June 5, 201511 yr Author Arcia has been downright bad in the majors this year. His defense has been bad since he called up and his bat isn't doing well enough to make up for it. He's been bad in AAA too. Certainly there's some super 2 benefits that the team has gained here, but I don't think we are having this conversation had Arcia been hitting the way we expected him to. Still hoping he does what he's done in the past, work out the bad habits in AAA, and then "flip the switch". The Twins combined OPS+ is 90, which is the second worst number in the AL. They not only lack an adequate #3 hitter (hopefully just for the time being), they are also severely deficient collectively in the three middle-of-the-order spots in the batting order (only Plouffe is just above league average in the clean-up spot). As bad as Arcia has been in 2015, his OPS+ is 100. Vargas had an OPS+ of 166 in May. It's hard to see how the winning ways and adequate run production can continue without someone else stepping up in the middle of the order.
June 5, 201511 yr Still hoping he does what he's done in the past, work out the bad habits in AAA, and then "flip the switch". The Twins combined OPS+ is 90, which is the second worst number in the AL. They not only lack an adequate #3 hitter (hopefully just for the time being), they are also severely deficient collectively in the three middle-of-the-order spots in the batting order (only Plouffe is just above league average in the clean-up spot). As bad as Arcia has been in 2015, his OPS+ is 100. Vargas had an OPS+ of 166 in May. It's hard to see how the winning ways and adequate run production can continue without someone else stepping up in the middle of the order. Wholeheartedly agree here. Too bad I can only give one like. Based on his minor league numbers and the age at which he did it, the kid could feasibly post a .310/.370/.530 line for several years, not to mention playing adequate defense in the corner. No question on the potential. I get the impression though that his problems don't boil down to just talent. I suspect that there may be some maturity issues here. I hope that's not the case, but he is only 24. His big issue that I've seen is that his plate discipline regressed at the major league level at the major league level. He was never super patient, but a .377 career minor league OBP says he can take a walk to minimize the impact of his strikeouts (which he always got a lot of). He's not making as much contact either striking out at a higher rate in the majors. I'd like to believe the contact issues will improve as he sees more MLB pitching, but for a guy that absolutely raked at every level he was at, I'm a bit surprised how long it's taken him to adjust to the majors.
June 5, 201511 yr His big issue that I've seen is that his plate discipline regressed at the major league level at the major league level. He was never super patient, but a .377 career minor league OBP says he can take a walk to minimize the impact of his strikeouts (which he always got a lot of). He's not making as much contact either striking out at a higher rate in the majors.Minor league career walk rate is 8%, in MLB it's 6.8% but did rise to 7.6% last year. K% is definitely worse, in the 20-24% zone in the minors, but a steady 31% in the MLB. .362 career BABIP in the minors, only .316 in MLB so far.
June 5, 201511 yr Author From yesterday's game: https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/606817074812481537 Ouch.
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