New Article: "Matt Hobgood: Mid-Term Report" by Doc Shorebird

[DrShorebird]

It's not Hobgood's fault that he was drafted #5 overall. It is his fault if he is not in shape. There are plenty of things that he can control and it is perfectly fair for fans to be critical of him for those things. He is being paid a lot of money to be a professional baseball player; criticism comes with the territory.QUOTE]

Yes, it is his fault if he is not in shape. When he accepted a contract he morally committed to a best effort. However, he is in pretty decent shape in many ways. He is "country strong," can cover the field and throw pretty darn hard.

oooooooohhh!!!!!, these remarks are not directed to you. I agree with your premise, The following remarks are directed to others whwo have a different (but honests) opinion than what I have. What I was referring to is that some of my good friends were susggesting that either he or I were offering excuses for him not hitting a certain speed onthe gun or hitting a certail weight.

I truthfully reported the numbers. They were verified by myself and others. Matt reported the numbers. He offerred no excuses for them not being any particular number except once he did tell me that he wished the numbers were higher because he felt bad for Joe Jordan.

Matt did not sign a contract to pitch at any number or weight. Therefore, he need not opffer any excuses for not hitting 98 or 96 or whatever. He also did not sign a contract to weigh what he did in high school. Therefore, he does not need an excuse for not weighing s certain number.

He is committed to being in good shape. Not one of his coaches in the system said he was not in good shape. Not one said they were displeased with his progress. THe feeling was that they would work on converting body fat to muscle and developing a change up and other pitching skills.

My point is that he did not offer excuses, but suggested possible explanations of what had happened. He did not need excuses because he did not miss aa goal.

Perhaps, I find it ironical that when a big kid in high school is noted for doing well, grown med with radar guns start showing up at kids game like vultures swarmin over a dying animal to wait for dead meat. Matt did not invite the scouts, nor did anyone in his family. Why did the scouts show up. Because they wanted to hire a kid to picth in the majors so that other grown men can watch ball games and complain, and that an owner could make even more money on ticket sales.

Don't blame the kid for they way our system works. Don't saya he is making excusses for being what he is. If you can't root for him to be your hero in the future, then blame the scouts and those who hired the kid.

Until we have a verified report that Matt is not in good shape, then cut the kid a little slack and see what he does after learning a little bit more aabout what it takes to be a major league star.

OK, I was a little scarcastic here.

[wayne25]

Your getting way to defensive here Doc. Matt needs to take responsibility for the things he can control. Most people on this board HAVE taken JJ to task for drafting him that high. One thing a guy can take control of is what he puts in his mouth. Again, 16% body fat on a 19y.o. professional athelete says that he did not take it seriously during the past year. You can take a fat kid, put him on Parris Island (marine boot camp), and in 90 days you have a FIT kid. No excuses for this. Get serious about getting in shape and thats one less thing to point to if things don't do well. As a fan, its distressing that JJ took him # 5 overall, and that has been compounded by his resemblance to Sidney Ponson. Just because I, and perhaps others feel this way, does not mean we don't wish him well, we just want 100% effort across the board.

[Can_of_corn]

You can take a fat kid, put him on Parris Island (marine boot camp), and in 90 days you have a FIT kid.

Now I can't speak for the Marines and I don't know how things have evolved in the last 15 years. When I went through my eight week basic we had:

A fatality. Someone that collapsed during a run, hit his head and had a seizure. A girl with a stress fracture in her pelvis, who never recovered enough to graduate. An average of three folks in the unit on crutches at any given time (including myself for two weeks for ankle tendinitis). A good dozen cases of shin splints. A dislocated shoulder. The list goes on and on.

The way the military does it is not the way the O's should be treating their high dollar investments.

Matt needs to make progress but it doesn't need to be all at once. What I do not want to see is him losing the ground he has gained thus far.

[DrShorebird]

Irony and sarcasm aside, all that I care about is that we root for our guys that we have been given. They are our only hope.

Please come out to the games, enjoy yourselves, kick back and let's talk baseball. Come home, chat on the hangout. Celebrate and chew out those who need it, but let's support the guys we are given.

What I love about minor leagaue baseball is that it is full of decent kids who are learning the craft. Most are trying their best, some are misdirected and otrhers are loafing.

Matt is not loafing. He has a lot to learn and I feel that he will give it his best. I'll root for him and all the Shorebirds this year. I haven't found any loafers here yet.

Again, thanks for the fun of letting a reporter have interaction with the readers and fellow Hangouters. It's all good!!!

[allstar1579]

Pitcher A: 6'3 250lbs

19yo RK league: 4-3 5.13 ERA 12 GP 5HR 32BB 53K

Did not pitch full time in the majors until 24 years old.

