Matthew Etzel 2024

[Tony-OH]

5 hours ago, now said:

With three more hits today, Etzel is at .360/.992. He has 171 MiLB at bats, so a third of a season. Which projects to a full season with: 

513 AB
111 R
39 2B
12 3B
12 HR
114 RBI
93 BB
123 SO
90 SB
21 CS
.339 AVG
.445 OBP
.532 SLG

Not too shabby!
 

 

He's probably next in line for a promotion to Bowie. I'd like to see him a little more power from him for his size, but he's doing well overall.

[btdart20]

20 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

He's probably next in line for a promotion to Bowie. I'd like to see him a little more power from him for his size, but he's doing well overall.

Gotta like the BB:K ratio and there's hope in the adage of "doubles become HRs".

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, btdart20 said:

Gotta like the BB:K ratio and there's hope in the adage of "doubles become HRs".

He doesn't really drive the ball in the air much in the air very much so I don't think this a situation where doubles turn into home runs. He's got a pretty mature body from what I can see so he'd need a swing/approach change to tap into that power more often in my opinion.

I still like him a a 4th outfielder with some upside.

[now]

3 hours ago, btdart20 said:

Gotta like the BB:K ratio and there's hope in the adage of "doubles become HRs".

Could have been taken from a Nick Markakis prospect writeup! 

[CaptainRedbeard]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

He doesn't really drive the ball in the air much in the air very much so I don't think this a situation where doubles turn into home runs. He's got a pretty mature body from what I can see so he'd need a swing/approach change to tap into that power more often in my opinion.

I still like him a a 4th outfielder with some upside.

Do you think he’d still have good enough contact ability with a swing change? As it is, he’s getting his fair share of 2B and a high BABIP, so he’s presumably putting the ball in play at solid exit velos. And he has a good walk rate, but not the K rate of a guy with a slappy swing. 

Basically if they make Cowser/Ortiz-like swing changes for him, I fear he might not be left contact ability for that to be worth it. He’s not starting with the same baseline hit tool as those guys. More power would be good, but maybe it’s still optimal to keep this approach?

[cboemmeljr]

 

[Tony-OH]

On 5/2/2024 at 11:53 AM, CaptainRedbeard said:

Do you think he’d still have good enough contact ability with a swing change? As it is, he’s getting his fair share of 2B and a high BABIP, so he’s presumably putting the ball in play at solid exit velos. And he has a good walk rate, but not the K rate of a guy with a slappy swing. 

Basically if they make Cowser/Ortiz-like swing changes for him, I fear he might not be left contact ability for that to be worth it. He’s not starting with the same baseline hit tool as those guys. More power would be good, but maybe it’s still optimal to keep this approach?

Sorry, missed this question. His groundball rate (45.2%) is too high and to me, I just don't see a lot of raw power. I don't have his bat speed numbers, but I bet they are not incredibly high. Now, Adley proves that you don't need great consistent bat speed to be a good hitter, but I do think that's why he doesn't have good power numbers.

The good news is he's shown no platoon issues, he'll work counts, and he's solid defensively outfielder (though not a true CF guy for me because of the routes/jumps from what I've seen). I still think he'll need to add to his power to be a true regular corner outfield prospect, but I do see him as a solid 4th outfielder on a major league team if he can show the ability to handle upper level pitching. 

I'm interested to seeing him against good velocity.