Trayvon was really, REALLY raw when he hit the minors. Inner city kid who wasn't exactly swimming in hitting coaches and traveling squads.
IIRC he really didn't play baseball full-time til high school. I don't think he even converted to switch hitting until the minors.
Don't look at his first few years in the minors and use them as a gauge. Figuring out how to switch hit in the minors as a teen when facing players years older than him in age and about a decade more advanced as far as coaching is tough work.
Also, nobody figured out he needed contacts til last season. That and the slowed learning curve held back his progress til the last 3 years. What happened then?
Last 3 years, ages 21-23:
2009: .300/.373/.493/.866, 60BB / 143K in 599 PAs, mostly A+
2010: .300/.404/.438/.842, 73BB / 125K in 523 PAs, AA
2011: .293/.375/.563/.938, 45BB / 122K in 368 PAs, AAA
I've heard Dexter Fowler comparisons as a switch-hitting, speedy CF without a ton of pop, but they have completely different body styles. Fowler is a scared beanpole, Trayvon is a compact ball of aggression.
To compare him to another Rockies player instead...here are Cargo's years
at the same levels:
Carlos Gonzalez, ages 20-23:
A+: .300/.356/.563/.919, 30 BB/ 104K in 452 PAs (Lancaster, hitter's paradise)
AA: .277/.326/.468/.794, 39 BB/ 115K in 568 ABs
AAA: .312/.385/.526/.911, 44 BB/ 73K in 460 ABs (partly in Colo. Spgs., hitter's paradise)
Trayvon strikes out more. It's not a death knell.
I don't expect him to be a MOTO hitter, but a plus center-fielder? He can do that. He's not done growing yet at the plate either. Mike Cameron struck out 160 times per 162 in the bigs and had a fine career.
I'd be ecstatic with that from Trayvon, and it's within his power to provide a Cammy-level offensive line. We may still need our MOTO bat, but we are trying our hardest to solve the OF problem without spending any cash, and may just have done it.
~G
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