I can't say I'd have figured Oz for 20 HR at the break, but anyone who saw him hit in the minors had to believe that he had elite bat-to-ball skills and the ability to generate a ton of pop. Just watching him in a couple of weekend series in low-a had me convinced. Still, I thought he'd top out at 20. What he's done thus far is just crazy.
Tapate50 (07-12-2018)
Hope Acuna starts hitting soon
A couple things stand out about the
homerun derby. Only 1 AL player. No Judge or Stanton which is lame. Freddie vs harper in the first round.
I would send Acuna down to Rome for the rest of the season.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
Huge win last night. Need to win dback series now
Folty really dicked over the scoring differential last night.
Ivermectin Man
Albies and Acuna really struggle with pitch selection. It's evident that they have very little plan other than to hit everything they can reach. Albies just hasnt' been missing his pitch as much as Acuna has lately. Id rather have Culberson in left at the moment to tell the truth, but with Acuna's ability, I don't mind him learning on the job and fighting his way out of this funk a the MLB level. It's like I always tell my hitters, " you're only as good as the pitch that you swing at".
Jaw (07-12-2018)
Braves tied with Philly and 5.5 ahead of the Nats. For awhile I was concerned we would be 3-4 back at the all-star break.
Power is very unpredictable in prospects. The hit tool on the other hand seems to translate well as a prospect moves up the various levels. Moral of the story: look for prospects with good hit tools. Don't worry about the power. It will do whatever it is meant to do and its pretty much a waste of time trying to project it.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
Albies to his credit can...outside apparently up and in on interestingly both sides. Stroman was throwing him 91 4-seamers up and in on the left side on Tuesday and he didn't touch it...which went unseen since he went 3-5 anyway.
Acuna can but he seems to need to know what the pitch is. He's guessing at the plate and if he's wrong, he sometimes just leaves the bat on his shoulder which has led to him taking a lot of fat breaking balls for strike 3 (before he got hurt) and aggravating a lot of people.
Aggression with prospects is fine, but being stupid is not. There should be a way to find a happy medium between a Pirates like idea of being overly cautious with prospects and going stupidly fast with prospects.