Colby Rasmus

[RickJay]

Rasmus - this is going to sound stupid, but I'm not sure how else to explain it - just tends to miss the ball a lot. It's not just that he falls behind in counts, or gets fooled by a certain pitch, or chases out of the zone. He, more than almost any batter of equivalent strength and quickness I've ever seen, just tends to swing at a perfectly hittable pitch and miss it. That's actually not a particularly normal thing for a major league batter; an MLB hitter who misses a pitch usually does so because he incorrectly guesses the location or speed of the pitch. Rasmus, it's pretty obviouos, will quite often miss a fastball that he was looking for, that's in the zone, but he just doesn't put his bat where the ball is.

 

That strongly suggests a problem with his mechanics. I haven't really seen a lot of slow mo tape of Rasmus but I know they've been working on the positioning of his hands, and that does tend to be the most common issue that leads to plain missing the ball. When people talk about a "hitch," that's what causes the ball to be over or under the ball; the tendency to misalign the hands after the load. I'm not an MLB hitting coach but I can't help but notice Rasmus's hands move a lot before the swing, and the bat is held at a really extreme angle where the barrel actually extends over his head towards the pitcher, which is rarely a good thing. (Jose Bautista does that too but he's such an unusual batter than he's not really someone anyone else should try to imitate.)

[Chappy]

A lot has to do with his approach as well. He tends to commit to pitches early and is pretty much a pull hitter, hence the high K's. From a quick glance it looks like Colby has only had 2 hits to LF or LC all season, granted SSS. He has the bat speed to sit back on pitches a bit, but doesn't really utilize that in his approach.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

Gump back above .760

 

Last two weeks (before today's single/triple performance) .293/.343/.488

 

Contact% has risen steadily but still on pace for well over 200 Ks

 

Still have no idea who the real Colby Rasmus is. He just shows stretches of pure brilliance but cannot sustain it over a long period.

[Angrioter]

Rasmus .325 wOBA, 6 DRS, 1.2WAR

[mitchf]

Gump back above .760

 

Last two weeks (before today's single/triple performance) .293/.343/.488

 

Contact% has risen steadily but still on pace for well over 200 Ks

 

Still have no idea who the real Colby Rasmus is. He just shows stretches of pure brilliance but cannot sustain it over a long period.

How don't you? It's clear at this point that he's a streaky hitter that when hot, can completely rake. On the contrary, he can be about as ineffective at the plate as anybody when he's out of sync.

 

Not the guy I want on a longterm deal.

[Orgfiller]

Rasmus .325 wOBA, 6 DRS, 1.2WAR

 

Not bad. We'll definitely take that the way this season is going. Is the range still there? Love that about him, along with the easy power. Not very easy to watch games to say the least...

[Jimcanuck]

How don't you? It's clear at this point that he's a streaky hitter that when hot, can completely rake. On the contrary, he can be about as ineffective at the plate as anybody when he's out of sync.

 

Not the guy I want on a longterm deal.

 

Don't streaky players tend to get more consistent with experience?

[GD]

Don't streaky players tend to get more consistent with experience?

 

I don't know for sure, but if Francisco Liriano is any indication, no lol.

[jaysblue]

Colby was at the Underground last night I heard and got completely annihilated haha. He had a good game though this afternoon and looked good against Darvish today.

[jaysblue]

If Colby cut down on them K's he'd be an All-Star. I just love that swing.

 

+1

 

Colby has a beautiful swing, agreed. Sometimes he looks just completely lost at the plate and swings at bad pitches. But when he makes solid contact, its a nice swing! Looked good against Darvish today.

[jaysblue]

Gardener is a solid hitter. Career .353 OBP. If Gose can do that in the majors then sure he will be a stud with his level of D. Right now it looks doubtful. Gardener also had a .390 career OBP in the minors, Gose is nowhere near that. It's not just all D with Gardener.

 

If Gose could be a similar hitter to Gardiner I think we all would take that type of production. Needs to get on base more like you said though.

[Anemic0ffense]

I root for Rasmus... I think he's an overall good guy, and the team seems to like him... The only knock I have on him (besides the K's) is sometimes his head just isn't in the game, and that's when he has his ugliest AB's... It's almost as if you can tell by his demeanor that day whether he's gonna have a good/bad day at the plate... Remember when he faced his brother? He looked so focused, and ended up with a double... I might be reading too much into it, but that's the kind of player he is to me... Very odd, but a likable guy IMO

[itsawrap]

I'm still trying to figure out how we've been batting JPA 5th in this lineup for so long. 14.4 K/BB ratio and sub .700 OPS, are you s***ing me? Thank god for the 12 HR, imagine what his OPS would look like without them. I understand Gibby wants to do the whole R/L/R/L thing with the lineup, but Rasmus really needs to be hitting before JP.

