Mountcastle talk

[Keygans]

3 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

More fired up about his two walks last night than anything else. 

This is absolutely true.  Plate discipline is something this team has truly lacked for…years.   And RMC’s recent ability to take a walk is extremely encouraging!!

[O's84]

Don't forget he has a cool last name.

[Can_of_corn]

Szymborski chat:

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Is Ryan Mountcastle good for good now? He’s walking!!!!!

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Dan Szymborski: I think Mountcastle has joined the Jared Walsh zone: Better than a guy, worse than a star

 

[Sports Guy]

40 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Szymborski chat:

 

Yep…2-3 WAR guy.  

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

9 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Szymborski chat:

 

Offensively they are practically carbon copies this year. 

[Riggodrill44]

On 9/1/2021 at 10:15 AM, Moose Milligan said:

I'm of the belief (I don't think @Frobbywould agree with me, though, we've had this conversation before) that most award voters are going to heavily factor WAR within their decision making.  

These are national writers that are voting for these guys.  IMO, west coast and central writers who didn't get to see much of RMC could possibly be lazy and just vote for whoever has the highest WAR.  

If RMC somehow ends up with 30+ homers, I think he makes himself a more likely candidate, WAR be damned.  But his terrible start hampered him in this race, big time.

His terrible start/hot finish makes me wonder if he's a slow starter to begin with.  It will be interesting to see how he starts the 2022 season.

Mountcastle will never catch Garcia because of defense. Not a lot of defensive war to be had at DH/1st base.

[LA2]

On 9/1/2021 at 2:15 PM, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I thought Gibbons got hit arms that way from eating spinach. Thanks for ruining it for me. 

Interesting--I've never met anyone with forearms wider than his face.

[Can_of_corn]

98 out of the zone last night.

https://bdata-producedclips.mlb.com/0704f5a9-fbd6-4f23-91dd-2d548bb04252.mp4

[Moose Milligan]

He drilled the piss out of that ball.  IMO, looks like he might have put topspin on it, it was on a line and the way it hooked down at the end...made me think there was topspin on it.  Gotta be really strong to do that, that's big boy stuff right there.  

I don't think he can win ROY but 30+ homers and breaking Ripken's rookie record should be do-able.  

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

He drilled the piss out of that ball.  IMO, looks like he might have put topspin on it, it was on a line and the way it hooked down at the end...made me think there was topspin on it.  Gotta be really strong to do that, that's big boy stuff right there.  

I don't think he can win ROY but 30+ homers and breaking Ripken's rookie record should be do-able.  

I'm picturing a season in which he doesn't have a huge slump and it's pretty exciting.

A 4 win season from a 1B/DH is a lot of fun to watch.

[Sports Guy]

Really quick bat on that homer.  

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'm picturing a season in which he doesn't have a huge slump and it's pretty exciting.

A 4 win season from a 1B/DH is a lot of fun to watch.

I guess the question is whether he will always be a player who is prone to long slumps, or will he be more consistent in the future.   Obviously all players have hot and cold streaks.   Some players are more prone to them than others.   I have a hypothesis — totally unresearched — that players who are relatively unselective and rarely walk are more prone to highs and lows than players who are more selective.  If that’s true, then Mountcastle may have a lot of seasons resembling this one, though even then, I’d expect he can reduce the length of his slumps somewhat by virtue of more experience.   I do recall that in 2019, he was remarkably consistent month to month at Norfolk (low month was .814 OPS, high month was .918).   So, that’s a reason to hope my hypothesis will prove wrong, at least with respect to Mountcastle.

[luismatos4prez]

.255/.305/.447 in the first half (104 wRC+)

.289/.344/.599 in the second half (148 wRC+)

It could just be a hot streak, but I'm very excited by what I'm seeing from him. There's nothing unusual about his BABIP or HR/FB in the second half to suggest it's luck. His walk rate is up, K rate is down, and he's just mashing. 

[Sports Guy]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I guess the question is whether he will always be a player who is prone to long slumps, or will he be more consistent in the future.   Obviously all players have hot and cold streaks.   Some players are more prone to them than others.   I have a hypothesis — totally unresearched — that players who are relatively unselective and rarely walk are more prone to highs and lows than players who are more selective.  If that’s true, then Mountcastle may have a lot of seasons resembling this one, though even then, I’d expect he can reduce the length of his slumps somewhat by virtue of more experience.   I do recall that in 2019, he was remarkably consistent month to month at Norfolk (low month was .814 OPS, high month was .918).   So, that’s a reason to hope my hypothesis will prove wrong, at least with respect to Mountcastle.

Markakis had a lot of prolonged slumps.  Usually multiple per year and he was a selective guy.

[LA2]

13 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Markakis had a lot of prolonged slumps.  Usually multiple per year and he was a selective guy.

But his stellar defense in RF didn't slump until he lost footspeed the last two seasons or so.