EricJohnson

Download attachment: hicks.jpg Aaron Hicks is a batting average eating goblin. This would be a common refrain among Twins fans if “batting average eating goblin” was common baseball lingo. We should probably work on making that happen. More importantly, we should put Hicks’s numbers into a little perspective. His astronomically, historically, atrociously low batting average, is astronomical, historic and atrocious, but let us free our minds a bit. The numbers I’m about to explore are not going to get good, I will grant you that, but perhaps they will make you feel better. With a batting average of .073, you can’t expect much out of a man’s OBP, so when you consider that Hicks has an OBP of .224, which is .150 points higher than his batting average, you have to give the dude a little credit. Bro knows how to take a walk. Granted, nobody here wants a speedy centerfielder leading off with a .224 OBP, but can I remind you that his BATTING AVERAGE IS .073! The most logical player to compare Hicks to is Ben Revere--even though there are probably people out there who say things like, “Well if the Twins had drafted Mike Trout they would have Mike Trout in centerfield so you should compare him to Mike Trout.” First of all, stop using his full name you weirdo. Second of all, that’s a dumb theory so I am going to ignore you. Had the Twins not traded Revere this offseason, he would have been the centerfielder. That seemed like the most likely scenario. You could argue that I should be comparing Hicks to Denard Span as well, but I think it was pretty much agreed upon that Span would be traded so I am not going to do that. Question me accordingly. That said, how do Hicks and Revere compare? .073/.224/.073 .207/.242/.230 It’s pretty obvious from that .073 which fella is the owner of which stat line, but both are pretty freaking bad. As speed guys, OBP is the most important number in the slash line, and notice how negligible the difference is. Now notice that Revere is also batting .207 and not driving the ball (which is basically a given, of course). Hicks is getting on base at a similar clip to Revere, and the dude looks like he’s never even been to a piñata party, let alone swung a bat in a Major League Baseball game. Hicks has never been this bad. He can hit. He never had a great batting average in the minors, but there is no question among scouts that he can hit. He isn’t going to hit .073 forever, and even if he hits .230 this year, that has to give you a little hope for the future considering he is nearly 100 at bats in and his BATTING AVERAGE IS .073! Point being, aside from Revere’s spectacular catch the other night, and his irresistible boyish grin, I would much rather have Hicks and Vance Worley right now. Even with that .073 BATTING AVERAGE! Plus, Hicks has clearly established himself as a guy whose OBP is .150 higher than his average, so if he ever hits .300+, he’ll have an OBP of almost .500. Because that’s how math works, dammit. Click here to view the article

Admittedly, this is a sample size game--and a small one at that. People love to compare players and say, "well what if we had so-and-so." All I'm saying is the Twins really wouldn't be any better off as of April, 25 2013 with Ben Revere and for that matter I firmly believe they are better of with Hicks in the long run.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3877[/ATTACH] Aaron Hicks is a batting average eating goblin. This would be a common refrain among Twins fans if “batting average eating goblin” was common baseball lingo. We should probably work on making that happen. More importantly, we should put Hicks’s numbers into a little perspective. His astronomically, historically, atrociously low batting average, is astronomical, historic and atrocious, but let us free our minds a bit. The numbers I’m about to explore are not going to get good, I will grant you that, but perhaps they will make you feel better. With a batting average of .073, you can’t expect much out of a man’s OBP, so when you consider that Hicks has an OBP of .224, which is .150 points higher than his batting average, you have to give the dude a little credit. Bro knows how to take a walk. Granted, nobody here wants a speedy centerfielder leading off with a .224 OBP, but can I remind you that his BATTING AVERAGE IS .073! The most logical player to compare Hicks to is Ben Revere. Because even though there are probably people out there who say things like, “Well if the Twins had drafted Mike Trout they would have Mike Trout in centerfield so you should compare him to Mike Trout.” First of all, stop using his full name you weirdo. Second of all, that’s a dumb theory so I am going to ignore you. Had the Twins not traded Revere this offseason, he would have been the centerfielder. That seemed like the most likely scenario. You could argue that I should be comparing Hicks to Denard Span as well, but I think it was pretty much agreed upon that Span would be traded so I am not going to do that. Question me accordingly. That said, how do Hicks and Revere compare? .073/.224/.073 .207/.242/.230 It’s pretty obvious from that .073 which fella is the owner of which stat line, but both are pretty freaking bad. As speed guys, OBP is the most important number in the slash line, and notice how negligible the difference is. Now notice that Revere is also batting .207 and not driving the ball (which is basically a given, of course). Hicks is getting on base at a similar clip to Revere, and the dude looks like he’s never even been to a piñata party, let alone swung a bat in a Major League Baseball game. Hicks has never been this bad. He can hit. He never had a great batting average in the minors, but there is no question among scouts that he can hit. He isn’t going to hit .073 forever, and even if he hits .230 this year, that has to give you a little hope for the future considering he is nearly 100 at bats in and his BATTING AVERAGE IS .073! Point being, aside from Revere’s spectacular catch the other night, and his irresistible boyish grin, I would much rather have Hicks and Vance Worley right now. Even with that .073 BATTING AVERAGE! Plus, Hicks has clearly established himself as a guy whose OBP is .150 higher than his average, so if he ever hits .300+, he’ll have an OBP of almost .500. Because that’s how math works, dammit.

