GDT Game 1/4 Angels @ Jays

[Daniel Labude]

Is this good for the youngest player in baseball?

 

Past 30 Days Sat May 18 - Sun Jun 16

 

AB 96

H 28

R 13

HR 4

RBI 11

AVG .292

OPS .809

[gruber92]

Is this what does Biggio looks like when the umps don’t screw him over?

 

He's slowly starting to earn respect from the umps. Showing exceptional plate discipline and not complaining on bad calls will go a long way.

[BlueRocky]

I don't know if it's just fluke or a mechanical thing but he only seems to hit the ball hard to center. Almost everything he pulls is on the ground.

 

Also he seems to swing at more bad pitches then I thought he would. Watching Biggio it's like night and day. Biggio takes everything close, and that's what I thought we were going to get in Vlad. He just swings way more than I thought he would.

 

I know the original comment was he should cream first pitch meat balls... that too. The expection was he was a generational hitter who would cream meatballs and take the close pitches...

 

A long ways to go, but he has a lot to learn. Miguel Cabrera had a similar first year.

 

From what I saw, Vlad Jr was basically Willie Mays of the minor leagues offensively. I know they don’t play the same position, we’re talking about at the plate. Every fly ball had a chance to leave the park, and he hit everything from FB to secondaries. There are stories of him guessing pitches on the on-deck circle and smash them during his turn. Hit tools like that don’t come every day, Vladdy has batting-title in his prime type of offensive ceiling.

 

Despite being the youngest guy at every level, his bat-to-ball ability was elite and the pop off his bat was special. He was a very disciplined hitter during the minors. He occasionally swung at bad breaking balls but either spit on it or fouled them off, but would lay off pitches that weren’t close. His K rate has always been low for the amount of power he generated. That hasn’t translated yet but it’s only a matter of time.

 

We really haven’t seen “hot streak” Vlad yet. When he goes on a tear for two weeks he looks unstoppable. Like P2F, I’d say give it time. Game is slowing down for him but he’s still making adjustments. He’s trending in the right direction.

[gruber92]

Or when he gets fastballs down the middle

 

When you frequently put yourself in fastball counts, things like that happen.

[Slade]

You guys realize Vlad is hitting .310/.368/.558 in his last 30 games with 7HR. That's pretty good for a rookie. I have no doubt he'll get even better.

[M.E.]

Let’s get SRF up immediately and let him struggle here versus this Jackson crap again.

[DigitalRock]

Can't wait to see Bichette, hope that's the end of Drury.

[DigitalRock]

Buck thinks he knows what the players are talking about in the dug out all the time.

[glory]

Let’s get SRF up immediately and let him struggle here versus this Jackson crap again.

 

Nah, time for Paulino. I haven’t given up on him as a starter. Time to call him up and see what he has now that we know he’s alive.

[JaysAllMighty]

Buck thinks he knows what the players are talking about in the dug out all the time.

 

and what they're thinking

[Olerud363]

You guys realize Vlad is hitting .310/.368/.558 in his last 30 games with 7HR. That's pretty good for a rookie. I have no doubt he'll get even better.

 

The issue I have is more the approach compared to Biggio, or Juan Soto. He seems to be swinging at too much low breaking stuff, just off the outside corner.

 

Take a look at the fan graphs plate discipline statistics. If I understand correctly O-swing is out of zone swing rate, while Zone % is the percentage of pitches in the zone.

 

Vlad O-swing 29%, Zone % 36%

Soto O-swing 21%, Zone % 38%

Biggio O-swing 13.4% Zone % 48%

Trout O-swing 19%, Zone % 39%

Bellinger O-swing 25%, Zone % 39%

Drury O-swing 34% Zone 41%

 

(I put Drury in there just to get a feel for what a terrible guy's plate discipline is like)

 

Vlad is being pitched tough because he swings at a lot of pitches out of the zone (relatively speaking). He probably has one of the lowest zone % in the game. In my opinion he won't start getting more pitches to hit, and reaching his potential until he takes more close pitches. Especially breaking stuff low and away, which is just a ground ball if you swing at it.

 

Wow. Biggio's plate discipline is amazing so far. His walk rate is twice as much as Vlad, despite his Zone % being way higher.

[Olerud363]

Also I will take the opportunity to once again laugh at the "protection" theory.

 

The pitchers have figured out that Vlad swings at low and away stuff and grounds it to short. This pattern makes him a .260 .325 .460 hitter. They know he has tremendous natural ability and that if they gave him more to hit he would hit .300 .350 .500. Jays get Mike Trout and hit him third behind little Vladdy.

 

a) the pitcher's goal is to keep Vlad off base.

the low and outside the zone pattern makes Vlad a .260 .325 .460 hitter.

c) the in the zone pattern makes him a .300 .350 .500 hitter.

 

Why would the pitchers change their pattern and give Vlad more to hit if doing this increases his on base percentage?? The opposite of their goal to keep him off base??

 

Protection is such ********. People like Buck and Pat believe it and that concerns me, because what if, along side their new love of bunting, Montoyo and the coaches believe it?? Probably not, but the best way to help Vlad is to recognize he is being pitched really tough, and to get more pitches to hit he needs to lay off out of zone stuff... Hope they are trying to get that message through. I know he is only 20, and it's harder then it looks.

[5ToolPhenom]

Sogard, Smoak, Galvis and Giles fall under that category.

 

I said "good veterans". I suppose Smoak would be the closest thing, but he doesn't seem like much of a team leader. Giles is a bullpen guy, bullpen guys don't usually hold the position players accountable, unless it's the catcher.

[Spanky99]

I said "good veterans". I suppose Smoak would be the closest thing, but he doesn't seem like much of a team leader. Giles is a bullpen guy, bullpen guys don't usually hold the position players accountable, unless it's the catcher.

 

s*** is held accountable in the clubhouse bud, c'mon. You nor I know!