Is anyone in favor of letting Hobgood bat?

[Frobby]

Matt Hobgood was named Gatorade player of the year, and today he won USA Today's POY award. Among other things, he won these awards because, in addition to being a stud pitcher, he led the nation in homers.

While I understand that we want Hobgood primarily as a pitcher, and certainly don't want him to get hurt doing other things, I'm sorely tempted to get a look at this guy as a hitter. Is there a good reason why we shouldn't use him as a part-time DH, or let him bat for himself when he's pitching?

The Red Sox have Casey Kelly pitching in A+ and then as soon as he hits 100 IP they are going to have him play SS the rest of the year. If they're not afraid to expose their young stud to the risks associated with not only hitting, but playing a pretty intense position on the field, what would be so wrong about letting Hobgood show what he can do at the plate?

[Icterus galbula]

I think it would be a worthwhile experiment, why not take a cautious look?

[LookinUp]

If he's got light's out potential - meaning he looks like a star in the making - as a pitcher, I think you have him focus primarily on that. I wouldn't be against a small experiment though.

[Stotle]

Matt Hobgood was named Gatorade player of the year, and today he won USA Today's POY award. Among other things, he won these awards because, in addition to being a stud pitcher, he led the nation in homers.

While I understand that we want Hobgood primarily as a pitcher, and certainly don't want him to get hurt doing other things, I'm sorely tempted to get a look at this guy as a hitter. Is there a good reason why we shouldn't use him as a part-time DH, or let him bat for himself when he's pitching?

The Red Sox have Casey Kelly pitching in A+ and then as soon as he hits 100 IP they are going to have him play SS the rest of the year. If they're not afraid to expose their young stud to the risks associated with not only hitting, but playing a pretty intense position on the field, what would be so wrong about letting Hobgood show what he can do at the plate?

Boston's handling of Kelly likely has a lot to do with their discusions with him prior to getting him to sign. He really wanted to play SS, so I imagine BOS made some promises as to letting him do so to start his career.

The big difference there is that Kelly (were he to continue to progress) would potentially provide great value as a talented offensive SS. Hobgood would need to have Hosmer-esque potential to have that level of value at 1B, which he just doesn't have. He has excellent raw power, though looking at his swing it seems to come more from his raw strength than bat speed, which will be problematic with wood against better pitching. He strikes me more as a Poythress-type bat. He could probably continue to put up solid power numbers at the collegiate level, but I question whether that would ultimately translate. I just don't see the upside to risk injury by having him play both ways.

Of course, just my non-expert opinion -- I could be way, way off.

[Frobby]

If he's got light's out potential - meaning he looks like a star in the making - as a pitcher, I think you have him focus primarily on that. I wouldn't be against a small experiment though.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see why it is considered taxing for a pitcher to swing the bat a few times, and even take some BP. Hobgood is going to pitch once every 5 days, and have a side session of maybe 45 minutes in between, do some conditioning, and listen to what coaches have to say about the mental side of getting hitters out. Do you really think that occupies much of his time? This guy (and others like him) have been hitting AND pitching since they were 9 year olds in Little League, including in lots of high-quality amateur competition, and somehow, they've been able to cope with it to that point. Why is it that the moment they turn pro, they have to be pigeon holed right away?

I wouldn't be saying any of this if it weren't for the fact that Hobgood obviously has a lot of power and knows how to use it. If his bat doesn't play at the professional level we'll know that soon enough, but why preclude that option from the start?

[Frobby]

Boston's handling of Kelly likely has a lot to do with their discusions with him prior to getting him to sign. He really wanted to play SS, so I imagine BOS made some promises as to letting him do so to start his career.

The big difference there is that Kelly (were he to continue to progress) would potentially provide great value as a talented offensive SS. Hobgood would need to have Hosmer-esque potential to have that level of value at 1B, which he just doesn't have. He has excellent raw power, though looking at his swing it seems to come more from his raw strength than bat speed, which will be problematic with wood against better pitching. He strikes me more as a Poythress-type bat. He could probably continue to put up solid power numbers at the collegiate level, but I question whether that would ultimately translate. I just don't see the upside to risk injury by having him play both ways.

Of course, just my non-expert opinion -- I could be way, way off.

I don't doubt that your scouting report about his offensive potential may prove to be accurate. But honestly, how big of an injury risk is it for pitchers to hit some of the time. (You brought up 1B; I just said DH or hit for himself when he's pitching.) The last I looked, pitchers bat for themselves in the National League, and yet I rarely hear that anyone got hurt. (I'm not saying it never happens, but I can't think of any real significant cases.)

