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As TJM notes, it's not a long-term problem -- we assume -- because we have 5 years of Robinson Cano, 2B and that is AFTER this year.  Unless Jerry decides he likes his "sleek" team and comes up with something really blockbusterish .... naaaahhhh ...

Mo' Dawg sez:

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BTW, if you are not concerned about Heredia’s bat, you should consider it.  I suppose he has to hit LHP at some point (.553 this season) but he may continue to crash vs. RHP (.702 and sliding).  

He’s settled right in to his normal 84-ish OPS+ which wouldn’t be too bad if his CF glove was plus.  It hadn’t been this season.  -0.4 dWAR and he’s running an UZR/150 of about -12, right where he was last season.

He does hardly ever swing at balls outside the zone, however.  All in all, I remain not quite impressed.

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It *is* odd that his D hasn't produced big numbers in Safeco.  Randy Winn produced a UZR of +8.6 in center and Safeco and after that I figured Safeco's conditions could make just about anybody a CF here.  Of course Heredia's stats could still just be a short-term fluke ....

.....

Sherminator had something really fascinating to throw into the pot:

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From the very beginning of this season, I've thought there's something wrong with Guillermo's swing path. It looks to me like he is swinging in a bizarre uppercut, aimed straight at the right-center gap. He appears to be attempting to both hit the ball in the air, and maintain a constant inside-out swing.

Both laudable goals in the abstract, but he looks like he's taken them way, way too far. The swing is so slashy/loopey that he can't really adapt it part way through, one of the hallmarks of good opposite field hitters. It also appears to be the exact opposite of a level, KBIZLT swing. Instead he whips the bat through at a sharp angle, not only upward, but circular. The bat looks like it enters the zone tilted maybe twenty degrees behind the plate, and then he tries to whip it around to compensate.

As a result he can cover elevated pitches away, where his swing plane actually lines up okay, and elevated pitches inside, provided he gets the bat-head a mile out in front and keeps it fair. His heat maps bear this out: he's hitting high-away pitches and jam pitches. What he isn't hitting is anything low in the zone, or in the middle(!) of the plate.

I held my silence at the beginning of the year, because he wasn't playing at all, and then later when he went on a tear. While he was hot, I wondered whether he was just two steps ahead of me, and maybe there was some genius to his swing that made it work. Now I've pretty much written him off. I hope you like occasional ropes down the foul lines and a million routine flies to right, because I dunno how he can do anything else without drastically overhauling his swing.

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Then I watched that last night and ... slap me silly if I didn't agree entirely.  His swing looks like a gyro tilted way off the usual center axis for a hitter, and I like the characterization of "inside out" and "to drive the ball in the air to RCF."

Hitting the inside of the ball ---- > that's what you do to fight off jam pitches, getting on top of the hands-in pitch .... BUT if your bat is rising through the zone how do you get on top of that pitch?  You don't ...

And, as Moe sez, he swings out of his shoes every pitch, often staggering around after a miss ... just a guy who isn't interested in any of Edgar's advice, it looks like. 

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Leaving us where?  

1.  Heredia in CF   Well, his UZR's are mild .... -4.8 last year, -1.8 runs this year, and it could very well be that the Mariners have him as soundly positive.  John Dewan has him at -9 plays in CF this year.

81 as an OPS+ isn't a sucking chest wound.  ... :- ) It is odd to see a player with no OTHER offensive contribution, contribute in the BB/K column.  You see many players like that?!  

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2.  Maniger in CF    Mitch Haniger, Dewan has as +7 plays his last year in Arizona, =0 in Seattle last year in short time, -8 this year in 50 innings.  There's nothing wrong in theory with a bat-first player at a glove spot.  I'm not super sure Haniger canNOT play center for the M's, esp. short stint.

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3.  Braden Bishop or a Minor Leaguer or Ichiro ;- )   What a great chance for one of those pups...

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4.  Denard Span is a non-starter I guess, having serious negative numbers in his last job there, about 2016-17 for the Giants.

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5.  Dipoto Trade 

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As you can tell Dr. D is a little bleary-eyed typing this afternoon, but it's not hard to sum up:  Heredia is providing a frustratingly okay performance in CF for the short-term, and should be giving lots more.  Long term, it's this winter where we'll see whether Dipoto has in mind to go "sleek" or to go Robbie.

Enjoy,

Dr D