Two years ago I thought his upside was as a .250-.310-.460 platoon OF. 20 homers into the RF porch vs. righties. A whiff a minute against lefties.
Then I changed my mind. I decided he had no chance to be a MLB-er at all.
Then, voila, rubber bands or magic dust and there's a new WAY better upside to this guy.
Last night's salami was off a lefty. And he's found left center field vs righties.
I like this guy because he has a fix that he can plug in, at least for a while.
Doc, what I really noticed on the side view of the salami was just how short and compact his "backswing" (were he a golfer) was. Not much wrap, not much "reach" away. He was ahead of that pitch, expecting something hotter, but that shorter move meant he could still get the bat on the ball and ride it. Indeed it was a "fooled me, but I'll just arm swing this thing out of here," Junior type of swat.
He will soon resort to the "hook it around the RF pole" approach of the old Saunders. Flying open and hacking away.
But he's found a way to fix it.
Every good golfer has a bad move that takes over once in a while.
Every very good golfer can implement the fix in relatively short time.
Saunders is moving in that direction. He isn't Rodger Maris, you understand,but he's beginning to establish an approach at the plate and a fix that gives him an upside to believe in.
One game does not a career make. But he's found that left-center field approach AND he can still yank the lefty slurve into the RF porch. He could always ride that hot hook around the pole....and he looked like that was his intent with almost every swing. Now? A (for the present) different man.
Two weeks ago he was again a pull hooker. But he slayed the demon for a bit, and now's he dangerous. It's likely that he may be in and out, up and down (production-wise) this season. Two weeks up and two weeks down. It takes a while to "own" a new move. Maybe a year in the golf game. Saunders may get 60 slashes in BP (I don't know...how many cuts do they get?) and 15 swings in a game. Those 15 swings will be at a mish mash of speeds, movements, zones and counts. That's not a lot of tries to "anchor" in a change. A PGA golfer may hit hundreds of balls in a day, for months, to find the trust in the new feel. This may be why hitting a baseball is (maybe next to being a NFL QB) the hardest thing in sport.
While he's making that change, everything "right" feels "wrong." A night like last night changes the perception of what "right" is supposed to feel like.
Not many guys mid-career make such a huge swing change and survive it. As I think about it, (feel free to debunk this) Saunders is moving from a Ted Williams-type approach where energy is created by the turning/rotation of the hips to a George Brett-type move where he's just trying to shift weight (but stay "centered") toward his front leg, keeping the bat back until the last moment. Isn't that what Lau preached? Saunders probably could survive with a Williams attack while he was growing up and in the minors because pitchers were less capable of exploiting that aggressive move. Probably no one in the history of the game had Williams' pitch recognition ability. His rotational speed, plus eye made him one of the most fearsome weapons ever. Bonds found that later, and he was aided by his 'roided body.
Saunders doesn't have that pitch recognition ability, so the faster he rotates, the more he give an exploitable window. And he had that looooooooooong loopy swing, to go with it.
The more he stays centered, short, and Lau-like, the smaller that window becomes.
The rubberband isn't really magic, it probably just prevents over-rotation. Such tools have been around the golf world for ever. Surely you guys have seen "Tin Cup?"
In the golf world (and I'm sorry I beat the golf analogy, but the moves are similar), Saunders is going from an A. Palmer swing (speed by rotation) to a L. Trevino swing (slide=staying square).
Not many guys make that move and survive at an elite level. In fact, nobody. I can't think of one great golfer who completely changed his swing while at the highest level and stayed there. I can think of lots who tried and lost their feel, trust and game.
Speaking of music(!)
Remember the Spinners?
Hey, y’all prepare yourself
For the Rubberband man
You never heard a sound
Like the rubberband man
You’re bound to lose control
When the Rubberband starts to jam
moe

Saunders "head" issues stem directly from his, as you say, "desire to prove himself." They have seriously short-circuited his MLB production until this year. He has SO much talent, and clearly OODLES of natural power in a sweet-swing sort of way, that you have to wonder: once he feels he HAS proven himself and relaxes a bit, just how high IS his upside? And if he reaches it will it be a slow, steady process, or more like a light switching on where he bursts on the scene in a dramatic way?

It is amazing the power he can generate with that swing.

Using Baseball-Reference.com's Play Index, how many players:
a) Were at least 6'-3"/210 lbs (Saunders is 6'-4"/215) and played outfield (Center Field narrows the pool too much, to 4)
b) ISO'd better than .160
c) Stole more than 15 bases in a season Answer:
19. 19 players have ever done all those things in a season (over 502 PA). Many of them only once, and there are some great names on this list; Kemp, Vlad Guerrero, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker. There are also some flame outs; Alex Rios, Jeff Francoeur.
But how many of them were left handed?
Kirk Gibson, Cliff Floyd, ....Adam Dunn? Dunn stole 19 bases at 22 and is a bigger monster besides, we can go ahead and skip comparing Saunders to him.
I actually really like Gibson as a physical comparison, good walks, a few too many strikeouts, surprising stolen base totals, good but not great home run totals.  Maybe it's aiming a little high, considering he did that in a depressed offense era...oh wait.

pointed to a composure, a maturity that I had not seen previously from Saunders. It was during that interview that I began to wonder if in fact he HAS grown up as a player.
His poor start to the season after a great spring made me suspect that he would always end up the same old Saunders. And I suppose that's still possible. But now I don't think so.

DANGEROUS.
In fact, that may be the best word to capture the essence of Saunders at the plate. Yes, he will have ups and downs. Yes he will strike out a good amount. But he will bring at all times the danger of an explosive event, a game changer, or a "win-the-whole-game-by-himself" game here and there. Two home runs, 5 RBI kind of game.
In that sense the Granderson comp seems spot on.

Since Mike was 6'2, 210. Saunders is just a Mike Cameron who is better suited to Safeco. If Safeco hadn't crushed Cammie's abilities at the plate (.703 OPS in the Safe) Mike could have been my center fielder forever. I still loved him even though he was horribly suited for our home park. His road numbers and defense gave him value.
If Cammy had been a lefty he'd have been a minor deity in Seattle for a decade. Saunders has a shot to play center for us for a long while if he can keep his focus like it is. Guti's a RH with health concerns, who has never shown the power that Saunders has, and Mike can run out there to cover a lot of ground like Guti does.
The Saunders I saw in Spring Training was a great encouragement to me this season, and he's continuing to be that. Lovin' it.
~G

All kinds of ridiculous talent, inconsistent, bigger rangy guy in CF (though not as big and rangy as Saunders). Saunders is our Colby Rasmus. Colby had more power early, but I don't think anybody's saying Saunders doesn't have serious power now that he's grown into his frame as an adult.
But Cammy didn't put it all together till his mid-20s and that's where Saunders is at. It can take a while for those 5-tool players to get the hang of em all. Saunders has 4 tools, not 5, but he was all raw talent and it looks like he's almost a Real Ballplayer (tm) now. He's gotta get a lot of time regardless of when Guti comes back.
If he's hitting like this in June don't even mention Guti's name to me.
~G

When he was first making a splash at AA, "left-handed Cammy" was the first thing that came to mind.  I also dared to think Jim Edmonds and JD Drew (both 6-1), but I don't think I dared to type it.  Or if I did, I don't think I dared to hit "save."