Angels announcers last night (paraphrased):
Announcer 1: I don't understand why he doesn't get more changeups and curves thrown at him. the way he's always early on his front-side...he can keep his hands back long enough to hit fastballs but offspeed stuff should be really hard for him.
Announcer 2: Well we did see him hit some stuff hard into LF by keeping his hands back long enough...
Announcer 1: Sure, maybe on fastballs, but it takes a really special hitter to be that far into your swing before the ball reaches the plate and hit off-speed stuff.
Announcer 2: Sure, but that's just adjustments. This kid's gonna hit.
Announcer 1: Oh yeah, no doubt.
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But we see him more than they do and he DOES keep his hands all the way back on changeups or breakers. His hand control is phenomenal with a swing like that. Only freaks can swing like that for a .300+ average and power - and Dustin is most certainly a freak.
Aside - can I just say how demoralizing and irritating it is to listen to the Angels' announcers feeling sorry for us and our lack of offense? They were practically beaming that the little kids up the street drafted and traded for some hitters that might eventually make them competitive enough to take note of.
Grrr. Come back around soon, Smoak. Be the real deal, Carp - and man is he looking good at the plate, composed and focused.
But I think Ackley doubters just see his frame and that "long" swing and figure he can't possibly hit like this. Of COURSE he's gonna hit like this. Everybody talked about how he was likely to win a batting title, but guys who get tagged as likely to win batting titles should perform more like Ichiro power-wise and less like Edgar, apparently.
I've been calling him John Olerud with wheels since his junior year - and what wheels they are. He's a born base-runner in addition to all his other skills.
Other guys use Don Mattingly (or Brian Giles, which I love as a comp Sandy if Giles wasn't roiding). George Brett is good...but I think he's gonna walk more than Brett.
But how much more? Giles walked more, Brett walked less, both had basically the same OPS+ and statline.
I'd be awfully impressed if he IS around George Brett (.300/.370/.490), Brian Giles (.290/.400/.500), or Will Clark (.300/.380/.500), who also stepped on to the scene like a man and never let up (Y=5). Will Clark at 2B would be one of the five best 2B of all time.
The list of 2B who put up an OPS+ of 130 or greater:
- Rogers Hornsby (1915-1937)
- Eddie Collins (1906-1930)
- Nap Lajoie (1896-1916)
- Joe Morgan (1963-1984)
- Jackie Robinson (1947-1956)
I think that's it. Charlie Gehringer (the Mechanical Man, 1924-42) would be the old-timer I'd love to think Ackley could be...and he didn't put up a 130 (though 124 at 2B is good enough for a slam-dunk HOF career).
Which makes moving Dustin to 2B look less like a move of desperation ("Oh, his bat won't play on a corner...") and more like a stroke of genius with every passing day. Ackley can and will HIT. And he has power, and the speed to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. And the bloop hits of others into scores from 2nd. Will Clark was a tremendous 1B. Brian Giles and George Brett would have been as well. If any of them could have played 2nd instead and their front office moved them there...genius. "Hedging your bets" turns into "maximizing a HOF skillset" really quickly.
After being scoffed at for comping his offensive production to Olerud's and having consistent 20 HR power I find it interesting that Ole is now considered a slightly low projection. Gotta love that. *grins* Waiting for him to struggle a bit, but really...he's already got most of that out of the way. He worked out his groundball issues, his lefty issues, his power issues all in the minors. Methodically. With a purpose. Whatever struggles he has, I expect him to fix them in short order.
And now that he's here...he plans to BE this guy. It could be a glorious next few years if we can get the rest of the lineup right.
~G
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