Hobgood: 6'4 265lbs

19yo A ball: 3-7 4.41ERA 13GP 5HR 30BB 42K

Hobgood is a season ahead as a 19 year old. Pitcher A bounced back and forth between A and AA until he was 23. Stats are very similar for the two even with Matt being a level ahead and to his own admission not being where he wants to be.

Pitcher A went on to to have 239 wins and a 4.13 ERA for his career. David Wells.

Can we please leave the whining and complaining about Matt not doing well enough to the professionals to decide?

[RandyM]

Pitcher A: 6'3 250lbs

19yo RK league: 4-3 5.13 ERA 12 GP 5HR 32BB 53K

Did not pitch full time in the majors until 24 years old.

Hobgood: 6'4 265lbs

19yo A ball: 3-7 4.41ERA 13GP 5HR 30BB 42K

Hobgood is a season ahead as a 19 year old. Pitcher A bounced back and forth between A and AA until he was 23. Stats are very similar for the two even with Matt being a level ahead and to his own admission not being where he wants to be.

Pitcher A went on to to have 239 wins and a 4.13 ERA for his career. David Wells.

Can we please leave the whining and complaining about Matt not doing well enough to the professionals to decide?

I know you are trying (give you credit) and Hobgood has no control of where he was drafted.

But David Wells was drafted in the 2nd round (30th pick). We all know where Hobgood was drafted.

[Say O!]

And he got $2.5M to be a professional. Yes, he is 19yrs old and will mature and improve. But as fans, when we see a guy drafted in the 1st round, receive multi-million signing bonus, we are going to be disappointed at diminished velocity, at reports that he weighs 20lbs heavier than when drafted.

We all wish Matt the best and want him to realize his potential. At the end of the day, when it's our money (and make no mistake about it, this "business" is fueled by fan money), we want success. And because we want to see that so badly for him and for us, we are going to scrutinize. That's what Matt and every other ballplayer signed up for when they sign a professional contract.

[RandyM]

And he got $2.5M to be a professional. Yes, he is 19yrs old and will mature and improve. But as fans, when we see a guy drafted in the 1st round, receive multi-million signing bonus, we are going to be disappointed at diminished velocity, at reports that he weighs 20lbs heavier than when drafted.

We all wish Matt the best and want him to realize his potential. At the end of the day, when it's our money (and make no mistake about it, this "business" is fueled by fan money), we want success. And because we want to see that so badly for him and for us, we are going to scrutinize. That's what Matt and every other ballplayer signed up for when they sign a professional contract.

Exactly.

Bottom line is that this was a very controversial pick.

I kept on hearing that his make up was off the charts and other glowing things.

These are things that I have heard though:

- Showed up later then planned last year to go to the ESPY's (I would have done the same)

- Is definitely heavier then when he was selected

Am I being nit picky by bring up the ESPY's, sure. But when you kept on hearing that Hobgood's makeup was so much better than Matzek and I see the actions that he has done. It makes me wonder. What is Tony's saying "Actions speak louder than words"?

Matt, don't give us reasons to not believe.

[allstar1579]

Just curious. Where did you get the weight stats for Wells? Are you saying that Wells weighed 250 when he was 19?

Found them in some random notes about him from his draft year, yeah he was 250 at 19, cause I know later in his career he was up closer to 275 for a while.

Point was, he was a 2nd rounder, not too far off from Matt (seeing that there are dozens of rounds), he had similar statistics as a 19 year old at a worse level, and then went one to have a pretty darn good career.

There seems to be a certain stereotype of what people expect when someone is a high draft pick, that draft status is more of a combo of where they are now and where that team thinks they will get. If they think long term that Matt is going to be a solid starter with a good chance to stay healthy and contribute in the bigs, then good for them taking him at #5. The real basis of that is that he would NOT have been around when we had our next pick in the 2nd, and if they REALLY wanted him, then that's how it goes. People are just being too tough on this kid, he was a little lighter than this when he was drafted, but not much, but since the stats aren't superstar right now, people want to harp on the weight.

Just give him a chance to learn this year, and pitch in Frederick as a 20yo which I'm sure he will, and then we'll see.

[wayne25]

Now I can't speak for the Marines and I don't know how things have evolved in the last 15 years. When I went through my eight week basic we had:

A fatality. Someone that collapsed during a run, hit his head and had a seizure. A girl with a stress fracture in her pelvis, who never recovered enough to graduate. An average of three folks in the unit on crutches at any given time (including myself for two weeks for ankle tendinitis). A good dozen cases of shin splints. A dislocated shoulder. The list goes on and on.

The way the military does it is not the way the O's should be treating their high dollar investments.

Nothing to do with Matt, but my boot camp was 40 years ago; You actually had GIRLS in your platoons while in boot camp??? For me thats hard to fathom. They must dumb down the physical part,because no girl would have made it through. There were alot of shin splints early on due to wearing boots and all the marching, but not much else in terms of serious injuries. There were one, maybe 2 guys who could not keep up, in terms of fitness, and they get put back for an extra 3 weeks. Don't know what the averages are/were but yours sounded like an excessive amount of injuries.

