Vizcaino suspended 80 games

[zitothebrave]

It reached its apex with "Utley lite." Kelly was never going to be in the same galaxy as Utley who was elite.

In a way KJ was Utley lite. He was Utley without what made Utley Elite. He didn't have Utley's power, he struck out slightly more than Utley, and certainly he was lacking defense. While KJ was at best average for 2B. Utley is one of the best defenders to play the position in recent time.

If you compare Utley's 3 year peak to KJ's best 3 years. KJ's best 3 years he hit around .280/.360/.450. Utley's prime was .301/.395/.536.

So yes Utley is clearly better, much better, but it's not like KJ is some kind of bum. When someone calls someone so-and-so lite it means they're not close to the first's standards.

 

[thewupk]

It reached its apex with "Utley lite." Kelly was never going to be in the same galaxy as Utley who was elite.

Some people get confused with the term 'lite'. It doesn't mean that player is going to be anywhere near as good as said player. It means they have somewhat the same skill sets but on a lesser level. KJ was projected as a 2B with a decent average, good walk rates, ad plus power for the position. Who at the time had those skills? Just because someone is called Utley lite doesn't make them anywhere near that player. It just means they have some of the same skill sets.

 

[Julio3000]

Toward the end of his time with the Braves, there was a lot of "deer in headlights" with him at the plate.

KJ? Yeah, I think he was screwed up mentally and mechanically that year.

...

Granted, these were from the early days of everybody having internet access...probably a good thing too that there were those types of debates. Even better before that with Justice having spent 3 years at Richmond, including substantial dips and eventually becoming an All Star, marrying a Hollywood starlit and being a WS hero. Fangraphs could not have written that script.

On the other side, if somebody could've shown me how successful DeRosa would become, that would've really been impressive. When he was at Richmond, there little indication that he'd be more than a major league backup.

I guess that my appreciation of the nerdy number-crunching side of things doesn't hamper my appreciation for the narrative and human side. YMMV, I suppose.

Maybe he'll be OK. He's gone though. It was always my perception that his 'upside,' without whatever his ceiling might be, was exaggerated because of Uggla. An OP even said as much in another post. So, there didn't seem reason to get caught up in the hype for someone, who barely been discussed before the end of the 2013 season, if at all.

In terms of excitement, getting worked up about a Braves prospect doesn't rank up there with Sid's slide in terms of getting me to jump up out of my seat. So will have to defer to the zealots.

I'm usually treading a (sometimes) thin line between appreciating the people on this board who put time and effort into covering and discussing prospects and the occasional blind hyping of whoever is the next big thing. On balance, though—in this community, anyway—my appreciation far outweighs my irritation. You're calibrated a little differently, maybe ;-) . I like to read people's takes on the prospects (be they based on eyeballs, ink, or some combination) because I have limited opportunities to see the players myself, these days. I think it would be silly not to use the wealth of great data that's freely available, and I take your point that looking at it doesn't make one an expert.

 

[Julio3000]

Some people get confused with the term 'lite'. It doesn't mean that player is going to be anywhere near as good as said player. It means they have somewhat the same skill sets but on a lesser level. KJ was projected as a 2B with a decent average, good walk rates, ad plus power for the position. Who at the time had those skills? Just because someone is called Utley lite doesn't make them anywhere near that player. It just means they have some of the same skill sets.

Yep.

 

[Metaphysicist]

Rick Reed was routinely called Maddux-lite.