A dumb comparison at 1B/DH
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I asked G-Money if 'Bach's truncated followthough, and blurry-fast launch reminded him of AD. ... and somehow, some way he found this drop-dead gorgeous vid of Mr. Mariner.
Cindy and I were sitting in the 3rd deck, a section all to ourselves, when Alvin Davis arrived and it was the same thing: 7 2B, 7 HR in the first 50 AB's against stunned AL pitchers and his mama had told him it is better to die at childbirth, boy, then to swing at a pitch outside the strike zone.
We were talking (on Slack) about Bach abandoning his sand-wedge for a 1-iron and .... the Lookout Landing theory about the HR derby doesn't seem so fanciful to Dr. D now. 'Bach obviously likes the feel of the HR now, as Alvin Davis did back in 1984. BUT both hitters had the ability to short-smack the ball into the bleachers WITHOUT GETTING GREEDY about their swings. Bach's first AB of the day was a 30.06 into the right field corner.
For those born too late to catch the reference, here are AD's stats. He also was an OBP king for the six years he was a star, and his 147 OPS+ started scrolling from the jump, 116 RBI and a ROY. That will happen when you can tell a ball from a strike.
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GO CATCH A COMBINE IF YOU HAFTA, POKEY
The beat writers are having a jolly old time making fun of 'Bach's extra 30 pounds. One day a guy will offer meekly, "Wow, he looked kinda fast going 1b to 3b" and the next day a fellow beat writer will scoff him into his place.
All I can say is, attend an NFL combine sometime and watch the OL's get off. Some of those big kids have explosive first steps and Dan Vogelbach happens to be one of them; the fact is, Dan Vogelbach DOES run surprisingly well.
Slip in a personal boast here; by this time you know SSI ... when I was 22, I looked just like 'Bach physically and NOBODY could guard me 1-on-1. I mean, maybe somebody from a 4-year college and I'm talking maybe. My first step was just fine, think yew veddy much. And now that you bring it up, it had to have been better for the surprise factor, right :- )
Like Steve Smith said, "Step up I'll lay it; step back I'll trey it" .... Show and Go. ... been workin' for 50 years and in 50 years, it'll still be workin'.
At 28 it was different; I could no longer fly by a high school varsity player with an up fake and a first step. The 23-year-old Prince Fielder was surprisingly quick too; a young-20's Bach is one thing, an old-20's Bach in technical terms is "Boomstick's successor." Five years from now it will be different, but during Nelson Cruz' career, Dan Vogelbach should be viewed as an average-mediocre runner. As Prince Fielder was, way back in the day. (Check Prince's BsR stats on Fangraphs.)
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DR'S DIAGNOSIS
So last warmup game before the planet-busting RHP Kluber, and the kid hits a rifle-shot single and titanic HR. As Jerry Dipoto very well knows as a matter of fact and not of opinion, Dan Vogelbach can see a ball and strike out of Corey Kluber's hand FAR better than Ryon Healy can -- and better than Cano or Cruz can, since we're on the subject. At bare minimum, 'Bach is more likely to finagle a walk out of Kluber than is Healy. As Jerry Dipoto very well knows, that one extra walk could be the ballgame.
The Ms solution is of course simple and obvious. A jobshare, both men 4 gms a week and Cruz off 1 game per week. Hey, "the M's acquired Ryon Healy to play every day" but Ryon Healy is not Kyle Seager, sitting on a 7-year $100M contract. He's had 1.5 decent years, last year with a 102 OPS+ at first base, and you may well be sitting on an Alvin Davis. The quite obvious thing to do is to play them both. See what shakes out by July.
Or perhaps Dipoto is too invested in peacocking that he pulled a fast one on the A's? As you know, we mean it in a good way.
BABVA,
Dr D