I’m about ready to give up on DJ Stewart

[Aristotelian]

29 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

His absolute inability to play the outfield is the real issue. Is recent hot streak is nice. And the ability to draw a walk is huge, particularly with the average finally over the Mendoza line to bring the OBP up to a solid area. Stewart certainly has a place on the team the rest of the year. He probably also has one next year, but beyond that? Probably not. I also won't lose sleep if he's cut this winter to open space to protect someone with a bit more of a future from the Rule-5 draft. 

All things considered, is bat is okay, but not good enough to make up for the defensive issues nor good enough to take the full-time DH role. Ideally, when you have three strong OF options and a 4th OF that can actually play the OF at an average-or-better level, I'm not sure there's space on the team for a defensive liability OF to get a handful of ABs. 

Right now, he's an insurance policy for Hays and Santander. But I'd rather see McKenna moving forward (even if his strong AAA showing hasn't translated in the Majors). And I think soon, Neustrom, Stowers, Watson, Rizer...and eventually Cowser, Kjerstad (if he can ever get on the field), and others make Stewart obsolete possibly as this winter and almost certainly by the end of 2022. 

Too bad, because this team sorely needs OBP as well as lefty bats. He really would be a great fit if he could bump his average up to like .250. .740 OPS from a full time DH isn't great but isn't terrible either. Really depends on what happens with Mancini. If he is traded I think you could live with DJ as near full time DH making $500k for another year. If we keep Mancini, then we probably need to get rid of DJ to make room for the guys you mention. Mundy also a lefty DH on the horizon. 

 

[accinfo]

4 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Too bad, because this team sorely needs OBP as well as lefty bats. He really would be a great fit if he could bump his average up to like .250. .740 OPS from a full time DH isn't great but isn't terrible either. Really depends on what happens with Mancini. If he is traded I think you could live with DJ as near full time DH making $500k for another year. If we keep Mancini, then we probably need to get rid of DJ to make room for the guys you mention. Mundy also a lefty DH on the horizon. 

 

How do you have a full time DH that only hits 199 only batting against right-handed pitching?

[GuidoSarducci]

53 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

If he could hit .250 his on base percentage would probably be close to .400 or over it.  

I agree with @jamalshw, it's unfortunate but his defense makes him a liability.  

I don’t think the two (hits and OBP) are independent, if he was more aggressive at the plate he might get more hits, but that would also mean some of those hits would have been walks had he not been so aggressive.  It could very well cancel out and not move the OBP needle very much. Or even decrease it. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by GuidoSarducci

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

He’s on a nice little mini-streak now.  In his last 10 games he’s hit .250/.419/.833 with 2 doubles and 4 homers.   BA up to .203, OPS to .711.   Hopefully he stays hot.   

We can always hope that he gets and stays hot and maybe can be moved this offseason, but I still see him DFA'd before the rosters are set for the Rule 5 draft. 

[Aristotelian]

56 minutes ago, accinfo said:

How do you have a full time DH that only hits 199 only batting against right-handed pitching?

Well, that's why I said .250 would be nice, but also batting average can be overrated if he has high OBP and power, which DJ does. As it is his OPS is about league average which I would accept as long as he is getting paid the minimum or close to it. I'd rather have, say, DJ plus Anthony Descalifini than Mancini and Spencer Watkins. 

[Philip]

I was thinking of a comparison for Stewart, a low average high power guy, who was valuable despite his limitations. Joey Gallo came to mind:

 

Joey Gallo 27 pick 39

DJ Stewart 27 pick 25

 

Gallo  pa 496 Hr 30 Avg .207 obp .365

Stewart pa 281 hr 11 avg .203 obp .327
 

Even if you double Stewart’s production, it would still be bad. And Gallo is a very fast gold glove outfielder. Stewart, to put it kindly, is not.

He’s never been able to use his good eye to compensate for his negatives. I’ve said before that even if he doesn’t hit, McKenna is a more valuable asset to the team right now, and I don’t mind cutting bait on Stewart. The Diamondbacks will snatch him up and good for them. Maybe he can be something for them.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Philip
Addendum

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

20 minutes ago, Philip said:

I was thinking of a comparison for Stewart, a low average high power guy, who was valuable despite his limitations. Joey Gallo came to mind:

 

Joey Gallo 27 pick 39

DJ Stewart 27 pick 25

 

Gallo  pa 496 Hr 30 Avg .207 obp .365

Stewart pa 281 hr 11 avg .203 obp .327
 

Even if you double Stewart’s production, it would still be bad. And Gallo is a very fast gold glove outfielder. Stewart, to put it kindly, is not.

He’s never been able to use his good eye to compensate for his negatives. I’ve said before that even if he doesn’t hit, McKenna is a more valuable asset to the team right now, and I don’t mind cutting bait on Stewart. The Diamondbacks will snatch him up and good for them. Maybe he can be something for them.

Stewart to have any value to a team needs to put up an .800 OPS at a minimum, but to do that Stewart has to be a platoon player hitting against RHP.

