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Take out a #2 pencil and a clean sheet of paper, kiddies.  Pop quiz!

Spectator's patented Rick Rolls have served the purpose of:

• Bringing back into fashion an obsolete first name, and thereby gratifying our resident biology editor
• Providing Dr. D a "target-rich" kibitzing environment
• Bringing "the man in the virtual street" up to, um, past Jason Churchill's erudition level
• Underlining the fact that he needs to figure out his PayPal widget, instanter
• None of the above
• All of the above

...

First big game we'll poach, then:  the star of his outfield Rick Roll, that being Jabari Blash.

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The Book

Spectator, of course, has a better handle on Blash (and all farmhands of his ilk) than anybody national does.  That's fair.  John Sickels knows more about 29 farm systems than Jim does, and Jim knows more about 1 than John does.  A lot more.

So ... read Spec's stuff, onsite, first.

..........

Then, surf around nationally and you'll find "the book" on Blash to be that he:

• Has got special power, and surprisingly good patience (distinguishing him from, say, Carlos Peguero)
• In 2013, he was pretty blinkin' old to be having so much trouble with class-A sliders and changeups
• Is still liked, pretty much, by scouts, and he could still become an ML regular
• Popped onto everybody's radar with the late detonation of AA

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Chris Berman Let's!  Go To! the Video! Tape!, Dept.

So, being that Spectator pointed a virtual index finger and said, THIS one ... Dr. D cue'd up the YouTube on him.

Blash's swing is very, VERY cool for a prospect of his type.  Are you tired of bullet points yet?  Blash:

• KBIZLT (the barrel finishes on the plane of the pitch and his hands are inside)
• Is very compact
• Is NOT leveraged -- he uses pure muscle, in Bucky Jacobsen, Mike Napoli style
• Is super sudden, super quick, and super top hand dominant

As you know, Dr. D has a fondness for Bucky Jacobsen types -- players so ape-like strong that they don't have to move anything to get to the ball and hit the ball hard.  Think Vlad Guerrero.  Think Jose Canseco.

Top hand dominance makes me smile.  I love the idea of just swinging a mallet, with your good arm, and blonking the ball over the fence.  I'm much more of a boxer than a golfer.  For those 5% of hitters who don't need leverage, well, they can show you just how simple the game can be.

Top hand dominant.  What does that mean?  In this article, a scout complained that Blash has trouble with sliders and changeups.  That's an odd complaint.  

.....

Bottom Hand Dominance, Top Hand Release -- think ARod, Frank Thomas, etc., the beautiful long arc.  The farther up on the bat that the dominant hand is, the quicker you are to the ball.  Just ask RockiesJeff, we double-dog dare you.  

The ARod swing has the effect of swinging a bat that is 6" longer.  It's harder to get to 98 MPH fastballs by pulling the bat through with your left hand ... but by the same token, the 

Top Hand Dominance, Top Hand Stays On -- this swing gets to, and through, the ball so quickly that the batter can look like he's lunging at sliders and changes.

Many MLB hitters compromise -- they use a top hand start, to get to fastballs, but release the top hand, to keep the bat in the zone against offspeed.  See this Prince Fielder video.  Prince has a top-hand swing, with a top-hand release sort of stapled on at the end.

....

What does this mean for Jabari Blash?  That, in theory, he just has that little Prince Fielder tweak to make --- > and then it's 40 taters in the big leagues.

Well, you know.  Blash's one issue is a fixable issue.  It's the same issue that ML hitters deal with on a game-in, game-out basis, finding that happy little place between top-hand launch and bottom-hand finish.

:: shrug :: I dunno, man.  I just think the kid's approach to hitting is one that could translate berry, berry well to upper levels.

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Dr's Prognosis

As Spectometer pointed out, Jabari Blash went from the LOWER minors to the UPPER minors and ... immediately got way better.  

9 homers and 20 walks, in 29 games, that's pretty crazy, man.  It is the intersection of that AA result, with the technical situation above, that means --- > the Spectometer did us right, once again.

Blash's airship has taken on some serious helium.  Of all the players on Spec's OF Rickroll, you gotta like this kid.

BABVA

Dr. D