The real problem I had with Bryce wasn't his late season slump. It was bad but it doesn't tell the story. Lester talks so much about Bryce's OB% so let's start there.

He lead the team in free passes. 43 walks or HBPs. Impressive. Others were close behind though. Freeman had 38; duplantis 35; Kramer 41; Fraley 40. We will come back to this in a moment.

Bryce was near the bottom 3rd in other areas. 7th in RBI, 6th in Slg%, and even 6th in runs. Wait... How can he be so far down in runs with such a good OBP? Most will say because he had the bottom of the order behind him all year. And that can be relevant. But let's go back to those free passes...

Those other 4 players had a combined 81 stolen bases. Bryce had zero. Meaning he was in scoring position for the next batter behind him only 7 times the entire season. That's how many doubles he had. 9th on the team. It's great getting on base. (Hot take!) But what good is it if it doesn't translate to the scoreboard? Every time he's on, two good things still have to happen for him to cross the plate.

All that being said, I find it funny that people think the twins hit a ceiling. Baseball is a game of failure and many of the best players have to really fail for it to click. They've been successful their whole careers. And they put a lot of pressure on themselves to come through in big spots late. That happens so damn often with young players. They were over aggressive. Period. 3 weeks doesnt mean they aren't good hitters and fielders

This post was edited on 6/14/16 at 10:03 pm

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Posted by Drillingman

Member since Feb 2015

1051 posts

Posted on 6/14/16 at 9:53 pm to ell_13

Uuuuhhhhh....

Its Football Season

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Posted by 175RgrTiger

Member since Apr 2016

62 posts

Posted on 6/15/16 at 12:09 am to ell_13

i couldn't agree more..... Well stated. The idea that you don't have to be a track star to be an asset to a baseball team (a skill specific sport) is ellusive to fans. Watching players go through slumps, etc is never pretty and is a test of the players metal. Having Grit, being a grinder, being a dirt bag will lend itself to a player who will develop. Knowing there will be failures and adjustments along the way. Waiting for a freshman class to come along and be 4-5 tool players who have more metal and poise than the 3-4yr players have isn't realistic. Not taking anything away from incoming freshman, they are talented, just as the upper classman were when they showed up on campus. Every player will fail, will hit mental barriers that will require adjustments that the player has never had to make. This is esp true for incoming freshman, regardless of how tall he is, how fast he is, how high he can jump or bat speed off the charts with an impeccable swing. There are intangables a player can have that don't show on paper that coaches see and look for.
As ell_13 said, most successful ballplayers fail before

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Posted by Lester Earl

Member since Nov 2003

278941 posts

Posted on 6/15/16 at 12:20 am to ell_13

quote:
. How can he be so far down in runs with such a good OBP? Most will say because he had the bottom of the order behind him all year

Freeman 66 starts 216 ABs : 46 runs

Duplantis 66 starts 272 Abs: 45 runs

Bryce Jordan 54 starts 188 ABS : 40 runs

now im not great at math, but im pretty sure Jordan scores more frequently than Duplantis and at the very same rate as Freeman.

which makes your hot take of just getting to first base more ridiculous.

39 SBs compared to zero for Jordan

87 & 114 Total bases, vs 77 for Jordan

You're last paragraph is on point though. But "Just" getting to 1st base will never be out style.

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