Moncada

[SCCWS]

4 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

If any GM is telling the field manager what to do and how to do it you've got a real problem. I don't think Hahn is telling Ricky "bat him lead off" myself and if by a small chance he is and Ricky is letting him do it, that's on him. No manager should be letting that happen. No GM can really know what's happening down on the field during a game. He's sitting up in his box like any fan in the stands. 

Ever read Terry Francona's book? Very successful manager in Boston and Cleveland but according to Francona, GM's these days are very involved with how a manager uses players.  They obviously don't make in game decisions, but they have a lot of input on how the manager goes about managing/utilizing  the roster. 

[BlackSox13]

8 hours ago, BFirebird said:

This is a great stat that really shows how not every guy is going to take the league by storm like Soto & Gleybor.  More often than not guys struggle like Moncada is...albeit a modest struggle, he is 3rd in WAR on the team and will catch Yolmer soon I am sure.  The fact that this is Moncada's first full year, I think we (myself included) don't give him enough slack for his ups and downs considering he is still learning to hit in MLB.

All that being said, his strikeout rate is my biggest concern because is it something he can correct?  Is it a vision issue?  Is it a coordination issue?  Does he just guess up there?  Those questions will take time to answer.  When he makes contact, he hits it hard more often than most.  The only guy on that list that is close to his K rate is Baez, both Ramirez and Altuve came up as contact guys that developed more power.

I still trust he will continue to get better and if he can just even bring that K rate down to low 30% and bring his walk rate up to 12-15% (which would nearly double current rate) he will be much more effective.  He probably is better suited for a 2-5 batting position than leadoff with his ability to drive in runs.

Not sure why someone laughed at this post. Maybe they were looking at their own crotch at the time. Anyway, great post and I completely agree. It's been numerous times already but Moncada was and still is raw so it will take some time but the talent is there and I still believe he will be just fine. 

[Jack Parkman]

Just now, BlackSox13 said:

Not sure why someone laughed at this post. Maybe they were looking at their own crotch at the time. Anyway, great post and I completely agree. It's been numerous times already but Moncada was and still is raw so it will take some time but the talent is there and I still believe he will be just fine. 

He's going to be just fine. He'll settle in in the 5-7 WAR range with an outside chance to reach Trout levels. 

[fathom]

28 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

I've been arguing with people on a different sports board about Moncada. This is the way I see it:

Moncada has "Best position player in the game" potential. 

His potential is Who is better Trout or Moncada? 

His floor is Trevor Story. 

I don't know where he's ultimately going to fall on this spectrum, but if he hits his ceiling, I could see this as his career year

.310/.405/1.085

43HR 45 SB 38 2B 13 3B

130+RBI

And a GG

 

 

That would be one of the best years ever. Might want to be a little more realistic.

[BlackSox13]

1 minute ago, Jack Parkman said:

He's going to be just fine. He'll settle in in the 5-7 WAR range with an outside chance to reach Trout levels. 

I was just about to quote your post above Jack. Great post and just had to hit that trophy. 

 

Funny how fans have forgotten about how we all raved about his defense early on in the season. It's obvious his struggles at the plate are carrying over onto the field. Anyone that's watched baseball knows this happens to players sometimes. I agree that he will be just fine and these are merely growing pains were seeing on the field. It'll pass.

[Jack Parkman]

Just now, fathom said:

That would be one of the best years ever. Might want to be a little more realistic.

Yes, that is dreamland if Moncada reaches his ceiling. It really isn't that hard to imagine. 

He has the potential to be on the "best of the best ever" (i.e. Mike Trout)  level. I'm not saying he gets there, but yeah, he has the potential to have the argument in the future: Which season was better? Moncada's 2022 or Thomas' 1994? 

[Jack Parkman]

4 minutes ago, BlackSox13 said:

I was just about to quote your post above Jack. Great post and just had to hit that trophy. 

 

Funny how fans have forgotten about how we all raved about his defense early on in the season. It's obvious his struggles at the plate are carrying over onto the field. Anyone that's watched baseball knows this happens to players sometimes. I agree that he will be just fine and these are merely growing pains were seeing on the field. It'll pass.

