paracorto...I can certainly appreciate (normally) restraint on questions of projecting a player based on one good looking game...but there are occasions where one game will do. If Doc's analysis were right (and I'm not saynig he's always right/perfect...though in this case I agree with him re: Ackley's hitting), though, you saw everything you needed to know to answer all of your questions by the end of the first at bat.
a) How will he fair against lefties?
- The facts that his swing is so adjustable, that he always has his head down on the ball, and that he transfers his weight in a butter-smooth manner rather akin to Wade Boggs or Tony Gwynn (when young) means he can adjust to picking up the ball slightly later. His .299/.412/.505 batting line in AAA attests to this.
b) Will major league pitchers learn how to work him in such a way as to exploit his weaknesses?
- What weaknesses would those be? The only thing I can think might be a bugger for him woudl be the ball up and in. If the pitchers have throw the ball into a teacup-sized region at the top and inside part of the strike zone to foil his type of mechanics, I don't see how that can be converted into a reliable game to get him out. Did pitchers ever learn to book Ichiro? He has Ichiro's ability to cover pitches that fool him...
c) Will he still draw walks at the big league level?
- As soon as the umps realize he knows the strikezone, he'll draw walks. In this one game, he swung at almost every legitimate strike and took every single pitch that should have been called a ball. His strikezone judgment is completely above reproach.
d) How will he hit in deep counts?
- It's axiomatic that all hitters with perfect strikezone judgment are at the mercy of fair umpiring if they won't expand the zone...Ackley, when comfortable, will not be expanding the zone. If the ump isn't an idiot or unfair, he'll only be swinging at the strikes with deep counts, so he'll either be walking or getting some pitches to put in play...he'll do fine in deep counts.
e) How will he hit closers and true aces?
Does any great major league hitter stand above this concern? No they do not. Great pitching beats great hitting - period. If he has trouble hitting Mariano Rivera, then he'll join the ranks of just about every other great hitter the game has ever seen. :)
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