[Stotle]

I don't doubt that your scouting report about his offensive potential may prove to be accurate. But honestly, how big of an injury risk is it for pitchers to hit some of the time. (You brought up 1B; I just said DH or hit for himself when he's pitching.) The last I looked, pitchers bat for themselves in the National League, and yet I rarely hear that anyone got hurt. (I'm not saying it never happens, but I can't think of any real significant cases.)

Didn't the Yankees lose Wang for an extended time last year due to something along these lines? I honestly don't remember. Regardless, if he has no real future as an offensive player -- that is, we aren't going to realistically switch him to a full time 1B -- isn't any risk too much?

If Tillman said he wanted to hit, and I told you that there is a 1/500 chance he could get injured seriously enough to miss, say, three months, would you let him hit? What about just day-to-day stuff like a hamstring pull that could fester and lead to problems on the pitching side? He's a big boy putting lots and lots of strain on his body when he throws. I'd just as soon make sure there is as little strain as possible on him, physically, while he develops.

I also agree with RZ that if he isn't clamoring to hit, it is a moot point.

[waroriole]

Wow, a modern day Babe Ruth, and to think some people didn't like the pick.

I always wondered why a guy like Zambrano, who is a great hitter, can't get an occassional game in the field. At least as a start in the minors and see if his hitting can progress. Is there a big risk of injury if a guy DH's a few games that he doesn't pitch in?

[Frobby]

The question is this. How bad does Hobgood want to hit and how much do the O's want Hobgood to hit? I'd say on a scale of 1-10 it's a 1 for the O's. I haven't heard Hobgood say one thing about hitting so I have to believe it doesn't matter a great deal to him. He knows where his future lies. I didn't see one scouting report concerning the draft that mentioned him seriously as a two way threat as far as being a ML player was concerned.

If that's the Orioles' opinion, then I'd certainly defer to their judgment. I just don't like the idea that, when a player truly has two-way talent, they have to eliminate one option right away.

On a semi-related note, after a very slow start, Adam Loewen is hitting .278/.394/.370 for the Blue Jays' A+ affiliate in June. Overall though he is hitting .222/.333/.314, so he will have to keep improving if he wants to keep his dream of converting to a hitter alive.

[Scrat1]

I'm a big fan of Hobgood, but it's almost a shame he wasn't drafted by a national league team.

[Gurgi]

Why not let him hit when he pitches? Use the DH one someone else. Maybe DH him once a week to keep his bat alive.

Imagine if we could use him as a pinch hitter once in a while in the Majors.

[Stotle]

Why not let him hit when he pitches? Use the DH one someone else. Maybe DH him once a week to keep his bat alive.

Imagine if we could use him as a pinch hitter once in a while in the Majors.

I think, realistically, he isn't going to develop into an offensive asset with a handful of ABs here and there. I guess I just don't see what it adds, particularly if he himself isn't pressing for it. I think he has enough on his plate simply trying to develop into a high quality ML pitcher.

[LookinUp]

I'm a big fan of Hobgood, but it's almost a shame he wasn't drafted by a national league team.

That's what Trea said. :rofl:

I crack me up.

[QBsILLEST1]

I think, realistically, he isn't going to develop into an offensive asset with a handful of ABs here and there. I guess I just don't see what it adds, particularly if he himself isn't pressing for it. I think he has enough on his plate simply trying to develop into a high quality ML pitcher.

In Hobgood's situation, I would rather him put 100% focus on pitching and how to become better. Rather than him spend 2 hours on BP every day, Id rather him be working on pitching, whether its conditioning, watching tapes, working on his delivery long toss or live bull pen. He definately has some stuff to work on like making his slurve into an above average pitch and his change up into atleast average or better.

[Frobby]

In Hobgood's situation, I would rather him put 100% focus on pitching and how to become better. Rather than him spend 2 hours on BP every day, Id rather him be working on pitching, whether its conditioning, watching tapes, working on his delivery long toss or live bull pen. He definately has some stuff to work on like making his slurve into an above average pitch and his change up into atleast average or better.

This comment is not specific to Hobgood: how many hours a day do you think minor league pitchers spend working at their craft, including everything you discuss above? Since I never played professional baseball, I really have no idea. As an outsider, it seems unlikely to me that these guys are so busy that they couldn't spend some time practicing hitting if they wanted to. But maybe I am wrong about that.