[Can_of_corn]

Nothing to do with Matt, but my boot camp was 40 years ago; You actually had GIRLS in your platoons while in boot camp??? For me thats hard to fathom. They must dumb down the physical part,because no girl would have made it through. There were alot of shin splints early on due to wearing boots and all the marching, but not much else in terms of serious injuries. There were one, maybe 2 guys who could not keep up, in terms of fitness, and they get put back for an extra 3 weeks. Don't know what the averages are/were but yours sounded like an excessive amount of injuries.

When I went through unless you were combat arms it was intergrated basic. Yes the physical standards were lower, our five mile graduation run took an hour for instance.

The amount of injuries our company had (except of course the death) seemed to be fairly typical of what other companies were going through. I only recall two folks not graduating due to injury but a lot of folks were hampered at some point or another.

[JackO]

JackO, since you love the media side of things, allow me to introduce myself. I was once far more heavily involved here as an editor and writer. Now I write opinionated articles mostly for fun. For my day job though I'm a legitimate journalist. I'm heard reporting and anchoring news in DC, and am regularly interviewing police, professors, and lawmakers at the state and federal level. I previously worked for a major broadcast network, and to keep my sports bonafides in order, I work for a sports station in DC on the side and for fun. Past and current contributors to the site have been other sports writers, as well as those from the copy desk.

The journalism that goes on here isn't "pro-am" or any such BS word you want to use. It's as legitimate, if not more so, than the kind you supposedly perform. It's as real, and progressive, as you'll find. If anything, it's the future of news, in a lot of ways. Look at sites like the Washington Post, which has a mix of news stories, features, blog items, and even video. It's why the National Press Club (of which I'm a member) has workshops that touch on all these things that guys like Mike Miller, Adam Vencill, and Scott Hoffman do regularly here. People are paying big bucks to learn about the things these guys are doing here.

There are some papers around the country (typically smaller ones, but done by major ones as well) that have a mix of free and paid content. Baseball Prospectus does a similar thing.

The lack of a journalism or comm degree for some of the people here is absolutely meaningless. While I have my j-school degree from one of the top schools nationally, some of the best people I've worked with and for have no degree at all.

It's past time you get over yourself, and your supposed credentials and bonafides, and let go of any ax you still have with the place. Your perception of it is so absurdly off base that it makes you look like a total jackass. While it annoys those who perform real journalism here every day that you're so hellbent on downplaying the work they do, I find it infuriating and stupid, since I know the work and effort that goes into it, and I know how legitimate things here are. Not only do you not have a clue, you defiantly make it clear you don't know nearly as much as you think.

John... I think if you go back and read what I have actually written and get past terms like amateur and pro-am, you will realize that we agree 100 percent.

But thanks for the name calling. classy.

That being said, this is a great thread and one of the examples of why the hangout is great.

[Arthur_Bryant]

When I went through unless you were combat arms it was intergrated basic. Yes the physical standards were lower, our five mile graduation run took an hour for instance.

This is pathetic.

I can walk five miles in an hour. And I'll be 62 this month.

[Can_of_corn]

This is pathetic.

I can walk five miles in an hour. And I'll be 62 this month.

I am willing to bet that standards today are even lower. I have heard that the level of fitness of new recruits has never been lower. Kids just don't go outside and play anymore.

BTW walking five miles in an hour is a bit harder then you are thinking. For instance in the Army 2.5 mile walk alternate event someone 52 and older is allowed 37:30 to finish, which is slower then the pace you state you can maintain for twice the distance. In fact the 12 min mile pace is the standard for males 37-41. The hardest part about the walk is that you have to walk, one foot has to be on the ground at all times. Friends of mine that took the walk test invariably told me they would rather have done the run.

[LookinUp]

This is pathetic.

I can walk five miles in an hour. And I'll be 62 this month.

Huh? You walk 5 mph? Most "walkers" go about 3-4 mph.

That's possible. As I mentioned in my post above, as time goes on, they may incorporate back into his delivery some of the velocity generating attributes he dropped after high school.

This is interesting to me. I'm not sure how many people on this site have ever tried to change their mechanics, but it most definitely has the potential to remove the feel and/or leverage a pitcher has. To me, that could easily take away 4 mph, and I wouldn't expect those mph to come back until the pitcher develops the appropriate muscle memory.

With that being said, if the O's changes have taken away some of his velocity-generating leverage, that's an interesting thing to note. I'm guessing that the truth lies somewhere in between. He hasn't perfected mechanics yet and is focusing on the smooth part and not yet focused on generating the leverage he needs to dial it up.