I’m glad DJ Stewart is having a moment

[Matt Bennett]

Never understood the DJ Stewart hate. Perhaps he is prone to being goofy and doesn’t look the athlete. I don’t think he’s gonna steal bases in the majors but he is quick. He hustles. He draws walks and makes contact. He’s had a very successful college and minor league career. He hits RHP and LHP. Now a 110 OPS+ in 229 big league plate appearances. 

I could not believe we optioned him after that short a sample size so Dwight Smith and then Mason Williams could play. 

[Moose Milligan]

Dude needs to stay healthy.  Much like Hays, he's his own worst enemy.  Stewart has shown flashes and he's definitely having a moment right now but for every time he's flashed some power or some OBP skills, it seems to be followed by an injury or a hellacious cold streak.  

He needs consistent at bats to show what he can do, the additional problem to his injuries is that he's in a crowded outfield situation.  But there's always been a good separation between his batting average and on base percentage, that's what makes him somewhat intriguing to me.  I'm glad he's giving Hyde a reason to keep him in the lineup.

[Aristotelian]

19 minutes ago, Matt Bennett said:

Never understood the DJ Stewart hate. Perhaps he is prone to being goofy and doesn’t look the athlete. I don’t think he’s gonna steal bases in the majors but he is quick. He hustles. He draws walks and makes contact. He’s had a very successful college and minor league career. He hits RHP and LHP. Now a 110 OPS+ in 229 big league plate appearances. 

I could not believe we optioned him after that short a sample size so Dwight Smith and then Mason Williams could play. 

It seems like they are doing real work at the Alternate Site. Maybe the option move was more to tweak something and give him AB's every day down there. Whatever it was seems to have worked. 

[Moose Milligan]

4 minutes ago, Matt Bennett said:

 

I could not believe we optioned him after that short a sample size so Dwight Smith and then Mason Williams could play. 

I think the outfield for the rest of the season should be Mountcastle, Mullins, Stewart.  And Mason Williams the 4th outfielder.  

I'm pretty much ready to give up on Hays, he just can't stay healthy.  Hays is better than Mullins for sure but it doesn't matter if he can't get on the field.  

[wildcard]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think the outfield for the rest of the season should be Mountcastle, Mullins, Stewart.  And Mason Williams the 4th outfielder.  

I'm pretty much ready to give up on Hays, he just can't stay healthy.  Hays is better than Mullins for sure but it doesn't matter if he can't get on the field.  

There is not reason to give up on Hays.   Nor has he giving Hyde any reason to put  him in the starting lineup on a regular basis.  I think he should take Mason Williams 4th OFer spot  when he is ready to play.  Then let him earn his at bats as he gives rest to Mountcastle, Mullins and Stewart.

[Yardball85]

5 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think the outfield for the rest of the season should be Mountcastle, Mullins, Stewart.  And Mason Williams the 4th outfielder.  

I'm pretty much ready to give up on Hays, he just can't stay healthy.  Hays is better than Mullins for sure but it doesn't matter if he can't get on the field.  

I think Roch's blog yesterday indicated that Hays should be back next week.  Mullins has been a very pleasant surprise this year, and will make a good fourth OF down the stretch with Hays back in CF IMO.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, wildcard said:

There is not reason to give up on Hays.   Nor has he giving Hyde any reason to put  him in the starting lineup on a regular basis.  I think he should take Mason Williams 4th OFer spot  when he is ready to play.  Then let him earn his at bats as he gives rest to Mountcastle, Mullins and Stewart.

 

Just now, Yardball85 said:

I think Roch's blog yesterday indicated that Hays should be back next week.  Mullins has been a very pleasant surprise this year, and will make a good fourth OF down the stretch with Hays back in CF IMO.

Folks around here talk about Hays like he's a sure thing if he can only stay healthy.

I don't see how he is.

He was bad in 20 games in 2017.

He was good in 21 games in 2019.

He was bad in 19 games in 2020.

[glenn__davis]

7 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think the outfield for the rest of the season should be Mountcastle, Mullins, Stewart.  And Mason Williams the 4th outfielder.  

I'm pretty much ready to give up on Hays, he just can't stay healthy.  Hays is better than Mullins for sure but it doesn't matter if he can't get on the field.  

I'm not so certain Hays is better than Mullins.  Hays had a great 2017 season.  That was 3 years ago at this point.  Last year he was pretty average at Norfolk in a very high offensive environment and then had a nice call up here.

I understand he's been hurt by injuries and I'm not giving up on him by any stretch, but the fact is it's been 3 years now since he showed sustained success.

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

There is not reason to give up on Hays.   Nor has he giving Hyde any reason to put  him in the starting lineup on a regular basis.  I think he should take Mason Williams 4th OFer spot  when he is ready to play.  Then let him earn his at bats as he gives rest to Mountcastle, Mullins and Stewart.

