Spring Update: Roberts proving he's the everyday secondbaseman

[mark_beckens]

Could it be that last year he wasn't able to work out cause he was dealing with his concussion symptons and lost muscle tone? Since his injury at the end of last year was with his hip he was able to work out during the off season.

[El Gordo]

The hypocrisy abounds.

[CA-ORIOLE]

The hypocrisy abounds.

More like El Pontificator drones on.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Yes, that's exactly what happened. He could barely be in a room with people or follow a ground ball - working out to be an elite athlete was not really an option.

Could be. I'm not a personal trainer, but I don't see why a guy can't get ripped (without steroids) at 35.

[El Gordo]

More like El Pontificator drones on.

Any rational person last winter would have said I will withold judgement until I see how he looks in the spring. But instead we had many know it alls calling for him to retire because it was obvious that he was finished. Now that it is not so obvious, many of the same people are hedging by saying they will now withhold judgement. Others are saying he only looks good because he's on roids. BS. That's what I call hypocrisy.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Any rational person last winter would have said I will withold judgement until I see how he looks in the spring. But instead we had many know it alls calling for him to retire because it was obvious that he was finished. Now that it is not so obvious, many of the same people are hedging by saying they will now withhold judgement. Others are saying he only looks good because he's on roids. BS. That's what I call hypocrisy.

I'm sure lots of people were thinking he should retire and that he was done at various points over the past 2 years. A lot of people may have been wrong. That and withholding judgement on his performance at this point (particularly that we carried him on the 40 man roster all offseason) are fairly irrelevant imo. I'm glad that things are so clear for you out there on the moral high road.

Edit: As far as the steroid/PED stuff goes, I'd probably call foul myself, if it weren't for the fact he's a documented user.

[Norfolk orioles]

Hmmmn, looks like the "Roberts is toast" crowd from last winter is now becoming the "I'm witholding judgement" crowd to cover their butts. Shouldn't they have been the I'm witholding judgement crowd last winter?

It's almost like you are trying to jinx him or something with your ridiculous comments. Roberts has proven NOTHING yet, spring training is utterly meaningless. Stop posting nonsense like this, you are adding nothing to the actual conversation by making ridiculous arguments that no one has actually made.

With that said, I think the most impressive part of what Roberts has done so far aren't the numbers or the xbh's (although all that is great), I think the best thing that's happened so far is he hasn't struck out once yet in the preseason. That shows the hand eye coordination is there which honestly, was my biggest concern with him coming off a major concussion and not having played in such a long time.

The hr and doubled are a byproduct of the solid contact he is making repeatedly at the plate. That is the most encouraging thing of all so far this offseason. If Roberts is anywhere in the ballpark of the player of old who used to lead this team, he will be bigger than any offseason acquisition we possibly could have made this year. He would fill out desperate need for second base production, obp, a true leadoff hitter AND potentially a base stealer all in one and it hasn't cost us a dime from what he would have had to have spent anyways.

Again, it's far too early to be counting on any of that, but I know we all very excited about what we've seen and our lineups real potential with a healthy, productive Roberts leading things off. You think you're exited, check out these nips! Ha

[DrungoHazewood]

If he can come back at 75-80% of what he was 3-4 years ago, that would be a huge upgrade over what we had last year. Hoping he is and can stay healthy all year.

Three years ago he had a .745 OPS. 75% of that is .559, which isn't a huge upgrade over one of Mark Belanger's down years.

Hmmmn, looks like the "Roberts is toast" crowd from last winter is now becoming the "I'm witholding judgement" crowd to cover their butts. Shouldn't they have been the I'm witholding judgement crowd last winter?

Any rational person last winter would have said I will withold judgement until I see how he looks in the spring. But instead we had many know it alls calling for him to retire because it was obvious that he was finished. Now that it is not so obvious, many of the same people are hedging by saying they will now withhold judgement. Others are saying he only looks good because he's on roids. BS. That's what I call hypocrisy.

I think it's pretty funny that all it takes is going 6-for-11 in spring training with big forearms to start ripping anyone who was skeptical about a Roberts comeback after years of essentially being unable to play at all in his 30s. I'll remain skeptical until quite a while into the season.

Remember, the precedence for coming back from years of injuries and absence to become a very good MLB player at 35 is basically Eric Davis, and that's it. In MLB history. Oh, and Roy Hobbs.

