Add new comment

Once again, Gutierrez has above-average speed as does ANY CF in the Major Leagues. Much more important than the marginal differences in speed are the fact that Gutierrez is EXTREMELY skilled in the field. This was covered extensively in the other thread, and you never counter-pointed the specific points (tracking the ball, jumps, routes, knowing where the ball falls so you can go full speed, etc.).
What seperates Ichiro from Joel Guzman? From OUR perspective there is no difference. BOTH would absoultely SCHOOL us in a pickup game. Guzman might even be MORE impressive than Ichiro in a pickup game considering his immense power. All these big leaguers are TREMENDOUSLY talented, but heck so are the AAers and AAAers.
'Physically' Guzman puts Ichiro to shame at the plate. Guzman has BETTER bat speed MUCH better power, and yet hes minor league fodder while Ichiro is one of the best players in the game. Why is that? Physically Bucky Jacobsen is probably STRONGER than Albert Pujols. Who is the better hitter?
If speed is all there is in the outfield and batspeed and power were all there is at the plate then baseball would be really easy to figure out. All these 5 toolers would be turning into immediate superstars at the big league level. Instead the top highschool picks in the draft routinely don't pan out.
Do you NEED speed in CF at the big league level? Yes, of course and Gut has that. The question is what makes you 'Great'?