There's no reason to give up on Hays until he gets hurt again.  He's Mr. Glass.

I'm fine with him as a 4th outfielder because that limits the amount of chances that he can get hurt but Mullins has worked his way into a decent (not great) player.  

[Matt Bennett]

7 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I think the outfield for the rest of the season should be Mountcastle, Mullins, Stewart.  And Mason Williams the 4th outfielder.  

I'm pretty much ready to give up on Hays, he just can't stay healthy.  Hays is better than Mullins for sure but it doesn't matter if he can't get on the field.  

Williams does not impress me. I am very much looking forward to having Hays back. The dude is jacked, and quick, and hits the ball hard. He got hit by a pitch in the ribs, Cmon. Less than 20 game sample size to start the season. I think when he comes back you’ll see a DJ Stewart like jolt. 

Mullins surprised me greatly. After his 2019, and watching him from both sides of the plate for the first month of 2020, I wrote him off. But I don’t think he’s anything more than a 4th outfielder. I like him from the left side of the plate a lot more than the right. 

[canonfaz]

13 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

It seems like they are doing real work at the Alternate Site. Maybe the option move was more to tweak something and give him AB's every day down there. Whatever it was seems to have worked. 

I agree. I think you are going to see the spring training facility used more of a development tool next year for prospects instead of basically just a rehab location. With fewer MiLB teams and the knowledge and data they've gained this year, I think you may see a little bit of a shift on how prospects are developed in our system. I think they will spend more time at a development site and less on full season MiLB teams.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, glenn__davis said:

I'm not so certain Hays is better than Mullins.  Hays had a great 2017 season.  That was 3 years ago at this point.  Last year he was pretty average at Norfolk in a very high offensive environment and then had a nice call up here.

I understand he's been hurt by injuries and I'm not giving up on him by any stretch, but the fact is it's been 3 years now since he showed sustained success.

Fair points, it has been awhile since Hays has had a great season.  

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, Matt Bennett said:

Williams does not impress me. I am very much looking forward to having Hays back. The dude is jacked, and quick, and hits the ball hard. He got hit by a pitch in the ribs, Cmon. Less than 20 game sample size to start the season. I think when he comes back you’ll see a DJ Stewart like jolt. 

Mullins surprised me greatly. After his 2019, and watching him from both sides of the plate for the first month of 2020, I wrote him off. But I don’t think he’s anything more than a 4th outfielder. I like him from the left side of the plate a lot more than the right. 

Williams is a good defender, I think that's about it.  I really don't care if Hays is jacked, that has little to nothing to do with being able to stay on the field.  He got hit in the ribs, lots of players do...but Hays got sent to the IL for it, not everyone that gets drilled goes to the IL.  @glenn__davis said it really well, he had a stellar season in 2017, there's not been much since then.  

IIRC, Mullins is a natural lefty and has always hit better from that side.  He should scrap switch hitting and concentrate on being a lefty who can hit to the gaps and use his speed to take extra bases.  And drop a good bunt.  If he can do that, he might be able to stick as something more than a 4th outfielder.  

[Matt Bennett]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Williams is a good defender, I think that's about it.  I really don't care if Hays is jacked, that has little to nothing to do with being able to stay on the field.  He got hit in the ribs, lots of players do...but Hays got sent to the IL for it, not everyone that gets drilled goes to the IL.  @glenn__davis said it really well, he had a stellar season in 2017, there's not been much since then.  

IIRC, Mullins is a natural lefty and has always hit better from that side.  He should scrap switch hitting and concentrate on being a lefty who can hit to the gaps and use his speed to take extra bases.  And drop a good bunt.  If he can do that, he might be able to stick as something more than a 4th outfielder.  

I do find it funny that my defense of Stewart is entirely statistically based, and my defense of Hays is despite his statistics. I imagine the many people think of Hays in high regard the same way they think of Yusniel Diaz. Despite a couple lack luster seasons, the tools/talents are too good not to project into the big leagues. Some guys never figure it out but I’m not writing off Hays yet. For some reason I actually like him more after this season than I did after last season. No statistical measures being used, just my eye test. I wish he would wear batting gloves though. 

[Moose Milligan]

3 minutes ago, Matt Bennett said:

I do find it funny that my defense of Stewart is entirely statistically based, and my defense of Hays is despite his statistics. I imagine the many people think of Hays in high regard the same way they think of Yusniel Diaz. Despite a couple lack luster seasons, the tools/talents are too good not to project into the big leagues. Some guys never figure it out but I’m not writing off Hays yet. For some reason I actually like him more after this season than I did after last season. No statistical measures being used, just my eye test. I wish he would wear batting gloves though. 

I think we can all agree that Hays has some interesting tools, however he just can't stay healthy, which sucks.  I'm not so concerned about him figuring it out as I am concerned about him not being able to stay on the field long enough to figure it out. 

Stewart's OBP is the only thing that keeps me somewhat interested in him.