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Ryan McKenna 2022

RZNJ

By RZNJ
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RZNJ Hangout Grand Counsel

RZNJ

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I like the guy.  I root for him.   I even picked him for breakout player of the year.   What can I say?   I took a shot.   He's got some power.  He's fast.  He has a strong arm.  BUT when I watch McKenna hit I gotta say I feel embarassed for him.   He misses pitches by a foot.    Two sliders 6 inches off the plate.  Swing and miss.  Not even close.   Takes the 3rd one because even he's not dumb enough to think he'll get something different.  Unfortunately, he gets a 4th and swings and misses that one by a foot also.   Can't catch up with the fastball.   Fishes for the breaking ball out of the zone.   The question is how does he do enough to survive?   He is one the worst and hate to say it but one of the dumbest hitters I've ever seen.   He has no clue how pitchers are working him.    I've said this before.   He actually has a nice stroke to RF but he tries to pull almost everything.    He's very fast and he did go 1st to 3rd the other night and it turned out great.  One problem.   There were two outs and if the throw had been on the bag at 3B he would have been dead to rights.   There are unwritten rules in baseball.    Trying to take 3rd base with 2 outs is a bad risk.   Of course, he made it so the announcers praised the fact that he did it.    I like Ryan.  He's talented.   I just wish we had an outfielder who could field and give you a professional AB off the bench.   Despite his game winning homer and some decent moments I just don't feel he's a ML hitter.   Some of his AB's are just embarrassingly bad.   Ok.  Too mean?   Am I on an island?   Does anyone agree?

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Pickles Hangout Grand Counsel

Pickles

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For me, he's kind of the inverse D.J. Stewart.  He's a fringe MLer, and he's seen so much time up here because of the unusual circumstances of our franchise the last few years, and you know we'll be truly in a position to compete when he's not on the roster.

That said, his speed and defense provide him some value, so I could see a role for him on a better team that I simply can't envision for D.J.

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NCRaven Hangout Grand Counsel

NCRaven

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I am becoming convinced that Ryan isn't a bad 4th or 5th outfielder.  I don't mean that to sound like damning with faint praise.  He can play any of the outfield positions, has speed, and isn't downright embarrassing at the plate this year.  You can use him as a late inning defensive replacement, pinch runner and give him an occassional start to rest another outfielder.  Don't think he'd ever be good enough to be a regular starter, but I'm not in a hurry to DFA him anymore either.

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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His numbers are improved from last year, and by rWAR he’s been worth more than Santander.   Now, I don’t believe that, but it shows he has some value.  

I do agree that he really struggles with fastballs.    I doubt that problem goes away.   I don’t think his hitting will improve much from here, but at 91 OPS+ (compared to 56 last year), he’s a viable 4th OF.
 

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Just Regular Hangout Grand Counsel

Just Regular

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For some time I've felt the best thing McKenna has going for him is @MurphDogg is I think still in his corner.

I agree he was lucky not good on the 1st to 3rd in the Texas series.

Hyde in the postgame presser after the big game was effusive with the normal cliches about learning to become a pro, etc.

I hope in the offseason we purchase one good Bat, Mateo-Urias-Vavra are the 2023 bench, almost anyone is a lightly used backup C and virtually no one else gets many of the 7000 PA.    Until Cowser/Kjerstad start looking like they can outplay the weaker of Santander/Stowers.

If we trade Santander, boy is the Joey Gallo pillow contract coming to town.    I hope our internal evaluation is Santander promising enough to hold.

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owknows All-Star

owknows

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34 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I like the guy.  I root for him.   I even picked him for breakout player of the year.   What can I say?   I took a shot.   He's got some power.  He's fast.  He has a strong arm.  BUT when I watch McKenna hit I gotta say I feel embarassed for him.   He misses pitches by a foot.    Two sliders 6 inches off the plate.  Swing and miss.  Not even close.   Takes the 3rd one because even he's not dumb enough to think he'll get something different.  Unfortunately, he gets a 4th and swings and misses that one by a foot also.   Can't catch up with the fastball.   Fishes for the breaking ball out of the zone.   The question is how does he do enough to survive?   He is one the worst and hate to say it but one of the dumbest hitters I've ever seen.   He has no clue how pitchers are working him.    I've said this before.   He actually has a nice stroke to RF but he tries to pull almost everything.    He's very fast and he did go 1st to 3rd the other night and it turned out great.  One problem.   There were two outs and if the throw had been on the bag at 3B he would have been dead to rights.   There are unwritten rules in baseball.    Trying to take 3rd base with 2 outs is a bad risk.   Of course, he made it so the announcers praised the fact that he did it.    I like Ryan.  He's talented.   I just wish we had an outfielder who could field and give you a professional AB off the bench.   Despite his game winning homer and some decent moments I just don't feel he's a ML hitter.   Some of his AB's are just embarrassingly bad.   Ok.  Too mean?   Am I on an island?   Does anyone agree?

For all of his bad AB's and his rough start, he still has the 5th best Batting Average on the team.

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wildcard Hangout Grand Counsel

wildcard

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McKenna is a good outfielder defensively at all three positions.   As a hitter he plays about 25 % of the time and sits the rest.   No consistency of playing time.    His .256 avg is pretty good when his playing time is considered.  He runs well.  He has proven at AAA when he get playing time he hits well. 299/404/649/1053 at AAA in 134 at bats.  And he is young (25 years old).

If he every gets playing time he might be pretty good.

McKenna has one option left that makes him valuable to be sent up and down when needed.   Some far he has spent 13 days at AAA.  His  time in AAA will not count  as using up the option for this year  until he reaches 20 days.

If next year he does not have the option then maybe he is not as valuable to the team.

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sportsfan8703 Hangout Grand Counsel

sportsfan8703

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Damn. This guy can’t catch a break. He just had a big hit last night. I see a guy that has the same OPS that our AS CF had 2 weeks ago. You can win with McKenna as a 4th OF. 
 

Why does this dude catch flack?  He never really got to play in AAA, and when he got sent back down he’s mashed. He is a really good OF at three spots. I know we all want a Steave Pearce type that can play CF. 

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Flash- bd Veteran All-Star

Flash- bd

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35 minutes ago, Pickles said:

For me, he's kind of the inverse D.J. Stewart.  He's a fringe MLer, and he's seen so much time up here because of the unusual circumstances of our franchise the last few years, and you know we'll be truly in a position to compete when he's not on the roster.

That said, his speed and defense provide him some value, so I could see a role for him on a better team that I simply can't envision for D.J.

Just feel that DJ has the bat to be a starter somewhere if given the chance, but if people much more knowledgeable than me about baseball (which is mostly everybody) have seen enough of his bat at the MLB level to say he's outmatched there, I'll be happy to concede I am wrong. 

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interloper Hangout Grand Counsel

interloper

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I literally do not understand in what world he is batting .256 with an OPS approaching .700. Because every time I watch a Ryan McKenna AB he is striking out and like OP said, missing the ball by a hilarious degree. Just embarrassing ABs all the time. 

He strikes out 100% of the time but manages to be worth 0.8 WAR lol. 

It's like a magic trick, I don't get it. I guess credit to him though, he keeps finding a way to stick around and impact games. Hyde loves him. I don't particularly enjoy him as a player, but he does try hard. 

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