POTD Alex Liddi (bat)
Q. Why do you say Casper Wells at the plate?
A. Only because everything's the same.
Similar size, similar body type, same natural power where if either man connects with a pitch (THWOCKKK) the ball travels a considerable distance over the fence.
Similar flat-arc'ing RH swing shapes. Similar desire to pull everything over the LF fence. Similar compact paths to the ball -- both men prefer to let their muscles, not their backswings, do the talking.
Similar K/BB ratios at the same age ....
Liddi has been running 50:150 ratios while maintaining a blue-chipper's age-arc (20 = A, 21 = AA, 22 = AAA).
Wells, on the other hand, ran exactly that 1:3 ratio, with the 1 strikeout per game volume, at age 22 ... but while in class A baseball rather than AAA. Wells' ratios were a bit better in the upper minors, but that's because he was a couple of years behind where Liddi is.
They're just cut from the same cloth. Big RH hitters, short to the ball, oodles of natural power, and they'll try to learn to match their attributes and come up with an ML game out of those attributes.
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Q. What does Liddi need to work on, specifically?
A. The Twinkies were pitching him away, away, away, trying to exploit that pull orientation...
Wells, before he got his face crushed by a fastball three weeks ago, tended to let the outside FB go or else "gather it in" by leaning out and pulling it for a homer anyway.
Jay Buhner developed the ability to check his swing on a slider low-away, and to guess "away" and hit homers over the RF fence...
Liddi did exactly this tonight, get fooled away but his hands bailed him out even as his backside flew out into the 3B stands. He skied it to RF...
Liddi will go to winter ball, we understand, and like Wells he'll need to get comfortable dealing with outside stuff.
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Q. How is he on the curve?
A. Pitchers won't want to throw him many, or if they do, they'll want to miss down. Both of Liddi's moon shots were off curve balls.
You throw Wells, Liddi, or Buhner a curve ball, and you'd better not miss even THIS much. If the ball catches the sweet spot of the bat, it's four bases, because these guys never let you get away with a warning-track shot. It's a Nelson Cruz problem.
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Mike Blowers was raving about Liddi's second home run because "it was a 3-2 pitch and Liddi was ready for the breaking pitch. That's what you see from a veteran."
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Q. What's the overall age-arc on him?
A. Hey, blue chip is to hit cleanup in A+ at age 20, and keep moving one league per year. ...... and what, exactly, has Liddi done?
We're not saying that Liddi's a foregone conclusion, no way no how. But hey: you do not have to be blue-chip to be a quality major leaguer, either. Liddi is ahead of where he needs to be.
He's not my kinda player, really. Pull RH hitters with dubious EYEs don't float my boat, in general terms.
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Q. ML prototype?
A. Actually, hitting lines like Adrian Beltre's don't look too unlikely to me... see Malcontent's remarks below. Tough to ask anybody to play defense like that, of course.
Guys like Jose Valentin and Tony Batista used to hit .250 with 25-30 homers. It would be interesting if Liddi, an Italian, had a statline that was stereotypically Latin. The two languages are more alike than different.
All sorts of LO, MID and HI scenarios for Liddi at this point, including not making it...
Edit to add, if you're seeking precision then maybe the upside is Dean Palmer. Same 60:160 EYE, same 250/325/375 slash line, 30 doubles and 30 homers.
Or Jose Valentin fanned 120-140 times per year, with 30 doubles and 25 homers.
Not saying that Liddi is a best bet, but the mainframe grades him wayyy up based on a real-live centerfield camera viewing. Casper Wells at 3B, even a Casper Wells wannabe at 3B, that's an exciting player.
Tuesday, they had Liddi 3B, Seager SS, Carp LF, Trayvon CF... Milton Bradley seems about five years ago, don' he?