Ryan Mountcastle 2024

[interloper]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

.800 isn't an arbitrary threshold.  It's pretty much a benchmark for a productive hitter.  

I don't know what you mean by "quality ML bat" and "knows how to hit."  Like, I think I know what you mean, but those are platitudes that get thrown around far too often to the point that they don't mean anything at all.  But when I see him flail away on a low and outside slider for the umpteenth time, I don't necessarily consider that a quality ML bat who knows how to hit.  He can run into a fastball from time to time and crush mistakes, but I don't know if I'd put him in the category of a "professional hitter" like I would for Adley.

I agree that Mounty has a place here, but I also don't find myself considering him super core member of the team.  He's a fan favorite and understandably so, and that's fine, per your comp to Trey Mancini.  But Mancini never was long for this team, I don't believe Mountcastle is either.  

Alright well ya know that's like fine mannnn

[btdart20]

He hits the ball hard with holes in his swing.  Once pitchers figured him out, he hasn't taken the next step forward.  A plus year from him will go a long wag to scoring a ton of runs.

[RZNJ]

Mountcastle has always been a good hitter who gets himself out by swinging at pitches out of the zone.   He looks like a professional hitter when he can lay off those pitches.   It appears to me that he started doing that in the 2nd half last year.  Maybe it had something to do with losing more than half his job to Ryan O’Hearn or maybe it’s just a coincidence.

[ChuckS]

I don't get too high or low on Mountcastle.  

When he's hot he's hot.  When he's cold he's cold. 

Reminds me a lot of Adam Jones, in that if he could just add a little bit of plate discipline, he could go from a good hitter to a great hitter. 

He's got about a 7 percent walk rate over his career.  If he could increase that to 9 or 10 percent, it could do wonders for his overall numbers IMO. 

[interloper]

I think it's funny that people don't realize just how many sub-.800 OPS hitters this WS-caliber team has. .800 is absolutely without question an arbitrary goal post number for offense. 

[forphase1]

3 hours ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Things to take into consideration when evaluating Mounty,

- Vertigo

- The Wall

- Drafted and developed under a different regime. 

- He’s only 12 months older than Adley.  Meaning he can grow into being a more “professional hitter”.

Who knows how much the vertigo affected him?  Who knows how much the Wall got into his head?  How much does the current coaching staff/analytics dept help him compared to previously. 

- Vertigo - True.  All players have injuries/illnesses they go through.  His was fairly unique, but still.

- The Wall - ALL hitters have to take account the park in which they play 1/2 of their games.  Be it a launch pad, pitchers park, ridiculously easy right field porches, etc.

- Drafted and developed under a different regime.  - Why?  This should have no bearing on the player he is today.  Either he's talented and a good hitter or he isn't.  Who drafted him is not relevant at this point.

- He’s only 12 months older than Adley.  Meaning he can grow into being a more “professional hitter”. - Sure.  But he's had more time in the MLB than Adley, thus more time to hone his craft at the highest level.  At 27 and with over 1600 MLB at bats, I think it's pretty safe to say that what we've seen from him is pretty much what we are going to get with him.  Small, marginal improvements are possible, but I don't expect him to vary much from his recent/career numbers/trends at this point.  

-How much does the current coaching staff/analytics dept help him compared to previously.  - At this point it is what it is.  This is no longer a 'new' regime.  The coaching staff/analytics have now had years to 'fix' him.  I'd say whatever work they COULD do with him they HAVE done with him.  

 

I like him.  He's a good, but flawed, player.  He has value.  But like many other players on our team (Hays for example) he's not SO good that we shouldn't consider moving on from him when/if we have a talented player who is ready to take his place.  Now we don't currently have that at 1st base, though perhaps a Mayo/Kjerstad will fill that role sometime in the future.  We will see.  

Edited March 29 by forphase1
Spelling

[DirtyBird]

3 hours ago, interloper said:

Well, there are plenty of good ML hitters who don't crack the .800 OPS mark, which is just an arbitrary threshold anyway. What I meant was just that he's a quality ML bat who knows how to hit and passes the eye test of a solid MLer. He's a guy you didn't realize you miss when he's not in the lineup, and we sort of take him for granted simply because we're foaming at the mouth for Coby Mayo, understandably. 

I much rather go by OPS+. Mounty is at 114, so 14% above average. You'd like it to be higher for a 1B, sure, but he also brings other skills like being decently fast, a good defender, and a knack for murdering the Blue Jays. If Mounty had stuck at 3B, we're probably not complaining as much about him. 

Let's compare him to someone like Trey Mancini, who had 2 seasons that can be described as better than any of Mounty's full seasons, but then completely fell off a cliff. I'll take Mounty's steady brand of "I wish he was slightly better but I'll take it" production. He's a solid player. 

I’d he a “professional hitter” against RHP?

[interloper]

1 minute ago, DirtyBird said:

I’d he a “professional hitter” against RHP?

He's better against lefties. Doesn't not make him a good ML hitter. Not sure why you're so salty about so many of my posts man. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, DirtyBird said:

I’d he a “professional hitter” against RHP?

I'd he?

Is this supposed to be is he?

In 2022 his OPS was higher against RHP than LHP.  In 2020 his OPS was higher against RHP than LHP.

Hit extreme platoon splits last year may be a one year anomaly.

[DirtyBird]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I'd he?

Is this supposed to be is he?

In 2022 his OPS was higher against RHP than LHP.  In 2020 his OPS was higher against RHP than LHP.

Hit extreme platoon splits last year may be a one year anomaly.

2020, where he played 35 games and 140 plate appearances. Aren’t you a “small sample size” critic?

2022, where his overall OPS was .729 - pretty average.

 

[Big Mac]

Each full season he has been in the league, his K% has decreased and BB% has increased.  He's turned into a hitter that has almost exactly league average K rates, slightly below average BB rates to go along with excellent batted ball data.

It's overall a pretty strong hitter profile but I agree with the sentiment he's not some player we can't move on from as he gets more expensive and we may have cheaper options internally with higher upside. 

[DirtyBird]

11 minutes ago, interloper said:

He's better against lefties. Doesn't not make him a good ML hitter. Not sure why you're so salty about so many of my posts man. 

Not salty, and I like Mountcastle. He’s a nice bat, who would fit in nicely as a power threat in the 6 or 7 spot in a really good lineup. Just wouldn’t consider him a “professional hitter”, who I’d be confident on putting a quality AB together the vast majority of his chances.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

2020, where he played 35 games and 140 plate appearances. Aren’t you a “small sample size” critic?

2022, where his overall OPS was .729 - pretty average.

 

For his career, his splits are .742/.851.   That’s a little more skewed than the average RHB, but the .742 is still a very solid RxR split.  Last year the league RHB average was .713/.760.  

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, DirtyBird said:

2020, where he played 35 games and 140 plate appearances. Aren’t you a “small sample size” critic?

2022, where his overall OPS was .729 - pretty average.

 

What I'm saying is that 2023 is, right now, an outlier.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, DirtyBird said:

Not salty, and I like Mountcastle. He’s a nice bat, who would fit in nicely as a power threat in the 6 or 7 spot in a really good lineup. Just wouldn’t consider him a “professional hitter”, who I’d be confident on putting a quality AB together the vast majority of his chances.

I feel like my "professional hitter" comment, which was mostly a throwaway remark, is being scrutinized a bit much. Ultimately, it's an unquantifiable and subjective descriptor. It probably means something a little different to me than it does to you, which is fine. All I meant to say was I value his role on the team, and I like the way he turned out as an overall hitter. I believe I even said he's not perfect, which he's not. When taken in the context of the whole lineup, he fits well.