[G-Snarls]

I'm all for keeping Colby too. How much will he get in arbitration next year? 6-7M?

 

A cheap 440k Gose in CF, Colbuh in LF, and either Bautista or Melky in right on any given night. That's a versatile OF. Not elite in all areas but a good mix.

 

Having both EE and Lind (who will now obviously have his 2014 option picked up) and the above guys gives you a nice 2-5 in the batting order but a bit of a problem with defensive flexibility. You have one too many every day players but the depth is nice having one of the above on the bench any given day. But if someone gets hurts you can get by so much more easily.

[ElNik2013]

I'm still trying to figure out how we've been batting JPA 5th in this lineup for so long. 14.4 K/BB ratio and sub .700 OPS, are you s***ing me? Thank god for the 12 HR, imagine what his OPS would look like without them. I understand Gibby wants to do the whole R/L/R/L thing with the lineup, but Rasmus really needs to be hitting before JP.

 

 

I think a lot of fans, at least on this forum, have been trying to figure it out too. I said before, if Gibbons wants the L/R/L/R thing going, he should bat Lind 3rd and Rasmus 5th.

 

I'm liking what I'm seeing from Rasmus, he's sprinkled a few hits up the middle, left-centre and he had the double off his brother down the left field line. These are good signs.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

Colby was at the Underground last night I heard and got completely annihilated haha. He had a good game though this afternoon and looked good against Darvish today.

 

It's cool to party and all, but he better not s*** the bed today because of his late night antics.

[Metallijay]

Colby was at the Underground last night I heard and got completely annihilated haha. He had a good game though this afternoon and looked good against Darvish today.

 

Annihilated? You mean drunk or got in a fight lol.

[EdelweissBouquet]

If Colby cut down on them K's he'd be an All-Star. I just love that swing.

 

I'm with u on this cousin, not sure gose gets on base enough

to help team with his speed, rasmus isn't too far behind gose

at center defensively.

[GD]

Rasmus is now tied for 10th in CF fWAR with 1.7.

 

I'm preparing a trip to the Cardinals board if this holds. Boxy's mom is making pizza bagels.

 

How are the mods there? Wasn't around for the last trip but that was hilarious. Isn't that one of their longest threads, ever?

[Boxcar]

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-cardinals&tid=107713

 

Coming up on 3K posts. And I haven't been banned so the mods are OK.

 

This is how you troll a forum kids.

 

I was banned, so they can go DIAF

[GD]

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-cardinals&tid=107713

 

Coming up on 3K posts. And I haven't been banned so the mods are OK.

 

This is how you troll a forum kids.

 

"His BAbip (not BABIP) is .282."

 

Just an amazing thread all around.

[Boxcar]

"he's outstanding. I had it on good authority from cards fans that he was too dumb to aim his line drives into the gaps. Luckily, he figured out that he can put them over the wall at the end of the field."

 

f*** i am a snarky, dumn pos and i am going to get creamed by boxy in the ddl this week

 

ftfy

[GD]

"He's outstanding. I had it on good authority from Cards fans that he was too dumb to aim his line drives into the gaps. Luckily, he figured out that he can put them over the wall at the end of the field."

 

f*** I was a snarky POS

 

Still are lol.

 

"I would've traded Colby for Zep... straight up."

 

I'm in awe.

 

The dude who kept laughing at everything is freaking me the f*** out.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

Gump with 13 dingers now. OPS nearing .800

 

My f*** this just has oodles of potential if he could ever find an ounce of consistency.

[Angrioter]

Gump with 13 dingers now. OPS nearing .800

 

My f*** this just has oodles of potential if he could ever find an ounce of consistency.

 

+.340 wOBA, 2 WAR

[bzapple]

Just for fun... Jon Jay is hitting .247/.327/.343, -0.3 WAR.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

To the Cardinals board!

[Angrioter]

To the Cardinals board!

 

yeah, hurry

 

oh wait.............. cards 44-25, jays 32-36

Miller/Martinez/Wacha > JJ/Dickey/Morrow/Buehrle

[GD]

To the Cardinals board!

 

I read through that entire thread and holy f***, Cards fans are pretty stupid.

[backontop]

Rasmus simply chose the wrong sport. He should have chosen golf. He has a beautiful distinct swing, but misses too often. But when he gets lucky and connects.........look out!