Q.  Can a player stay in the big leagues if he has no ISO?  If he only hits singles and doesn't scare the pitcher?

A.  He can, yes.  Let's get these two ideas straight, pardner.

TRUE:  a hitter of ordinary talent / mortal stature can NOT become a star with a low ISO.  They'll refuse to walk him.

FALSE:  a hitter of ordinary talent / mortal stature can NOT stay in the bigs with a low ISO and a 100 OPS+.

Dr. D pointed out the TRUE version of this idea back when the Mariners traded John Jaso's .394 OBP to the Oakland A's for Mike Morse.  The idea had traction with the Think Tank, ex-specially when Jaso tanked the very next season.

The Morse/Jaso trade met a grisly death on the interwebs.  Lead authors took it as entirely realistic that --- > Jack Zduriencik had not even NOTICED Jaso's .400 OBP, that Jack had not NOTICED that Jaso's WAR projected to 4.0 in fulltime play, and that Jack was interested in Morse's HR and RBI only.  The hooting and jeering was incessant ... all the way through April of the next year, at which time Jaso was benched never to see the sunlight again.

Tomorrow's News Today, babe.  And yer about to get some more.  So sit up.

....

So!  The point was always that Jaso could never, in a jillion years, sustain a .400 OBP in fulltime exposure.  The point was NOT that a scrappy-tough, "elite" #2 hitter (Nori Aoki) might not sustain a .350 OBP.  Four hundred is different than three fifty.  We are choosing up podiums (podia?) on an entirely different debate prop here.

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Q.  Like who can get on base without power.

A.  Royals-style, scrappy "contact" #2 hitters who CAN sustain a .350, .360 OBP:  Nori Aoki, Dexter Fowler, Daniel Nava, Dustin Pedroia, John Jay, Adam Eaton, Jose Altuve, Denard Span, Yunel Escobar, Howie Kendrick, Dee Gordon, and (I guess) all the Royals.

You'll notice that these guys are all VERY GOOD at what they do.  Nori Aoki sustains a good steady 50:50 strikeouts and walks rate, with absolutely zero power; he's super special with balls and strikes.  Endy Chavez wasn't.

These players are real good with the strike zone, and real good at bisecting a mosquito with a katana.  It happens.  Steve Clevenger may be one of these players.

Remember, being VERY GOOD at contact, and the strike zone, doesn't make you Miguel Cabrera.  It makes you a 100 OPS+ hitter, and it makes you special within your template.

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Q.  Say WHAT about Clevinger?!

A.  Dr. D was all set to write up Clevinger as a 2-month "bridge" player to Mike Zunino, but just before he did, he stopped by the video room.  Here, start with this triple:

• Quiet body and head
• Laughably simple (repeatable) (and quick!) mechanics
• KBIZLT swing plane
• Sudden launch
• Above average throughspeed (my jaw dropped wider 'n yours)
• Easily gets on top of a very high fastball
• Weight and wait - takes pitch down the line the other way
• etc

I thought, wow, this was his lucky day.  Nada.  Try a second vid, a pulled RBI to the power sector with topspin.  Guy looks pretty sweet, doesn't he :- )

Third video rat cheer.  Notice the "weight and wait" effect on a 91 fastball.  Notice the relaxed hands at perfect height and separation.  Look how blinkin' FAST those hands are.  Yes, Edgar's chair just toppled over backwards as he swooned in sheer euphoria.

Clevinger has a weirdly level swing when he goes the other way; it looks almost like a downswing, compared to other hitters'.  His simple mechanics make him quick - quick, as Teddy Ballgame would say.  And: Clevinger's launch velocity is ABOVE average, though his ISO be paltry.  That's the weird launch angle talking.

Watching the videos you'd think this guy was a star.  Yes, we are adjusting for the fact that highlights are highlights.

Do yourself a fave and dial up Clevinger's video page at MLB.com.  They all look like that.  It was these vids, not Clevinger's stats, that had Jerry DiPoto accepting Clevinger as "top bid" for a free Mark Trumbo.  I flat enjoy watching this man swing a baseball bat.  Glad we'll be doing more of it, watching him swing, that is.  

Chris Iannetta may not be.

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Q.  Didn't Bat571 call Clevenger too?!  Like he did the Ozuna/Elias talks?

A.  It's starting to get eerie.  You'll have to ask Bat what tipped him off.  (The Marlins and Mariners seem at a predictable stage, in which the Marlins attempt to "stare down" the M's and just make sure Taijuan is really off the table.  The game-in-game gets tiresome after 35 years.)

By the way, he batted .287/.314/.416 last year.  Clevinger, not Bat571.  That's about what he looks like he's going to do. The Orioles fans bought into Clevinger's performance pretty hard, which is kind of like them Googling over here and seeing that we liked Ketel Marte's short line in 2015.  Clevinger could have upside.

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Q.  What about "he's age 30 and hasn't proved he can hold a job"?

A.  What's the Don Henley line... Freedom?  Oh-oh freedom ... well that's just some people talkin'.  LOTS of good ML players never got a chance to play in the majors, ever.  Clevinger got lucky compared to some guys who were better than him.

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Q.  So, a big add for DiPoto?

A.  So, nice backup catcher.  I'll give you Leonydas for him?

Leaving us with:

HI - Clevinger turns out to be John Jaso Singles, hitting .300ish in 200-300 AB's for a few years.  Nothing to phone home about, E.T., but certainly the DiPoto-ish tough AB that he craves so much.

HI PART B - Iannetta fails and Clevinger even starts for a year.

MID - Clevinger plays decently well until Zunino is ready at your leisure.

LO - Clevinger washes out, and you revert to your 3-to-make-1 scenario at catcher.

Enjoy,

Dr D

image:  Keith Allison, flickr