Front Page: Luis Arraez Entering the AL Rookie of the Year Race

[Brandon Warne]

Bo Bichette > Cavan Biggio.

[Doomtints]

RoY voting has been predictable for at least five years. Just look at whoever has the highest bWAR at the end of the year. Put your money on it.

[70charger]

You have all redeemed yourself.

[USAFChief]

As long as its a natural add but I really don't care if he adds it or not as long as he gets on base a lot. Worse thing Twins did for Nick Punto IMO is make him the regular 3rd baseman without telling him they didn't want him trying to hit for power. He started swinging for the fences and hit with neither power or average. I think the same happened with Ben Revere. .320 and OBP over .360 is very valuable. He doesn't need to be Kirby Puckett. Rod Carew would be just fine.

players without power are inherently flawed as hitters. Arraez will need to develop some, or he won't be a regular, because its extremely doubtful he'll maintain either his current BA or OBP.

 

And for the record, I dont think either Punto or Revere suffered because nobody told them not to worry about power.

[alarp33]

 

RoY voting has been predictable for at least five years. Just look at whoever has the highest bWAR at the end of the year. Put your money on it.

 

LOL. Literally last year this wasn't true

[Mike Sixel]

Bo Bichette > Cavan Biggio.

Agreed, and it's not close.

[Dantes929]

 

players without power are inherently flawed as hitters. Arraez will need to develop some, or he won't be a regular, because its extremely doubtful he'll maintain either his current BA or OBP.

And for the record, I dont think either Punto or Revere suffered because nobody told them not to worry about power.

I agree its extremely doubtul he maintains his current BA or OBP because his current pace is better than Rod Carew or Tony Gwynn.   At every level he has hit at least .318 with at least a .365 OBP and his career average is .331 and .385.    If he develops power then great but I think there is still a place for a high on base top of the lineup 2nd baseman.    ......................

We can differ on our opinions of Punto and I have nothing to back it up but observation.   In 2006 Tony Batista was our Opening Day 3rd baseman and Punto was our utility guy.   When Batista was either hurt or cut Punto was the place holder.  He hit .290 and was one of the piranha's and lived up to the name.   He was a battler and a tough out.    When he was named the 3rd baseman in 2007 I could see almost immediately that he was swinging way harder than the prior year.    He was hitting more fly balls and striking out more.    It was only speculation but I imagined that as a third base man he thought he needed to hit for more power.    Its just not who he was.   He was valuable as a .290 .352 OBP guy and had little value as a small guy trying to hit home runs.      If Arraez can hit .300 with a .360 OBP or better I won't consider him a flawed hitter.   I will consider him a good guy to have in the lineup.

[Jham]

Anyway, my point is that power is easier to add than contact. If you have great hand-eye coordination, it transfers well to hitting the ball hard and far.

 

HR and double right on cue.

 

Stance and swing is very reminiscent of Eduardo Escobar.

[yarnivek1972]

Polanco wasn’t a power hitter in the minors either. Arraez projects to about an 8-10 pace over a full season. That’s obviously low in this era but I don’t think his discerning eye or contact skill is going away. Lack of power certainly doesn’t make someone “inherently flawed” as a hitter. It makes them a different type of hitter. Was Rod Carew inherently flawed?

 

Baseball has had a tendency to go in cycles. Power was all the rage in the 50s and 60s, but then in the 70s and early 80s, it turned to a game of speed, where contact was important. Who knows, it could shift again.

[highlander]

Arreaz is my ROY! Absolutely love his game.

[jud6312]

I'm not worried about whether or Luis develops over-the-fence power, but IMO he'll have to find some gaps with more frequency or become a defensive wizard to be a long-term, everyday player ... at least at one position.

 

Utility guy that won't kill you at multiple positions, isn't a liability on the basepaths, can work a count, and slap singles around is a valuable piece to have - basically Marwin-Lite, and there's nothing wrong with that.