Is Avery redeeming himself in Norfolk?

[Enjoy Terror]

I see a nice line (as of today) of .276 / .364 / .414 / .778. He's showing plate discipline, a little bit of speed and a little bit of power.

I see 16 strikeouts, but 7 walks. Although it's early, it's an improvement over his career 3/1 K/BB.

I'm pretty excited for him. I'd like to see a bit more power, but I'm encouraged that something appears to be clicking.

[LookinUp]

I'd love to see him stay in one place for an extended period of time so we could see him actually master a level and be prepared for the next. He certainly seems to be getting by at AAA so far, which is better than I expected, but we're still in SSS territory regardless. Avery is a notiously hot and cold hitter.

[Bunker]

Redeeming himself from what?

[Enjoy Terror]

Redeeming himself from what?

...from having a .318 OBP in AA and striking out 190 times in a season...

[paulcoates]

I believe he had a leadoff triple against Tim Hudson on his rehab stint the other night

[Bunker]

twenty years old in double A. It just seems like our expectations are off.

[hoosiers]

Redeeming himself from what?

No kidding. Lots of redeeming to go around if this "raw" athlete needs to apologize for his development curve.

Anyway, X-man now at .362 obp and .821 ops for the season with 7/16 BB/K and K/AB a little better than 1/4 - this includes a slow start.

X-man must be in one of his best 10 game stretches of his career that includes .429 obp and 1.033 ops with 5 xbh, 5 BBs against 7 Ks in about 49 PAs for a 1/7 K/AB.

Considering the level, this is really fantastic production from Mr. Avery.

[Scrat1]

Hard not to get excited, especially considering his age. Any reports on his defense?

[weams]

1 for 2 (a double) 3 walks, 0 k's, and 1 stolen base today. Xavier Avery has been impersonating a leadoff man recently.

I love the walks. I liked his defense this spring. Very Athletic. Starting to read the ball off the bat better.

[glenn__davis]

Been a big fan of Xavier T. Avery ever since they drafted him. As others have mentioned, he's been through hot streaks like this before.

If nothing else, he seems to me like he could be a good 4th OF to play against righties. I'm kind of doubtful that he'll ever hit lefties well, but does still have plenty of time to learn.

[hoosiers]

Not sure if I can recall a 10 game stretch where Avery's BBs exceeded his Ks, but we are in that territory today.

It is a small sample size, of course, but we have seen other more heralded hitting prospects suffer at AAA particularly since the move to Norfolk.

IMO, really only Reimold has been successful at Norfolk. Avery is putting up better numbers than anyone else.

We have seen Avery catch fire for periods of time before so hopefully the consistency that has eluded him for several years is materializing today. We'll see.

[Flacco Machado]

Not sure if I can recall a 10 game stretch where Avery's BBs exceeded his Ks, but we are in that territory today.

It is a small sample size, of course, but we have seen other more heralded hitting prospects suffer at AAA particularly since the move to Norfolk.

IMO, really only Reimold has been successful at Norfolk. Avery is putting up better numbers than anyone else.

We have seen Avery catch fire for periods of time before so hopefully the consistency that has eluded him for several years is materializing today. We'll see.

22 years old at AAA. For whatever reason he has been rushed through the minors. I can't figure out why. He's always had that Carl Crawford potential. I had him right behind LJ Hoes as a candidate for a breakout season this year. I hope he does well. He has so much raw potential.

Tony, why has Avery been rushed despite his terrible strikeout numbers?

[Tony-OH]

22 years old at AAA. For whatever reason he has been rushed through the minors. I can't figure out why. He's always had that Carl Crawford potential. I had him right behind LJ Hoes as a candidate for a breakout season this year. I hope he does well. He has so much raw potential.

Tony, why has Avery been rushed despite his terrible strikeout numbers?

Some people in the organization like him and thought he needed to be challenged. I just see a Felix Pie kind of guy, a guy with tools who doesn't do very many baseball things wells. I'm encouraged by his current start, especially with his walking of late, but he still strikes out too much and has never shown any type of power. He's had these hot streaks before and then he gets into old habits and goes into strikeout binges. I hope the guy proves me wrong but I'll be more interested if his stats are good by the end of May.

[Can_of_corn]

Some people in the organization like him and thought he needed to be challenged. I just see a Felix Pie kind of guy, a guy with tools who doesn't do very many baseball things wells. I'm encouraged by his current start, especially with his walking of late, but he still strikes out too much and has never shown any type of power. He's had these hot streaks before and then he gets into old habits and goes into strikeout binges. I hope the guy proves me wrong but I'll be more interested if his stats are good by the end of May.

Still though, there is value in a fourth outfielder and it is starting to sound as if that is a realistic end product here.

[LookinUp]

I share Tony's skepticism, but it's worth noting that sometimes raw potential does turn into an actual good ML player. I don't have any confidence in our previous regime to help Avery take that next step, but there's always hope that this regime is different. It's also worth noting that Avery seems to have the right makeup to give himself a chance. By the very limited second hand accounts I've heard, he seems to be a good kid who is putting in some work.

From day 1, everyone said that he'd need reps to make the sport more natural for him. I understand he's at AAA already, but I suspect he still needs a lot of reps to reach anything near his potential in the field, on the bases, or against good pitching.