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The Importance of our Outfield Prospects

Sanfran327

By Sanfran327
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Frobby
Frobby

One of my jobs on OH is to counter the annoying narrative that Hays “struggles to stay on the field.”   I feel there’s a large group of posters who remember the difficulties Hays had earlier in his ca

ThisIsBirdland
ThisIsBirdland

I guess with Hays it comes from him appearing to wear down during the season due to the nagging injuries, despite the fact that he continues to play through them. In 2023, he had a first half OPS of .

Too Tall
Too Tall

Great discussion. Don't sleep on Norby either. Not sure where to put him - infield/outfield/DH - but he may turn out to be the best hitter in the group. Member of the Norby Fan Club. 😀

Sanfran327 Hangout Grand Counsel

Sanfran327

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1 minute ago, FlaO'sFan said:

I'm not sold on Cowser in CF. 

I'm not either. No part of me thinks he can be anywhere as good as Mullins, but I don't think he'd be a liability there, either. But of the 3 guys I mentioned, he's the only one that has a shot at it, unfortunately. 

I purposefully did not mention Bradfield in this thread, and maybe I should have. I currently have major reservations about whether his bat will allow him to become an everyday player. If it does, that's wonderful. He just has a long way to go to get there.

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FlaO'sFan Major Leaguer Rising Star

FlaO'sFan

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1 minute ago, Sanfran327 said:

I'm not either. No part of me thinks he can be anywhere as good as Mullins, but I don't think he'd be a liability there, either. But of the 3 guys I mentioned, he's the only one that has a shot at it, unfortunately. 

I purposefully did not mention Bradfield in this thread, and maybe I should have. I currently have major reservations about whether his bat will allow him to become an everyday player. If it does, that's wonderful. He just has a long way to go to get there.

Yeah, I agree with this. I was going to edit my post to add that I'm probably just spoiled by Mullins. Bradfield would be a great replacement for him defensively but I have the same concerns about his offense as you do.

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Sanfran327 Hangout Grand Counsel

Sanfran327

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6 minutes ago, Too Tall said:

Great discussion. Don't sleep on Norby either. Not sure where to put him - infield/outfield/DH - but he may turn out to be the best hitter in the group. Member of the Norby Fan Club. 😀

He's definitely a guy who's bat could force his way into the ML lineup at another position. Since we have a crowded MI, I think seeing what he can do in the OF is a great idea. I think it's a fairly easy transition to move from IF to OF. 

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spleen1015 All-Star

spleen1015

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The problem for the young OF is they have to displace established, decent players. Adley & Gunnar didn't have the caliber of players in front of them. I think the same for Holliday coming into this season at 2B, though some think Wong is in his way.

You're not going to bench any of the 3 starting OF to give them full playing time. There's room in RF with Santander DHing some but how much time is there with O'Hearn & Adley getting time there as well?

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interloper Hangout Grand Counsel

interloper

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12 minutes ago, Too Tall said:

Great discussion. Don't sleep on Norby either. Not sure where to put him - infield/outfield/DH - but he may turn out to be the best hitter in the group. Member of the Norby Fan Club. 😀

Love what I've seen of Norby so far. How fast is he? I really like the idea of him being an option in COF. Curious what kind of ground he could cover out there. 

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Just Regular Hangout Grand Counsel

Just Regular

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It was easy to quick hook Cole Irvin after a few starts last April, and it won't be that tough to quick hook one or both of The Ryans for Coby Mayo if they take him off 3B, but Brandon Hyde's graduate level work this year will be when one of the starting outfielders encounters first string role loss before the fall.

The injured list will be leveraged for due veteranosity respect, as it should be, even if more serious injuries don't clear things up naturally.

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Moose Milligan Hangout Grand Counsel

Moose Milligan

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Bradfield needs to be a part of the discussion.  I don't pretend to be able to tell what kind of hitter he'll become, but I do believe there's value in a guy with 80 speed patrolling center field and getting on base hitting 8th or 9th for when the lineup turns over.

I hope he gets on base at a better clip than that, but that could be a reality for him.  

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interloper Hangout Grand Counsel

interloper

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13 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Bradfield needs to be a part of the discussion.  I don't pretend to be able to tell what kind of hitter he'll become, but I do believe there's value in a guy with 80 speed patrolling center field and getting on base hitting 8th or 9th for when the lineup turns over.

I hope he gets on base at a better clip than that, but that could be a reality for him.  

Definitely. I'm excited to see what he does this year. I'm of the opinion that in year 1, they just let these guys play and get a full season of data. Then, they start really developing and making changes with the player. I might be way off, but that's just how I see it. So it's a big year for him.

And I'll add that when we brought up Mullins initially, it wasn't like he was tearing up the minors and launching balls. He was a defense-first guy who was really good at getting bunt singles. Of course he wasn't a 1st round pick either, and I get that, but yeah. 

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now All-Star

now

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20 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

It was easy to quick hook Cole Irvin after a few starts last April, and it won't be that tough to quick hook one or both of The Ryans for Coby Mayo if they take him off 3B, but Brandon Hyde's graduate level work this year will be when one of the starting outfielders encounters first string role loss before the fall.

The injured list will be leveraged for due veteranosity respect, as it should be, even if more serious injuries don't clear things up naturally.

On that note, just read this notable quote last night in a book recently recommended via a discussion here, The Only Rule Is It Has to Work:

Quote

When fans fret about having more players than positions, the solution is always simple: Wait for the surplus to resolve itself.

 

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jabba72 Veteran All-Star

jabba72

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18 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Bradfield needs to be a part of the discussion.  I don't pretend to be able to tell what kind of hitter he'll become, but I do believe there's value in a guy with 80 speed patrolling center field and getting on base hitting 8th or 9th for when the lineup turns over.

I hope he gets on base at a better clip than that, but that could be a reality for him.  

Bradfield has CF waiting for him. No other O's OF prospect besides maybe Fabian has that advantage. All Bradfield needs to do is show some ability to get on base. 

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Moose Milligan Hangout Grand Counsel

Moose Milligan

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7 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

Bradfield has CF waiting for him. No other O's OF prospect besides maybe Fabian has that advantage. All Bradfield needs to do is show some ability to get on base. 

I don't know about being that cavalier about it.  He certainly has the inside track and they're going to give him every opportunity to show that he doesn't belong but I don't believe it's waiting for him.  He's gotta improve his hitting and take it.

They'll find someone else if they make themselves apparent.

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Aristotelian Hangout Grand Counsel

Aristotelian

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You could say similar about pitching. For long term success, we are going to need an extremely high hit rate on the McDermott-Povich types. Even for short term success we have a lot riding on Bradish and Grayson without much margin for error. 

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emmett16 Hangout Grand Counsel

emmett16

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58 minutes ago, interloper said:

Love what I've seen of Norby so far. How fast is he? I really like the idea of him being an option in COF. Curious what kind of ground he could cover out there. 

Fangraphs gives him a 50.  Hays is a 55 for comparison.  I don't believe there is any statcast data yet.  He plays a decent OF but doesn't have the strongest arm. 

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