Moncada oozes talent. Dude has the potential to be the Infield Ken Griffey Jr. A true 5-tool stud. For all of the shit that Moncada gets for his errors, his range is incredible, and even though the metrics argue otherwise, I see him go to Anderson's side of 2B with regularity from the 2B home position. He gets to balls others would allow for hits, and that is why he has more errors. Simply more opportunities to make a mistake. 

[southsider2k5]

16 minutes ago, BlackSox13 said:

Not sure why someone laughed at this post. Maybe they were looking at their own crotch at the time. Anyway, great post and I completely agree. It's been numerous times already but Moncada was and still is raw so it will take some time but the talent is there and I still believe he will be just fine. 

He needs to play and he needs to swing the bat enough to keep umps and pitchers honest. 

[Jack Parkman]

Just now, southsider2k5 said:

He needs to play and he needs to swing the bat enough to keep umps and pitchers honest. 

He has an incredible eye for the zone. I don't know why Umps are screwing him. Best I've seen in a Sox uni since Hurt. I think it has to do with Hurt's comments to the media from about 16 years ago when he said the following: "If I don't swing, the Umps  will call it a ball." 

[LittleHurt05]

20 minutes ago, SCCWS said:

Ever read Terry Francona's book? Very successful manager in Boston and Cleveland but according to Francona, GM's these days are very involved with how a manager uses players.  They obviously don't make in game decisions, but they have a lot of input on how the manager goes about managing/utilizing  the roster. 

On the North side of Chicago the front office is very involved in the everyday lineups. Maddon has even said they did the same in Tampa, it was a group approach. You have so many resources now, the manager should not be making all of those decisions on his own. If Hahn didn't have input on the lineup construction everyday, I would be highly disappointed in the organization structure.

[fathom]

3 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

He has an incredible eye for the zone. I don't know why Umps are screwing him. Best I've seen in a Sox uni since Hurt. I think it has to do with Hurt's comments to the media from about 16 years ago when he said the following: "If I don't swing, the Umps  will call it a ball." 

Dunn and Thome say "remember us"

[Jack Parkman]

1 minute ago, fathom said:

Dunn and Thome say "remember us"

He's right there with them. The big difference is that Dunn and Thome had a long track record of destroying baseballs at the big league level that Moncada doesn't. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Jack Parkman

[fathom]

1 minute ago, LittleHurt05 said:

On the North side of Chicago the front office is very involved in the everyday lineups. Maddon has even said they did the same in Tampa, it was a group approach. You have so many resources now, the manager should not be making all of those decisions on his own. If Hahn didn't have input on the lineup construction everyday, I would be highly disappointed in the organization structure.

From listening to the 74 interviews Jesse Rogers does on ESPN1000 every day, the Cubs have a team of employees that run analytics via a computer to determine what optimal lineup would be. They then provide that to Maddon for him to make final decision. 

[BFirebird]

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

He needs to play and he needs to swing the bat enough to keep umps and pitchers honest. 

I agree with this.  Something in his approach seems off to me and he doesn't have a plan.  I think that if we drop him a bit in the order and have a real aggressive approach for a few weeks that maybe he can get back on track with his OBP.  His lack of walks is what is killing his OPS.

[Jack Parkman]

I disagree in principle with batting Moncada leadoff, unless the purpose is to get him 700 instead of 600 ABs this year. If that is the plan, I understand though I disagree. Moncada is a run producer, and should be in a run producing role in the lineup. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Jack Parkman

[fathom]

1 minute ago, BFirebird said:

I agree with this.  Something in his approach seems off to me and he doesn't have a plan.  I think that if we drop him a bit in the order and have a real aggressive approach for a few weeks that maybe he can get back on track with his OBP.  His lack of walks is what is killing his OPS.

If it's not on the inner half, he has no chance right now. If you think about his best moments over last few weeks, it was on pitches he could turn on. Huge difference between some of the success he had last year compared to this is he's not driving the ball to the opposite field at all.  All comes back to pulling off everything, and it's been that way all season besides maybe 2-3 weeks.

