What made Gunnar the #1 prospect in baseball and where is that guy?

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

May have had something to do with the fact that he was playing SS with a reputation for strong defense there. But I have been somewhat disappointed with the defense we've seen. It appears Carroll is more of an Austin Hays level outfielder. 

Sure..and age is a big key as well. He’s bigger physically as well.

Still, Carroll just seems to be the better all around player. 
 

I would guess projection was a big thing there.

But even getting beyond that specific comp, just the struggles vs lefties is something that surprises me in terms of him being ranked so high. 
 

Oh well, as long as he figures it out, none of this matters.  Just an observation more than anything else.

 

[Aristotelian]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I actually don’t believe he looks overmatched Vs lefties. I haven’t seen him bailing out or flailing away. 
 

But I’m also not seeing him hit the ball that hard either.

My take as well. I would describe it more as "holes in his swing" rather than getting fooled and taking bad swings. Similar to Stowers.

[Sports Guy]

I haven’t seen every at bat but I see Henderson rolling over a lot of pitches vs lefties. He needs to learn to go the other way and use all fields.

[bpilktree]

At some point you have to wonder if our prospects maybe have been a bit overrated as a whole.  Henderson, Grayson, Adley(to a point as his catching and throwing have been average).  
 

For every Corbin Carroll there is a few Jarred Kelenic, Jo Addel, and Bobby Witt Jr guys.   

[deward]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I haven’t seen every at bat but I see Henderson rolling over a lot of pitches vs lefties. He needs to learn to go the other way and use all fields.

This is what has stood out to me this year, it doesn't appear like he's using the same all fields approach that I saw last year, or at least not nearly as consistently. He's demonstrated the ability before, so it should be fixable.

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

At some point you have to wonder if our prospects maybe have been a bit overrated as a whole.  Henderson, Grayson, Adley(to a point as his catching and throwing have been average).  
 

For every Corbin Carroll there is a few Jarred Kelenic, Jo Addel, and Bobby Witt Jr guys.   

Don’t be so quick to put Witt in that group and Kellenic is bouncing back this year…finally.

 

[Aristotelian]

14 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

At some point you have to wonder if our prospects maybe have been a bit overrated as a whole.  Henderson, Grayson, Adley(to a point as his catching and throwing have been average).  
 

For every Corbin Carroll there is a few Jarred Kelenic, Jo Addel, and Bobby Witt Jr guys.   

I do not think Adley is overrated. His 162-game WAR is 5.8. I wonder if he has a dead arm type of issue. Those often work themselves out. He may not be a 30-40 HR hitter but that is OK with me if you are leading the league in walks and putting up 130 OPS+ as a C. 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, deward said:

Gunnar had an OPS of .793 vs LHP in Norfolk last year, in nearly 100 PA, so it probably didn't look like as big a hole as it appears now. He didn't hit lefties in his call-up last year, but neither did Carroll. I suspect that Gunnar was getting the nod over Carroll coming into the year due to A) being a year younger, B) the ability to play SS, and C) better power projection due to being much bigger. I also wouldn't be surprised if some discount was applied to Carroll's AAA performance due to being in the PCL. 

Carroll has obviously gotten off to the better start this year, but that doesn't mean that Gunnar doesn't still have the potential to catch and surpass him over time.

There is no doubt that Carroll is doing what you expect from impact players to do right off the bat. That's not to say Henderson won't be that guy at some point, but it's not even close that Carroll has been the better overall major league player so far in their careers. Besides his arm strength, Carroll doesn't appear to have a hole in his game. 

They have huge differences in K% and WHIF % and defensively Gunnar has been a disappointment this year so far. 

 

 

 

[LA2]

2 hours ago, AlbNYfan said:

I'm sure he'll be fine, but like all he has some minor flaws that are magnified because of his #1 ranking. I wouldn't call his speed "blazing" but it's very good. I think his fielding will improve, his throws have been all over the place. He certainly has a very good eye, but I think great hitters can take the close pitch, drive it and do damage. Both he and Adley have the ability to do damage, not just take walks.

Excellent point.

[sportsfan8703]

15 hours ago, wildcard said:

796 OPS vs righties before tonight's game.

I sure do appreciate the bizarre posts this two game losing streak has brought out. It’s quite refreshing from me debating the Jorge Lopez trade versus the board. Lmao. Thanks @Sports Guyfor having my back.  The “sports” gotta stick together. 
 

[bpilktree]

5 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Don’t be so quick to put Witt in that group and Kellenic is bouncing back this year…finally.

 

Kellenic had a nice April but was just average since and his strikeout numbers are as bad as you see. 76 strike outs which is 15 more then Mountcastle has.   The Mariners actually have 4 of the top 10 guys in baseball in most strike outs.  It is pretty obvious why they have not been playing like expected as too many guys that can’t put bat on the ball.

[bpilktree]

4 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

There is no doubt that Carroll is doing what you expect from impact players to do right off the bat. That's not to say Henderson won't be that guy at some point, but it's not even close that Carroll has been the better overall major league player so far in their careers. Besides his arm strength, Carroll doesn't appear to have a hole in his game. 

They have huge differences in K% and WHIF % and defensively Gunnar has been a disappointment this year so far. 

 

 

 

You have no wonder if the pressure of learning a defensive position and still learning to hit major league pitching at same time is an issue.  Manny learn on the fly but not everyone is Manny Machado.   The same might have been the issue with Bobby Witt Jr.  He was splitting playing SS and 3rd last year. 

[MurphDogg]

Seems fine to me.

[Spy Fox]

Two game winning HRs on this road trip. 

[sportsfan8703]

The board crashed. People were ready to jump ship. Wow.