Vance Honeycutt

[ShoelesJoe]

 

 

[doccat]

12 K’s in 28 at-bats in almost the lowest rung of the minors….  I know, it’s early and he’s just getting his first experience in professional ball….  
 

still….  Alarming.

[RZNJ]

8 hours ago, doccat said:

12 K’s in 28 at-bats in almost the lowest rung of the minors….  I know, it’s early and he’s just getting his first experience in professional ball….  
 

still….  Alarming.

No doubt.  His debut and O’Ferall’s are going to put the Orioles hitting lab to the test after the season.   More consistent contact for Honeycutt and impacting the ball for O’Ferrall.      

[Otter]

10 hours ago, doccat said:

12 K’s in 28 at-bats in almost the lowest rung of the minors….  I know, it’s early and he’s just getting his first experience in professional ball….  
 

still….  Alarming.

It really shouldn't be surprising or alarming at this point.  He struck out a ton in college, so I think it's unreasonable for him to all of sudden him stop striking out so soon after being drafted.  The real test will be if the hitting development staff can work with him to reduce that over the next couple years.

[RZNJ]

52 minutes ago, Otter said:

It really shouldn't be surprising or alarming at this point.  He struck out a ton in college, so I think it's unreasonable for him to all of sudden him stop striking out so soon after being drafted.  The real test will be if the hitting development staff can work with him to reduce that over the next couple years.

He struck out 28% in college.   28 PA is a SSS but if he K’d 45 times in his first 100 PA in low A that would be surprising and alarming to me.   Plus, he’s not hitting for much power yet.   Again, SSS, but not the kind of start you like to see.   A high pick from a major D1 conference should be kicking butt in low A.    
 

If this is a true indication of where he’s at (Not saying it is) then he’s a bigger project than I expected and I was dubious of picking him for just that reason.

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Otter said:

It really shouldn't be surprising or alarming at this point.  He struck out a ton in college, so I think it's unreasonable for him to all of sudden him stop striking out so soon after being drafted.  The real test will be if the hitting development staff can work with him to reduce that over the next couple years.

Correct. He was a high risk/high reward pick. We knew that. In a down draft, they took a swing at a big talent with a huge question mark. This isn’t going to be solved in a few weeks after not playing for a while.

[DocJJ]

Strikeouts don't necessarily bother me...  You can be a hall of fame caliber player with a lot of strikeouts- Reggie Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera...

 

But you need to absolutely mash in your non-strikeout at-bats...   so far, no mashing....   but he's only 28 at-bats in to his career, so let's see what he can do over the next 2 years...

 

I remain skeptical- I'm not sure pitch recognition and zone judgement can be taught, or "fixed" especially at this age....

[RZNJ]

12 minutes ago, DocJJ said:

Strikeouts don't necessarily bother me...  You can be a hall of fame caliber player with a lot of strikeouts- Reggie Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Cabrera...

 

But you need to absolutely mash in your non-strikeout at-bats...   so far, no mashing....   but he's only 28 at-bats in to his career, so let's see what he can do over the next 2 years...

 

I remain skeptical- I'm not sure pitch recognition and zone judgement can be taught, or "fixed" especially at this age....

The amount of strikeouts can certainly be a huge red flag.  Hypothetically, if Honeycutt were to play next year in Aberdeen and K 40% of the time it wouldn’t matter if he hit 30 homers.   
 

Jud Fabian.

Edited September 1 by RZNJ

[LookitsPuck]

Wonder if the O’s feel changing his vertical hand placement so that he doesn’t have such a long swing will help with his strikeout rate. The elite defense is up there with Bradfield, so he comes across as a higher upside Fabian without the contact skills of Bradfield.

This draft is really going to put their science approach to the test. We haven’t seen the fruits of it, yet. 

[Three Run Homer]

Does "let's take a guy with great tools except he strikes out way too much and try to fix him" ever work?  Who has it worked for?  

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Three Run Homer said:

Does "let's take a guy with great tools except he strikes out way too much and try to fix him" ever work?  Who has it worked for?  

Didn't Bobby Witt have some contact issues?

[DocJJ]

There are some really notable names on the top 75 MLB strikeout leaders- Mike Schmidt, Eddie Murray, Ken Griffey Jr, Derek Jeter, Craig Biggio, David Ortiz.   It's what you do in your non-strikeout at-bats...    which unfortunately for Honeycutt is nothing...  at least through his first 7 games.  It's also concerning that this is at Delmarva- he should at least be hitting this level o.k.   

 

He will be a good proof-of-concept case- whether you can take a guy loaded with tools, but serious contact problems, and turn him into something of value...

[Three Run Homer]

3 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Didn't Bobby Witt have some contact issues?

At the time he was drafted, Witt was seen as a five-tool prospect.  

[OriolesMagic83]

1 hour ago, DocJJ said:

There are some really notable names on the top 75 MLB strikeout leaders- Mike Schmidt, Eddie Murray, Ken Griffey Jr, Derek Jeter, Craig Biggio, David Ortiz.   It's what you do in your non-strikeout at-bats...    which unfortunately for Honeycutt is nothing...  at least through his first 7 games.  It's also concerning that this is at Delmarva- he should at least be hitting this level o.k.   

 

He will be a good proof-of-concept case- whether you can take a guy loaded with tools, but serious contact problems, and turn him into something of value...

I'm not going to try to draw conclusions on 7 games

  For a guy just starting in the minors, that's not even a sample, much less small smple size.

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, Three Run Homer said:

At the time he was drafted, Witt was seen as a five-tool prospect.  

https://www.mlb.com/video/2019-draft-bobby-witt-jr-ss-c2520534783

"Witt comes with some mild concerns about his bat because he didn't always make consistent contact on the showcase circuit last summer."