A platoon DH with no value as a defender is going to have a hard time sticking as an MLB player unless they hit really well. And Stewart has never been able to hit really well over the course of a season. 

[SteveA]

6 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Stewart to have any value to a team needs to put up an .800 OPS at a minimum, but to do that Stewart has to be a platoon player hitting against RHP.

A platoon DH with no value as a defender is going to have a hard time sticking as an MLB player unless they hit really well. And Stewart has never been able to hit really well over the course of a season. 

Benny Ayala
Terry Crowley
Jose Morales
Jim Dwyer (OK, he had a little value as a defender but he was no Gold Glover)

Poor Earl must be turning over in his grave.  He used to build a bench around guys like that.

But now we gotta have 9 guys in the bullpen.   Oh well.

[Moose Milligan]

2 hours ago, GuidoSarducci said:

I don’t think the two (hits and OBP) are independent, if he was more aggressive at the plate he might get more hits, but that would also mean some of those hits would have been walks had he not been so aggressive.  It could very well cancel out and not move the OBP needle very much. Or even decrease it. 

I see what you're saying but he still has a good separation between his batting average and OBP.  IMO, that doesn't necessarily have to change if the batting average goes up.  

Chris Davis (shut up, I know) was usually around a .100 point difference between the two no matter how bad the batting average was. 

But even if we're going by your viewpoint, if he hit .250 I think his OBP would be .350 at least.  

[Spy Fox]

I feel like Stewart's dream season would resemble Pedro Alvarez's 2016 with us. 22 HRs in 109 games and a .249/.322/.504/.826 line.   

Solid hitting, but from a DH that was still only about 1 WAR and he struggled to get playing time the next two seasons. 

[Philip]

1 hour ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

Stewart to have any value to a team needs to put up an .800 OPS at a minimum, but to do that Stewart has to be a platoon player hitting against RHP.

A platoon DH with no value as a defender is going to have a hard time sticking as an MLB player unless they hit really well. And Stewart has never been able to hit really well over the course of a season. 

Exactly. And that’s pretty clear, so there’s no reason to keep him around. Send him down or away and bring up McKenna, who can be very useful, and might improve as he gets used to MLB pitching. Even if he doesn’t, he can still run and defend, and is a useful LIDR( late inning defensive replacement) Stewart is nothing.

[Yardball85]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

He’s on a nice little mini-streak now.  In his last 10 games he’s hit .250/.419/.833 with 2 doubles and 4 homers.   BA up to .203, OPS to .711.   Hopefully he stays hot.   

Lots of walks too. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

I was thinking of a comparison for Stewart, a low average high power guy, who was valuable despite his limitations. Joey Gallo came to mind:

 

Joey Gallo 27 pick 39

DJ Stewart 27 pick 25

 

Gallo  pa 496 Hr 30 Avg .207 obp .365

Stewart pa 281 hr 11 avg .203 obp .327
 

Even if you double Stewart’s production, it would still be bad. And Gallo is a very fast gold glove outfielder. Stewart, to put it kindly, is not.

He’s never been able to use his good eye to compensate for his negatives. I’ve said before that even if he doesn’t hit, McKenna is a more valuable asset to the team right now, and I don’t mind cutting bait on Stewart. The Diamondbacks will snatch him up and good for them. Maybe he can be something for them.

Well, Gallo turned out to be a very good pick at 39.   He was drafted in 2012 and after the 2013 season he was already a consensus top 100 pick and after 2014 he was in the top 10.   He was a high upside high school guy who panned out. I should add that though he was picked 39th, he received a $2.25 mm bonus, commensurate with what players drafted in the 14-18 range received.   So, clearly he had slipped due to bonus demands.   

I don’t think anyone believed that Stewart had the kind of power that Gallo does.    If anything. Stewart’s shown a bit more power in the majors than I expected.   He’s hit for a lower average than I expected, though.  

 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Well, Gallo turned out to be a very good pick at 39.   He was drafted in 2012 and after the 2013 season he was already a consensus top 100 pick and after 2014 he was in the top 10.   He was a high upside high school guy who panned out. I should add that though he was picked 39th, he received a $2.25 mm bonus, commensurate with what players drafted in the 14-18 range received.   So, clearly he had slipped due to bonus demands.   

I don’t think anyone believed that Stewart had the kind of power that Gallo does.    If anything. Stewart’s shown a bit more power in the majors than I expected.   He’s hit for a lower average than I expected, though.  

 

I think Gallo is a pretty good defender too, from what I understand.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, SteveA said:

Benny Ayala
Terry Crowley
Jose Morales
Jim Dwyer (OK, he had a little value as a defender but he was no Gold Glover)

Poor Earl must be turning over in his grave.  He used to build a bench around guys like that.

But now we gotta have 9 guys in the bullpen.   Oh well.

Stewart is a player I really wanted to see succeed because he is selective at the plate and will draw a walk. If Mancini gets traded then I think we see DJ get one more chance next spring to hang as a DH/1B. 

I could see DJ doing well in the KBO or NPB if he isn't able to keep playing MLB.