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Machado with seven errors already?


Ohfan67

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I was just looking at Bowie stats and was surprised to see Machado with seven errors. For those of you who have seen him play this year, how does his defense look? For that matter, how does he look overall?

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I was just looking at Bowie stats and was surprised to see Machado with seven errors. For those of you who have seen him play this year, how does his defense look? For that matter, how does he look overall?

I havent viewed him personally but you are aware that young SS are pretty much expected to make errors? Usually they are throwing errors because they are too exuberant at trying to make spectacular plays. What you really have to keep an eye on is his range. Which I assume is pretty good.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=andrus001elv

Check out Elvis Andrus's errors in the minors. Look closely at 2008 AA errors. 32 errors and .944 fielding percent.

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I havent viewed him personally but you are aware that young SS are pretty much expected to make errors? Usually they are throwing errors because they are too exuberant at trying to make spectacular plays. What you really have to keep an eye on is his range. Which I assume is pretty good.

That's why I am asking for the opinion of folks who have seen him play this year.

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That's why I am asking for the opinion of folks who have seen him play this year.

I saw him once in spring training this year and once in Bowie thus far. Saw one error that was a short hop throw to first in Bowie that may have been handled by a very good 1b, but I thought he looked overall like a growing kid that has very solid defensive potential...And yes at SS. Not an expert, but I can't see why anyone thinks he would have to move. I coach football, so looking at his footwork and hip movement in the limited time I've seen him, like I do for that sport, I don't see any indication of the stiffness that would typically lend to a positional switch even with expected growth. If these are mostly throwing errors, I really wouldn't worry about it because the kid has a real arm.

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Last year Machado made 19 errors in 94 games, so 7 in 29 is not too far out of line. I don't consider those number too bad for a young SS. For comparison's sake, Elvis Andrus made 32 errors in 109 games as a 19-year old playing in AA.

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Lets just say that right now hitting .250 in Double A with little power doesnt make anyone in the organization feel hurried to bring him up. He hasnt been impressive at all, virtually anywhere in the

pros.

I think this is a bit of an overstatement, but I do worry that he has been pushed too fast. Sometimes it is hard to get a good read on guys that are really young for their level because you want to adjust their performance based on their age. Problem is some guys just don't improve. Seattle pushes their guys really fast and have had a number who looked good because they were young for their age. It then turned out that people were making too much of an age adjustment.

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Lets just say that right now hitting .250 in Double A with little power doesnt make anyone in the organization feel hurried to bring him up. He hasnt been impressive at all, virtually anywhere in the

pros.

So you don't think hitting .257/.361/.406 as a 19-year old in AA is impressive?

I'd suggest you re-think your position, Roy. There are 360 players in the Eastern League. 350 of those are at least 22 years old. There are six 21-year olds, three 20-year olds, and one 19-year old, Manny Machado. He's the youngest guy in the league, by a wide margin.

There is exactly one shortstop in the Eastern League with an OPS higher than Machado's .767 -- 24-year old Ryan Goins. The median OPS in the league is about .700 -- and much lower than that for shortstops.

So, Machado is the second-best hitting shortstop in the 12-team Eastern league, and and a well-above average hitter for the league as a whole, despite being 2+ years younger than 97% of the players in that league.

Maybe you don't consider that impressive, but I do.

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By the way, J.J. Hardy at age 19 started in high A, where he hit .293/.327/.409. Then he got promoted to AA, where he hit .228/.269/.297. Machado is showing much more power, and much more plate discipline, than Hardy did at the same age.

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Roy you should check out Bryce Harper's minor league line. You'd probably consider it distinctively unimpressive. His OBP and SLG and OPS are all very impressive for a 19yo in Double A.

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Manny may well become an elite player. He's very young I know. But he drew comparisons to Alex Rodriguez at the same age. Bryce Harper is also 19. Im not saying Manny is a bust, Im saying he

hasnt "blown anyone away",yet.

While he may have drawn comparisons to Arod, and is the same age as bryce, I've always thought it unfair to use other players as a benchmark for success. As frobby pointed out, he has almost the best offensive numbers for a shortstop in the league, and the best numbers belong to a guy 5 years older than him.

Just because the numbers themselves don't necessarily jump out at you, that doesn't make them any less impressive.

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Jurickson Profar, not in the same league, seems to have surpassed him. I think I would feel a bit better if we saw a little more power. Two homers is a little weak for a guy being touted as a top ten prospect.

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Bryce Harper (DOB: 10/16/1992), in AA for the end of the 2011 season:

37 G, 147 PA, .256/.329/.375/.724. 3 HR, 7 2B, 1 3B, for a .140 ISO and .332 wOBA. That's with a 10.2 BB%, 17.7 K%, and .294 BABIP.