[Tony-OH]

The only thing we know for certain is that Roberts seems healthy, and is playing very well. He's driving the ball and although there still seems to be some concerns defensively, what we do know is that Brian Roberts will most likely be a our second baseman. Now, that doesn't mean he's going to be the guy he used to be, but the early results are positive, and that's a good thing.

[Since'54]

Anything is "possible" I guess. Far, FAR more likely if you want to call it that.

I would like to see some more pics to be sure, but at first glance I immediately noticed how much bigger he looked. Usually if you want to tell someone is juicing the forearm definition and size is a dead giveaway. And his look massive.

I will say this, once you do a cycle of steroids there is an unproven but accepted theory that the fibers around your muscle "stretch" to sizes that could never be achieved naturally. Even long after you stop taking them most believe you can grow back into that size because you have stretched the surrounding muscle parts out previously. Kind of like raising your muscle size "ceiling" so to speak.

Who knows, I am just happy he is looking great whatever he is doing. Looking strong and solid, far cry from previous two years.

Please do not use this kind of locker room gabble to buttress your speculation.

[mark_beckens]

Three years ago he had a .745 OPS. 75% of that is .559, which isn't a huge upgrade over one of Mark Belanger's down years.

Andino last year .211 .283 .305 .588

Roberts 4 years .283 .356 .451 .807 75-80% would be better

I didn't mean 75-80% of his former stats. I think he can be less then he was 3-4 years ago and he probably will be and still put of better numbers then anyone has in his absence.

[LookinUp]

That shows the hand eye coordination is there which honestly, was my biggest concern with him coming off a major concussion and not having played in such a long time.

The hr and doubled are a byproduct of the solid contact he is making repeatedly at the plate. That is the most encouraging thing of all so far this offseason.

And this is true of anyone who has been away from sports, even without a concussion. I'm not comparable to Roberts for about 1,000,000 reasons, but time away from sports ruins the refinement of your coordination and I'm not certain it's easy to get that back. Brian is a professional athlete, so I'm sure he's better able to gain the majority of his lost ability back, but I'm not sure that the difference between below-average ML player and above-average ML player is easy to regain. I'm sure that's the hardest part.

Time will tell.

Oh, and Gordo, stop picking fights.

[DrungoHazewood]

And this is true of anyone who has been away from sports, even without a concussion. I'm not comparable to Roberts for about 1,000,000 reasons, but time away from sports ruins the refinement of your coordination and I'm not certain it's easy to get that back. Brian is a professional athlete, so I'm sure he's better able to gain the majority of his lost ability back, but I'm not sure that the difference between below-average ML player and above-average ML player is easy to regain. I'm sure that's the hardest part.

Time will tell.

We all have to remind ourselves that these guys are the far right hand end of the distribution curve. They're less than 1000 players who've been culled out of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of players who tried to reach this level from the amateur ranks. Roberts could work his butt off and and get back in great shape and still not be good enough to be a productive major leaguer.

Or look at it this way - since 2002 there have only been eight occurrences of a 2nd baseman aged 35 or over qualifying for the batting title and being worth 1+ rWAR (none since 2007). There just aren't many old regular second basemen. Even if Roberts had never been hurt he's trying to do something that only happens in about 3/4ths of recent seasons.

Actually, there hasn't been any 2nd baseman 35 or older qualify for the batting title since 2007. Dan Uggla, age 32, was the oldest of the 19 second basemen to qualify for the batting title last year.

I'll be plesantly surprised if he's both healthy and good this year.

[Since'54]

We all have to remind ourselves that these guys are the far right hand end of the distribution curve. They're less than 1000 players who've been culled out of the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of players who tried to reach this level from the amateur ranks. Roberts could work his butt off and and get back in great shape and still not be good enough to be a productive major leaguer.

Or look at it this way - since 2002 there have only been eight occurrences of a 2nd baseman aged 35 or over qualifying for the batting title and being worth 1+ rWAR (none since 2007). There just aren't many old regular second basemen. Even if Roberts had never been hurt he's trying to do something that only happens in about 3/4ths of recent seasons.

Actually, there hasn't been any 2nd baseman 35 or older qualify for the batting title since 2007. Dan Uggla, age 32, was the oldest of the 19 second basemen to qualify for the batting title last year.

I'll be plesantly surprised if he's both healthy and good this year.

OK. You're on record. I think it's time to sit back and await developments.

[SrMeowMeow]

It's pretty obvious that everyone on this board want Roberts to succeed, El Gordo loves to hear himself talk, and, with a gun to his or her head, the vast majority of the people on this board would take the under on Roberts posting 2 WAR.