Watching him 5-hop throws from LF to 3B is disconcerting - and eerily reminiscent of Randy Winn - but almost every other aspect of his game is prime. He IS watching, and learning. His Ks are too high, but several of them have been check swings where he knows it's not a strike but figured it out just a TOUCH too late. He's a student of the game, and I love to see that. Somebody teach him how to throw a baseball and we'll be all good.
Swinging that long lever means he needs to start it earlier to get the bat-head around, especially on inside stuff. It's one reason he wears out the fastball on the outer half, IMO - the bat-head is at prime speed out there. He drives the ball the other way exceedingly well. I'm curious to see if he's gonna be a Joe Mauer type with respect to power: far more oppo than pull.
He can turn on an inside FB if he knows it's coming, but so far seems content to take what is given and hammer it around the park. Once opposing pitchers decide to do nothing but hammer him inside I'm interested to see if he can start in with the pull power or if he'll have a Peguero-like deficiency in that area.
But right now, just watching him play, I don't think he has that many holes at the plate. He might be TOO patient, as you said, but that's almost self-correcting, and nothing at the big-league level seems too much for him.
Would I take 550 at-bats from Trayvon with 170 Ks, 60 walks, 35 2B and 15 HRs? Yes, yes I would. Could he do that?
It looks like it so far. He really is a fascinating kid. And that would be a B.J. Upton line, btw, though I'd expect a bit higher BA since BJ is right-handed and Trayvon will be taking 70% of his ABs from the left side.
Would I take minimum-wage BJ Upton to assuage the pain of Franklin Gutierrez's mystery condition? I would indeed, especially as Guti's career line is 120 K / 40 walks, .255/.310/.385 with 26 2Bs and 13 HRs.
For me, Trayvon is making a very interesting push to play CF in 2012.
~G
Add new comment
1