More HRs than Ks in his 2010 season, like Dimaggio used to do. That was after one of his ankle issues, and he did it as a sophomore. 3x as many walks as Ks. Ackley did a 2x1 in college but not a 3x1.
Rendon obviously won't be doing the HR thing again this year with the dead bats, and he's sitting on just 3 HRs, which is terrific for us. He's still running a 3x1 BB:K ratio though.
This is the perfect year for an all-world batter to fall.
The Pirates already have a 3B (who might eventually move off position, but still, Alvares can pull a Glaus and stay at 3B for a long time).
Pitchers all look like world-beaters against hitters who can't hurt them, but Cole in particular has taken a step forward (along with Sonny Gray, to be honest) and has upped his arsenal.
Rendon's power is sapped with bats that players say may be harder to hit HRs with than wood bats are, but because it's their first year of use we don't know what translations look like.
And he's had the ankle injury and now the pulled shoulder that kept him at DH for a few weeks.
Rendon is the dream prospect for us, IMO. He's a RH bat at a glove position who will win some gold gloves while giving us a bat in the middle of the order to offset some of the necessary left-handedness that Safeco encourages.
Cole would be fine. Cole is a good arm, maybe a great one. He's got a #1 mentality and what looks like a #1 arm, but I'd rather have the RH weapon in the lineup than one in the rotation. I think right-handed batters are so hard for the Mariners to get that Rendon could be the added critical mass our offense needs.
Come draft day I could be excited about adding Cole to a potential rotation of Felix/Pineda/Paxton in 2012 (and I agree, a healthy Bedard on the side might be an embarrassment of riches). The As are crowing about their rotation but ours could look pretty monstrous at that point.
But I'd be ecstatic about Rendon. You're right, we just need to gobble up whichever one is there, so our choice should be pretty easy (unless we surprise everyone and grab Gray or Starling, I guess).
Fingers are still crossed that the Pirates take the pitcher, even though their minor leagues are filled with pitching and few hitters.
~G
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