Ryan McKenna 2022

[RZNJ]

Haha.  If you guys are happy with McKenna's AB's that's fine.  I'm not.

[waroriole]

He’s not a good player and I think he’s been fortunate this year. He can’t hit a FB, he has mental lapses. He’s a decent defender and base runner, but not base stealer. 

But, he’s a backup. In that role, he’s fine. 

[owknows]

21 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Haha.  If you guys are happy with McKenna's AB's that's fine.  I'm not.

Not at all...  just think it's noteworthy that he looks like he's seriously fooled fairly often, yet still has the 5th best average on the team.

I get a sense that he's trying to gain an edge by guessing but he's not very good at it.

 

[Tony-OH]

McKenna is a decent 4th/5th outfielder. He's got speed, plays good defense in all three outfield spots, and if pitchers are dumb enough, can hit sliders and curveballs decently. 

I agree that he's not a very smart player sometimes, but his speed makes up for some of that and he's good guy to have on the bench. Now if he hit left-handed that would be better, especially in the new Camden Yards.

I'm fine with him now, but he'll need to earn that extra outfield spot every year with the talent coming up. Who knows, maybe some team will take a chance with him and wan to try and give him every day PAs? 

 

 

[Frobby]

17 hours ago, waroriole said:

He’s not a good player and I think he’s been fortunate this year. He can’t hit a FB, he has mental lapses. He’s a decent defender and base runner, but not base stealer. 

But, he’s a backup. In that role, he’s fine. 

I’m curious, how many mental lapses have you seen from McKenna?  I recall one single play that drew some criticism on that score, in a game where he also made one outstanding defensive play.  If there have been others, either I don’t revenged them now or I wasn’t watching when they happened.   I certainly don’t consider McKenna to be particularly prone to mental lapses.   He’s just not much of a hitter.  

[RZNJ]

15 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’m curious, how many mental lapses have you seen from McKenna?  I recall one single play that drew some criticism on that score, in a game where he also made one outstanding defensive play.  If there have been others, either I don’t revenged them now or I wasn’t watching when they happened.   I certainly don’t consider McKenna to be particularly prone to mental lapses.   He’s just not much of a hitter.  

Well, the other night there was 1st and 2nd and the hitter hit a liner one hopper to LF.   The runner was getting stopped at 3B.  McKenna air mailed the throw home, missing the cutoff and short hopping the catcher who blocked it about 10 feet away but nothing bad happened.     There was almost no chance the runner was going as he was fairly shallow and the ball was hit hard.   Gotta either hit the cutoff or make a throw with a nice hop to the catcher.

[waroriole]

5 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Well, the other night there was 1st and 2nd and the hitter hit a liner one hopper to LF.   The runner was getting stopped at 3B.  McKenna air mailed the throw home, missing the cutoff and short hopping the catcher who blocked it about 10 feet away but nothing bad happened.     There was almost no chance the runner was going as he was fairly shallow and the ball was hit hard.   Gotta either hit the cutoff or make a throw with a nice hop to the catcher.

This plus another recent situation while he was a runner where he went 1st to 3rd and a poor throw from the OF saved him from being the 3rd out at 3B. 

[RZNJ]

3 minutes ago, waroriole said:

This plus another recent situation while he was a runner where he went 1st to 3rd and a poor throw from the OF saved him from being the 3rd out at 3B. 

I think it was the same game or maybe within one night of each.   He did make a perfect throw in the same game.   He has the tools but I don't think he gets the most out of them.   The hitting is the biggest thing but, hey, more power to him for being able to stick in the majors.   I just find his AB's to be way worse than even Mateo's.

[sportsfan8703]

We’re viewing McKenna as a 4th OF that mainly plays COF. On other clubs he would be a 4th OF that would play a lot in CF, where the offensive expectations are lower. He’s less than one year older than Stowers, and McKenna was never really given time in AAA. McKenna is exactly what you want in a CF. RH compliment to Mullins. Brings speed and defense off the bench. He’s not Steve Pearce or Deleon Young with the bat. 
 

Let’s assume Gunnar, Westburg, and Vavra, and Stowers are all in starting roles next year. Urias is the IF Util guy. If there is only one bench spot between Mateo and McKenna, who would you want?  

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

I think it was the same game or maybe within one night of each.   He did make a perfect throw in the same game.   He has the tools but I don't think he gets the most out of them.   The hitting is the biggest thing but, hey, more power to him for being able to stick in the majors.   I just find his AB's to be way worse than even Mateo's.

They’re bad for different reasons.  McKenna is a much more disciplined hitter than Mateo.  I don’t see him swinging at tons of pitches way outside the strike zone like Mateo does.  But McKenna can’t catch up to a good fastball, so he misses a lot of pitches you expect major league hitters to hit.   

That said, McKenna is showing less plate discipline than last year, possibly because he’s trying to get his bat going more quickly.