Alas, I wish I was living the sno-cone dream...

Everybody has a name. Some people hate their name. Some people like their name. Most people think their name is irrelevant to their future success. This is a lie. Your name matters. Especially in sports. In early spring when birds are chirping, grass is greening, and clichés are appearing as far as the internet can see, another phenomenon is taking place: prospect lists are popping up like the carcasses of northbound migratory birds that were sucked into the jet engines of airplanes full of Northerners heading south to escape the cold. What do these prospect lists hold? Promise. Future. Hope—all the things that make sports great. We argue and debate the top prospects and can never be wrong, because none of the players have a major league track record to draw from. We point to OPS, BABIP, WAR, UZR and all kinds of other statistics that sound like models of high powered weaponry to judge how successful a prospect will be. But are we using the correct methods for measuring prospects? The short answer? No. The long answer? Also no. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3389[/ATTACH] What are we missing when it comes to a successful prospect? We have more stats than ever for nerds, and more reliable laser eye surgery than ever for the eye-judges. So how can we be going wrong? For the answer, I present to you Jose (J.O.) Berrios. His names present two paths: Path one is of Jose Berrios, a hard-throwing bulldog with exceptional stuff and SABR-numbers waiting to be unsheathed on Major League Baseball. Path two is of J.O. Berrios, a hard-throwing bulldog with exceptional stuff and SABR-numbers destined to remain sheathed in Minor League Baseball, much like J.D. Durbin and B.J. Garbe before him. The difference is his name. Jose Berrios is the name of a man who pitches every fifth day and strikes fear into opposing batters. J.O. Berrios, whose 7.50 September ERA is as annual as Labor Day, strikes fear into nobody. Berrios’s future is in his own hands, and it is based on what name he chooses. Take the rest of the Twins Daily top prospects: 10. Max Kepler 9. Trevor May 8. J.O. Berrios 7. Eddie Rosario 6. Kyle Gibson 5. Alex Meyer 4. Oswaldo Arcia 3. Aaron Hicks 2. Byron Buxton 1. Miguel Sano Aside from the alarming use of J.O. instead of Jose Berrios, that is a pretty great list of names. There is a good mix of solid, classic-sounding names like Trevor May, Kyle Gibson and Aaron Hicks, with unique-but-not-overbearing names like Oswaldo Arcia, Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. I have confidence in those names. They sound athletic. However, there is a little concern that some of the names are TOO common. For example, try interchanging the more common names: Trevor Gibson is the frat guy who hits on everyone else’s girlfriend at parties. Aaron May is the guy who calls you to offer amazing new rates on car insurance. And Kyle Hicks is the guy at work who is too busy telling everyone how much he knows about everything to actually do any work. You see the problem here? These common names can go either way because they’re just so damn common. Sadly, there is no perfect formula to predicting the success of a prospect. We all know that. No test will ever be an exact science, but never underestimate the importance of a name. There is still a chance guys like May, Gibson and Meyer could go the way of Adam Johnson or Matt Moses. Names that were too common for their own good. Or they could go the way of Randy Johnson. It’s impossible to say. All I know is you shouldn’t underestimate the power of a name. -@ejoh24