Adley Rutschman 2023

[deward]

44 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I agree on everything you say except for Trout. I am not as high on him now as some. He definitely is showing signs of age. I’m not sure he can handle high heat very well. Unless balls are down in the zone (in his sweet spot) I think he can be pitched to. Also, his arm in the outfield has become a liability. And he is starting to become injury prone. I would take Adley over him now and definitely going forward.

Despite missing 40 games last year, Trout had the third highest HR total of his career. His OPS was right on his career norm. His issues staying healthy are well-documented, he doesn't steal bases anymore (probably related to the first point), and he is probably average at best in CF these days, but he hasn't lost a thing at the plate yet.

[Bemorewins]

15 minutes ago, deward said:

Despite missing 40 games last year, Trout had the third highest HR total of his career. His OPS was right on his career norm. His issues staying healthy are well-documented, he doesn't steal bases anymore (probably related to the first point), and he is probably average at best in CF these days, but he hasn't lost a thing at the plate yet.

Points well taken. I don’t want to argue about Trout in an Adley thread.

In the words of Buck Showalter, “I like our guy”.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

Points well taken. I don’t want to argue about Trout in an Adley thread.

In the words of Buck Showalter, “I like our guy”.

Yes, back on point, Adley has been worth 0.7 rWAR/fWAR in 11 games.  That’s a 10.3 rWAR pace.  That’s definitely MVP territory.   I thought before the season started that an 8 WAR season was realistically possible, and I still think that.  He was on a 7 WAR per 162 games pace last season (having missed the first 40 games), and better than that after he got through the first few weeks.   

[sportsfan8703]

37 minutes ago, deward said:

Despite missing 40 games last year, Trout had the third highest HR total of his career. His OPS was right on his career norm. His issues staying healthy are well-documented, he doesn't steal bases anymore (probably related to the first point), and he is probably average at best in CF these days, but he hasn't lost a thing at the plate yet.

Trout needs to lay off the juice. 

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Trout needs to lay off the juice. 

Okay, that's completely unfounded.

[sportsfan8703]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Okay, that's completely unfounded.

You’re right and I don’t want to argue about Mike Trout. He’s an overrated player on an underachieving team that quite frankly only affects us the few games we play them. 
 

Adley could finish 2nd in MVP. Ohtahni would have to get hurt for 1st. 

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

You’re right and I don’t want to argue about Mike Trout. He’s an overrated player on an underachieving team that quite frankly only affects us the few games we play them. 
 

Adley could finish 2nd in MVP. Ohtahni would have to get hurt for 1st. 

Overrated player?  Lol. That’s absurd. You should be banned from talking about baseball with an opinion like that.

 

[Frobby]

From Fangraphs:

“Adley Rutschman was a five-win player in his debut year in only 113 games, but he somehow still has room to grow. When I watched him last year, he looked rushed and overmatched on the right-hand side; in 115 plate appearances against lefties in 2022, he had a 64 wRC+. That isn’t good, and there is no question he looked to improve upon it in the offseason. The difference in fluidity from last year to this year is stark….

“He opened his stance a bit relative to last year, which has allowed him to use his hips more. Against Framber Valdez, his rotation was rushed, and his hips ceased to move. He had nothing to load into. In theory, a hitter loads into their hips and can hang there and wait to unload until they make their swing decision. If they never create that movement, then it can be difficult to adjust to different speeds. By opening his stance a few more inches, Rutschman has created space to cue his hips to rotate. The early returns have been there so far, with a .487 xwOBACON (13 batted balls) compared to last year’s .294 mark (73 batted balls), but we’ll see if this continues to trend in the right direction.”

Click on the link for some video illustrations that accompany the article (which also discusses three other players).

Frankly, I never doubted that Adley would hit better from the right side this year.  Last year was an anomaly for him. 

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Adley could finish 2nd in MVP. Ohtahni would have to get hurt for 1st. 

I’d never say something like that 11 games into the season.  

[backdoorslider]

19 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’d never say something like that 11 games into the season.  

Hes an all star caliber pitcher and hitter. It took 62 non juiced homers and a division victory to get the nod over Ohtani. They are giving it to Ohtani this year unless somebody has a historic season again. By the way, I bet $100 on Adley to win MVP before the season started. Odds were +3000

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, backdoorslider said:

Hes an all star caliber pitcher and hitter. It took 62 non juiced homers and a division victory to get the nod over Ohtani. They are giving it to Ohtani this year unless somebody has a historic season again. By the way, I bet $100 on Adley to win MVP before the season started. Odds were +3000

Well, you are assuming Ohtani won’t slip significantly from his 2021-22 levels.  At the moment, he shows no signs of slipping, so your assumption may well prove correct.  But it’s still a long season and unexpected things happen in baseball all the time.  So, I’m not handing out an MVP trophy on April 12.   

[backdoorslider]

20 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Well, you are assuming Ohtani won’t slip significantly from his 2021-22 levels.  At the moment, he shows no signs of slipping, so your assumption may well prove correct.  But it’s still a long season and unexpected things happen in baseball all the time.  So, I’m not handing out an MVP trophy on April 12.   

Neither am I, but the people who vote already are.

[Sports Guy]

It appears that Adley is going to be our “Tiger Woods”

IE, the guy who came in with so much hype but he lives up to it anyway.

Id venture to say that he could be the most important player the organization has had since Ripken. 
 

The optics of signing him long term really mean something imo.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

It appears that Adley is going to be our “Tiger Woods”

IE, the guy who came in with so much hype but he lives up to it anyway.

Id venture to say that he could be the most important player the organization has had since Ripken. 
 

The optics of signing him long term really mean something imo.

Manny was that guy.

Or are you suggesting the level of hype was lower?

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Manny was that guy.

Or are you suggesting the level of hype was lower?

I’d definitely say it was lower.   But still very high.