Comments on: Wither LaRoche http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/wither-laroche/ Daily fantasy baseball analysis and strategy Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:59:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David Golebiewski http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/wither-laroche/#comment-292 David Golebiewski Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:55:27 +0000 http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/?p=39#comment-292 Ryan, All indications are that LaRoche will be Pittsburgh's starting third baseman in 2009. While Alvarez is undoubtedly a wonderful prospect, he has yet to play a professional game in the Pirates' system. And while Walker has made strides defensively since converting from catcher, he posted a .283 OBP and a 5.4 BB% at AAA Indianapolis this past season- he has serious work to do regarding his plate discipline. I think the Pirates hold LaRoche in pretty high regard- he was, after all, the principle player acquired in return for shipping Jason Bay out of town. He has a long history of controlling the strike zone and displaying decent power. I really do think that he could eventually post a .360-.370 OBP with a slugging percentage a little north of .450. That's not star-caliber, but it's very useful, particularly considering his minimal service time. I think that Pittsburgh's front office won't overreact to a small sample size at the end of 2008- ignoring years worth of performance and letting a small cluster of at-bats color one's perception of a player is always a bad idea. Ryan,

All indications are that LaRoche will be Pittsburgh’s starting third baseman in 2009. While Alvarez is undoubtedly a wonderful prospect, he has yet to play a professional game in the Pirates’ system. And while Walker has made strides defensively since converting from catcher, he posted a .283 OBP and a 5.4 BB% at AAA Indianapolis this past season- he has serious work to do regarding his plate discipline.

I think the Pirates hold LaRoche in pretty high regard- he was, after all, the principle player acquired in return for shipping Jason Bay out of town. He has a long history of controlling the strike zone and displaying decent power. I really do think that he could eventually post a .360-.370 OBP with a slugging percentage a little north of .450. That’s not star-caliber, but it’s very useful, particularly considering his minimal service time.

I think that Pittsburgh’s front office won’t overreact to a small sample size at the end of 2008- ignoring years worth of performance and letting a small cluster of at-bats color one’s perception of a player is always a bad idea.

]]> By: Ryan S http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/wither-laroche/#comment-288 Ryan S Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:46:08 +0000 http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/?p=39#comment-288 That's all well and good, but with Neil Walker and now Pedro Alvarez on his heels in the Pirates farm system, it's hard to imagine he's going to get a shot to prove anyone wrong. That's even assuming he 'see's the light' and as you said 'does what got him here in the first place'. The best one can hope for is a trade to a team with no organizational depth at third base or a move to second. That’s all well and good, but with Neil Walker and now Pedro Alvarez on his heels in the Pirates farm system, it’s hard to imagine he’s going to get a shot to prove anyone wrong. That’s even assuming he ‘see’s the light’ and as you said ‘does what got him here in the first place’. The best one can hope for is a trade to a team with no organizational depth at third base or a move to second.

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