Manny Machado (DOB: 7/6/1992), in AA for the start of the 2012 season:

29 G, 120 PA, .257/.361/.406/.767. 2 HR, 7 2B, 1 3B, for a .149 ISO and .357 wOBA. That's with a 13.3 BB%, 20.0 K%, and .316 BABIP.

What Manny is doing is very impressive. If you believe in Bryce Harper you should believe in Manny Machado, as they're both very highly regarded by the scouting community and Manny is doing essentially the same thing that Harper did at AA. He's a little older but also doing a little better, particularly with his plate discipline.

Statistically, all Harper has done that Manny hasn't is hit better at A (in significantly more plate appearances) and make some noise in spring training and 33 AB in the majors. He also had the opportunity to play in the AFL and dominate, which was not available for Machado. Harper was pretty underwhelming in AAA thus far this year. He has been pushed along through the minors faster than Machado, but results-wise at the higher levels, he hasn't done anything to separate himself.

I'm a little concerned about Machado's K% but I'm loving the walks and there's some definite evidence of power in the 7 2B and .149 ISO. It's also a very small sample, but there's nothing to see here thus far that raises any huge red flags. Yeah, it would be nice if he set the world on fire as a 19 y.o., but very, VERY few players do that. Holding his own and flashing some promise is plenty for the early part of the year. Hopefully he heats up as he adjusts and the year wears on. A strong finish at AA (or even a taste of AAA) puts him on track to be in Baltimore by late 2013/2014, as a 21 y.o., which would be plenty amazing.

As a bonus:

Jurickson Profar (DOB: 2/20/1993), in AA for the start of the 2012 season:

28 G, 126 PA, .259/.315/.464/.779. 3 HR, 6 2B, 4 3B, for a .205 ISO and .344 wOBA. That's with a 7.1 BB%, 17.5 K%, and .292 BABIP.

He'll probably get more hits than a .259 AVG and .292 BABIP with his crazy speed, and he's hitting for power. But his 1.03 BB/K ratio from A has not translated thus far to good plate discipline at the higher level. I like that Manny is translating the high BB rate, especially after seeing it slip to 8.5% in A+ last year.

Edit: Sorry to derail the thread from discussion of Machado's defense, which I obviously didn't address. I don't have anything to add other than the Andrus example really puts it in perspective and doesn't really make it a huge concern at this point in his career. If this is too off topic, I'll start another thread, but I didn't want people to get caught up with comparing the three players without considering their close similarity in numbers.

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Lets just say that right now hitting .250 in Double A with little power doesnt make anyone in the organization feel hurried to bring him up. He hasnt been impressive at all, virtually anywhere in the

pros.

Manny may well become an elite player. He's very young I know. But he drew comparisons to Alex Rodriguez at the same age. Bryce Harper is also 19. Im not saying Manny is a bust, Im saying he

hasnt "blown anyone away",yet.

Actually, what you said was that he hasn't been "impressive" "at all" "anywhere". Lots of folks would beg to differ. And by folks, I mean scouts. And by scouts, I mean baseball people who know what they're talking about.

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So you don't think hitting .257/.361/.406 as a 19-year old in AA is impressive?

I'd suggest you re-think your position, Roy. There are 360 players in the Eastern League. 350 of those are at least 22 years old. There are six 21-year olds, three 20-year olds, and one 19-year old, Manny Machado. He's the youngest guy in the league, by a wide margin.

There is exactly one shortstop in the Eastern League with an OPS higher than Machado's .767 -- 24-year old Ryan Goins. The median OPS in the league is about .700 -- and much lower than that for shortstops.

So, Machado is the second-best hitting shortstop in the 12-team Eastern league, and and a well-above average hitter for the league as a whole, despite being 2+ years younger than 97% of the players in that league.

Maybe you don't consider that impressive, but I do.

Thanks Frobby. I didn't realize offense was so low in the Eastern League.

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So you don't think hitting .257/.361/.406 as a 19-year old in AA is impressive?

I'd suggest you re-think your position, Roy. There are 360 players in the Eastern League. 350 of those are at least 22 years old. There are six 21-year olds, three 20-year olds, and one 19-year old, Manny Machado. He's the youngest guy in the league, by a wide margin.

There is exactly one shortstop in the Eastern League with an OPS higher than Machado's .767 -- 24-year old Ryan Goins. The median OPS in the league is about .700 -- and much lower than that for shortstops.

So, Machado is the second-best hitting shortstop in the 12-team Eastern league, and and a well-above average hitter for the league as a whole, despite being 2+ years younger than 97% of the players in that league.

Maybe you don't consider that impressive, but I do.

I agree with you -- very much so. Which is why I was surprised to see you slag Harper's line of .256/.329/.395 as an 18 year old in the Eastern League.

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