[fathom]

7 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

He's right there with them. 

At this stage, he's nowhere near the WSox version of Thome in terms of batting eye.

[Jack Parkman]

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

At this stage, he's nowhere near the WSox version of Thome in terms of batting eye.

Last season he was, and at the beginning of the season he was. Then the staff told him to swing more after he returned from his injury and I don't get it. His huge asset was his knowledge of the strike zone, and they are neutering that because he's swinging at 1st pitches and shit like that. He's more dangerous as he sees more pitches and gets deeper into the count. Umps notwithstanding. Honestly I think his regression has a lot to do with him being more of a free swinger and he's not comfortable with it. It could also explain the pulling off everything because he's got into the habit of trying to destroy pitches early in the count. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Jack Parkman

[BFirebird]

1 minute ago, fathom said:

If it's not on the inner half, he has no chance right now. If you think about his best moments over last few weeks, it was on pitches he could turn on. Huge difference between some of the success he had last year compared to this is he's not driving the ball to the opposite field at all.  All comes back to pulling off everything, and it's been that way all season besides maybe 2-3 weeks.

Most definitely.  Right before he got hurt when he was on fire was the ONLY time all year he was hitting to the opposite field for power.  He hit 2-3 homeruns to LCF/CF and then poof injury and hasn't been the same.

I think if he get's his head right and starts spraying the ball more, the light bulb will turn on for him.

[fathom]

Just now, Jack Parkman said:

Last season he was, and at the beginning of the season he was. Then the staff told him to swing more and I don't get it. His huge asset was his knowledge of the strike zone, and they are neutering that because he's swinging at 1st pitches and shit like that. He's more dangerous as he sees more pitches and gets deeper into the count. Umps notwithstanding. 

Have you seen his stats?  The only true success he's had is swinging at first pitch. Once he falls behind, it's all over.

[fathom]

1 minute ago, BFirebird said:

Most definitely.  Right before he got hurt when he was on fire was the ONLY time all year he was hitting to the opposite field for power.  He hit 2-3 homeruns to LCF/CF and then poof injury and hasn't been the same.

I think if he get's his head right and starts spraying the ball more, the light bulb will turn on for him.

Pulling off is also causing him to foul off to the left side good pitches to hit on outer half, as well as give up on fastballs on the edge of outside corner.  Don't get me wrongs, umps have done him no favors either, but there comes a time where you need to fight off close pitches.

[Jack Parkman]

3 minutes ago, fathom said:

Have you seen his stats?  The only true success he's had is swinging at first pitch. Once he falls behind, it's all over.

Yeah, and I think a lot of that has to do with the period since around Memorial Day to now. Let him do his thing. He was on a tear before he got hurt in early May. they didn't tell him to swing at 1st pitches until he came back from injury. He's not comfortable being impatient at the plate. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Jack Parkman

[BFirebird]

Just now, fathom said:

Pulling off is also causing him to foul off to the left side good pitches to hit on outer half, as well as give up on fastballs on the edge of outside corner.  Don't get me wrongs, umps have done him no favors either, but there comes a time where you need to fight off close pitches.

Abreu is pretty much doing the same thing...both are pulling off.

[southsider2k5]

9 minutes ago, fathom said:

Have you seen his stats?  The only true success he's had is swinging at first pitch. Once he falls behind, it's all over.

They tell me he has taken an insane amount of 3rd strikes 

[BFirebird]

Just now, Jack Parkman said:

Yeah, and I think a lot of that has to do with the period since around Memorial day to now. Let him do his thing. He was on a tear before he got hurt in early May. they didn't tell him to swing at 1st pitches until he came back from injury. He's not comfortable being impatient at the plate. 

He just needs to learn to be selectively aggressive.  That will help him get deeper into counts, more walks, in better position.  It will also stop pitchers from throwing him so many first pitch fastballs right done the middle that he doesn't want to swing at normally.