Comments on: Position Roundtables: Starting Second Baseman

By: InSpo

InSpo — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 20:27:18 +0000

I really donâ€™t think that we have enough info to make a conclusion about Yu-bet. Of all the Young players, a-side from Felix, I think he will be the best player.

By: Baseline

Baseline — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 17:43:35 +0000

I’ve picked Lopez to be a breakout Mariner this season, he has all the tools. It’s just about putting them together and putting together a good year. With him and YuBet, I think the middle infield is one of the better ones in the AL West among other things.

By: chrisisasavage

chrisisasavage — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 21:13:15 +0000

Sorry, you’re correct. And he’s not a power hitter, so I think (from assumption of course) that could matter less even if he were. It was interesting. Look at someone like Paul Konerko. It’s very obvious from those charts his offense would take a massive hit at Safeco. It’s also interesting to look at the elite hitters (Pujols, A-Rod, Vlad, etc), who tend to hit the ball far, to all fields. Basically those guys hit the ball hard and far, all over the place. To me it shows how great those guys are as well as why we shouldnt be as afraid of a truely elite RH slugger at safeco, at least I think.

I did not a real analysis, just Cherry picked players and compared. I cant remember what I saw for Cirillo and Speizio, but I think they they pulled to LF a lot. Still interesting.

By: Evan

Evan — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 17:59:23 +0000

Ichiro’s not right-handed, so his spray chart isn’t really that helpful.

By: eponymous coward

eponymous coward — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 02:42:29 +0000

Thus my comment of “extreme pull hitters”.

By: chrisisasavage

chrisisasavage — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 00:38:22 +0000

Lopez will die at Safeco if he’s all pull. MLB.com has hit charts, and it’s obvious, the good RH hitters at safeco hit the ball to the opposite field and up the middle a lot more than some of those who were killed by it’s effects. That’s part of why I’m expecting Beltre to bounce back some. His balls in play did land to all fields. He had a lot of home runs almost clear too, from the looks of his hit charts (admittedly from memory, not looking at them). Boone, Edgar, Sexson, Ichiro, etc hit the ball all over the place. If Lopez turns “all pull”, he’ll be probably another righty victim of Safecos left field fences, at least I suspect so.

By: leetinsleyfanclub

leetinsleyfanclub — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 00:33:05 +0000

I don’t know what to make of Lopez. He has been impressive at times when he is not trying to pull everything. That’s the key for him…hitting to all fields. If he does that, he has great potential as a gap hitter. He could hit 40 doubles a year. Despite that, I don’t see a star in the making. I imagine him as a .275 hitter with 15-20 home runs once he matures a bit more. I just want to see him given an extended opportunity to play every day as long as his glove is solid, which it should be. Even if he initially struggles with the bat, they need to just let him play through it and he will eventually figure it out. As has been pointed out, even if he doesn’t hit well he will be an upgrade over what was at second last year.

By: Grizz

Grizz — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 22:43:27 +0000

The M’s management cited Lopez’s pull happy approach as the reason for his abrupt demotion last July (which in turn made Bloomquist the everyday 2B). Lopez earned praise upon his return for hitting (relatively) more to all fields. If Lopez disregards the coaches’ instructions and reverts to pulling everything, Hargrove’s patience with him will expire quickly.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 22:25:34 +0000

Except that Ibanez sucked until he was about 28, didn’t have a good minor league resume, and his career revival in Kansas City was a historical fluke. They aren’t comparable players at all.

By: metz123

metz123 — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 22:21:24 +0000

I have a bad feeling that Lopez is going to be the “official Grover scapegoat” when the team gets off to its expected slow start. Unless Jose breaks out of the gate hot and hits mid may with a BA over .270 he’s going to get shuttled down to Tacoma.

Remember that Betencourt is the designated “defensive whiz” of the infield and that gives him “protection” if his bat doesn’t start off hot. Lopez has no such designation by the powers at be.

I’m really concerned that we’re going to yank Jose around so much that he’ll be the classic “change of scenery” player that doesn’t get a career going until he ends up on a different team. I see a career path like Ibanez.