Langerhans' Upside
Shandler wrote, going into the season, "If he were 22 with that second-half power spike, we'd be interested. At 29, what we see is his peak flying by."
Langerhans' game in the past, his "skill set," has been that of a do-everything-and-do-nothing-well outfielder, a swiss army knife, a la Jeremy Reed. This is precisely the skill set that Dr. D, educated at the virtual feet of Earl Weaver, is so biased against. Such players make life *convenient,* but give you little opportunity to leverage the game. Specialized skills -- the stolen base, the gold glove, the platoon stick -- those guys give you opportunities to take the game to the opponent.
As we opined earlier, there's nothing about one more versatile, pretty-good-glove, questionable-bat 4th outfielder that suits the Mariners any better than it fits 29 other teams. All 30 teams can choose to put a 29-year-old insurance policy ahead of their prospects if they care to. The good thing going into this trade was Langerhans' lefthanded bat: you simply can't have too much lefthand hitting in Safeco.
Hence my shrug and "ehhhhhhhh" with respect to the acquisition of a Jeremy Reed clone.
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It is a completely different question as to whether Ryan Langerhans has upside left.
The Washington Nationals did not think so; they gave him away for Mike Morse. Neither did the enthused local endorsement of the trade, so far as I saw, base its zeal on Langerhans' ability to suddenly become John Kruk; the local endorsement was that as a backup outfielder, he didn't cost anything to acquire.
But how about Capt Jack? Did he see another Russ Branyan when the very people who owned the player did not?
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In his first few games, Ryan Langerhans has looked like Johnny Damon, not Jeremy Reed. He waits on the pitch, snaps the bat through the zone and covers it (gets just a tad on top of the ball) even when it's a fastball up. And he does it from his back leg.
For 8 AB's or whatever, this yo-yo has looked like an ML star in the batter's box. He's practically Raul Blinkin' Ibanez out there. ;- )
What does the mainframe think of the proposal that Langerhans had a Eureka in the minor leagues? Here are the things suggesting it is possible:
1) Used to be a fairly hot prospect
2) Is big, fast, more physically gifted than the "average" major leaguer
3) Took a major step forward last year, in limited AB's
4) That being at only age 28
5) Home park might have disguised developing power
6) Batting eye took alarming leap up (.35 to .83)
7) When your batting eye approaches 1.0 you have Dr. D's attention, period. Baseball is about the strike zone
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Is Dr. D intrigued by Langerhans' remaining upside? After watching him in batter's box for two games?
I am, yes.
He's my starting left fielder for the next fifty games, or until he finds his level. If it's roto, I'm picking the guy up. How 'bout you, Taro? Papa?
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If you're a bird dog asked to go look at Langerhans for one series, your report back is, "Commanding the zone and getting on top of the ball. Stinging the ball to all fields with authority. May finally be realizing his potential. Recommend closer look."
That's one series. Langerhans probably HASN'T jumped a plateau; the odds are with the house. But the neat thing is, he *may* have. And nobody's complaining if he buys the young Rainiers prospects some time to figure a few more things out.
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=== Enter San-Man ===
I always forget whether Sandy-Raleigh is a Braves' fan but am 95% sure (this time) that he is. Sandy has warned that Langerhans DOES have upside left, that he has been labeled and kept on the bench and that you could be looking at a poor man's Branyan here.
He should know. San-Man has got to be more familiar with Langerhans than any of us; it's like you were having a conversation with a Royals' fan about Gil Meche. And this is the guy who's telling us heads-up.
I looooov eeeeet.
M's are fun to watch this year, aren't they? Buy those new suits a sody pop.
Cheers,
Dr D