Guerrero doesn’t just swing at everything. He hits everything.

There are very few guys who swing at everything AND hit everything (Vlad and Kung Fu Panda are the only two of this era who come to mind, and both of those guys actually walk a decent amount).

By: JD

JD — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:45:37 +0000

The strange thing about it is that Hendry has put together a team full of guys (Bradley, Fukudome, Lee, Soto) who are decent at taking a walk. So weird to see what appears to be a different philosophy in the minors.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:43:37 +0000

This isn’t entirely accurate. In the PCL (the league the Iowa Cubs are in), pitchers only hit if both teams playing are affiliated with NL teams AND both managers agree to have pitchers hit.

If the Cubs had wanted him in AAA, they could have had him be the DH there.

By: joser

joser — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:39:50 +0000

A decade ago, before testing, it would be a near certainty. Now? There’s still a chance, but it’ll take a few years and I doubt Cubs fans are that patient.

By: joser

joser — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:38:49 +0000

How would "poor plate discipline in the minors" be "a tipoff before drafting"? They don't get to the minors until after they're drafted. Are you saying that by highschool a player is set as far as offensive approach is concerned and it's already too late to change? I guess MLB needs to start a program to encourage plate discipline in little league (though I saw plenty of plate discipline in the LLWS). (BTW, check out Vlad Guerrero -- his o-swing% was never good, and it's gotten worse over time... and I think you'd agree he's had a decent career.)