Ryan Sweeney

[SoxHawk1980]

Somebody should tell Ozzie that BA has never gone 0-6.

 

But somehow Sweeney "reminds me of Ozzie Guillen" <--- Guillen quote

 

So we know why Sweeney will stay in there, not that it makes much sense....

As much as I don't expect Sweeney to hit very well at all in the majors this season, he's still probably better than Podsednik. At least Sweeney can play defense. I have no problem with Sweeney playing if it means Podsednik sits. But Anderson > Sweeney, at the plate and in the field.

[Drew]

I wouldn't be comparing Sweeney to the Almighty God, but he did look good last night. Hopefully he will keep it up today if he is in the lineup, which i heard he was but i'm not 100% sure he will be.

 

[TLAK]

Somebody should tell Ozzie that BA has never gone 0-6.

 

But somehow Sweeney "reminds me of Ozzie Guillen"

 

So we know why Sweeney will stay in there, not that it makes much sense....

I think Ozzie is looking for a 'gamer', 'grinder', 'ball player' and saw a flash of it the other night. Sweeney seems to play the outfield with reckless abandon and he ran the bases real hard. Call it heart, competitiveness or just playing hard all game, it's a style of baseball that Guillen has had a hard time getting out his team this year. If Pods, Iguchi, Uribe and BA see that competing against the other team is the road to playing time it could help. There are a lot of ways a player can help his team beyond his strat-o-matic stats, and I think that is what Ozzie is looking for.

[Harry Chappas]

Well Sweeney's average is now below Anderson's. I guess he should start against the three lefties and play center the next three days.

[RockRaines]

Well Sweeney's average is now below Anderson's. I guess he should start against the three lefties and play center the next three days.

Yeah, he has played 2 games.

 

IMO, watching Sweeney last night, he impressed the hell out of me with his approach, his batting eye, and the swings he took. He got a little unlucky, but still did his job to knock in a run by grounding to the right side. He looks much better than BA when he first came up, and I really think the kid should stay and get some solid playing time.

[danman31]

0-6, 2 k's

 

Please don't be surprised if Sweeney hits about .200 in his cup of coffee this year. That would be about right, consider the kind of season he had in the minors.

 

Sweeney may develop into a good major league player, but he isn't there yet. Frankly, I don't think he's even close.

Bingo!

 

People need to realize that he was not a dominant minor league player ever. He's hovered around .300 everywhere he went. Age is one thing but if that's the excuse then he isn't ready now. Sweeney next year will likely be about the same as Anderson this year. I know most people aren't satisfied with Brian's production despite improvements.

[T R U]

Yeah, he has played 2 games.

 

IMO, watching Sweeney last night, he impressed the hell out of me with his approach, his batting eye, and the swings he took. He got a little unlucky, but still did his job to knock in a run by grounding to the right side. He looks much better than BA when he first came up, and I really think the kid should stay and get some solid playing time.

 

I agree rock

 

Also the answer to your trivia question is Kalapse

[RockRaines]

I agree rock

 

Also the answer to your trivia question is Kalapse

nice.

[cgaudin]

It has only been 7 at-bats, but he looked confident and his swings were quality. He didn't appear to struggle like Anderson's awkward at-bats. The kid had a plan. I think we should keep playing him. He can't possibly do worse than Pods. Then again ..........

[GoodAsGould]

Bingo!

 

People need to realize that he was not a dominant minor league player ever. He's hovered around .300 everywhere he went. Age is one thing but if that's the excuse then he isn't ready now. Sweeney next year will likely be about the same as Anderson this year. I know most people aren't satisfied with Brian's production despite improvements.

 

No people need to realize that Sweeney's swing is much better than Anderson's was when he first came up and is still after Anderson's adjustment. And he will hit much better than what Anderson's avg. is over his first season but just wont supply a lot of pop. Im not saying .300 im saying .260 plus.

[jimhaiduck]

Bingo!

 

People need to realize that he was not a dominant minor league player ever. He's hovered around .300 everywhere he went. Age is one thing but if that's the excuse then he isn't ready now. Sweeney next year will likely be about the same as Anderson this year. I know most people aren't satisfied with Brian's production despite improvements.

 

 

I'm not sure why everyone is saying that Sweeney has been mediocre this year. Sweeney was the 8th leading hitter for avg. in the International League and in the top 15 in RBI's and top 20 in OPS. There's a misconception that there are hitters in the minor leagues hitting .375 with 60 HR's. That's not the case.

 

Check out the league leaders and you see there's only one player in the entire International League with an average over .308 and I guarantee you there are a bunch of future All Stars in that league. Sweeney is 21 years old, he's about 1,000 at bats from high school. Hitting is arguably the toughest skill to master in all of sports. That's why you don't see High School players go directly to the pro's. You can count on one hand the number of College hitters who've come straight into major league baseball and been productive (Bob Horner, Robin Ventura??) and Sweeney is younger than those guys. Jeff Franceour was hitting .275 when the Braves brought him up last year and he won't be seeing the minors anytime soon.

[qwerty]

No people need to realize that Sweeney's swing is much better than Anderson's was when he first came up and is still after Anderson's adjustment. And he will hit much better than what Anderson's avg. is over his first season but just wont supply a lot of pop. Im not saying .300 im saying .260 plus.

 

Willing to bet anderson first year out produces sweeney in his first year... both defensively and offensively.

 

I'm not sure why everyone is saying that Sweeney has been mediocre this year. Sweeney was the 8th leading hitter for avg. in the International League and in the top 15 in RBI's and top 20 in OPS. There's a misconception that there are hitters in the minor leagues hitting .375 with 60 HR's. That's not the case.

 

Check out the league leaders and you see there's only one player in the entire International League with an average over .308 and I guarantee you there are a bunch of future All Stars in that league. Sweeney is 21 years old, he's about 1,000 at bats from high school. Hitting is arguably the toughest skill to master in all of sports. That's why you don't see High School players go directly to the pro's. You can count on one hand the number of College hitters who've come straight into major league baseball and been productive (Bob Horner, Robin Ventura??) and Sweeney is younger than those guys. Jeff Franceour was hitting .275 when the Braves brought him up last year and he won't be seeing the minors anytime soon.

 

I could see you making a case for him if he was top 15-20 in the entire minors... but he is top 15-20 in his own individual league. There are what... 19 leagues in the minors? His numbers were not quite as impressive as you take them as... if you consider his age they are slightly more impressive.

He had an .802 ops in charlotte of all places. Just watching him play ( and yes i have seen him in person in charlotte and online when games are available) he is not ready yet. A year or two from now is when he will likely have it all down. He needs to work on his power and better defensive reads/jumps. You have to rememeber there is not one area of his game that he extremely excels at ( average, gap power, obp, defense). He still has time before he will be a productive every day baseball player... even to the point of brian anderson.

 

Francouer? There are guys that put up numbers like him dime a dozen if you give them 600 at-bats plus a season. His approach up there is just disgusting to watch. He is the definition of a guess hitter.

[TaylorStSox]

Anderson's an outstanding athlete that plays baseball. Sweeney's an outstanding baseball player who's a good athlete. It's blatantly obvious by their swings. Though, Anderson's one of the most natural CF I've ever seen.

[fathom]

Ozzie says that Sweeney will start on Thurs night. Looks like another night off for Anderson, as I'd imagine Ozuna will be in LF.

 

I guess Ozzie changed his mind.

[Balta1701]

He had an .802 ops in charlotte of all places. Just watching him play ( and yes i have seen him in person in charlotte and online when games are available) he is not ready yet. A year or two from now is when he will likely have it all down. He needs to work on his power and better defensive reads/jumps. You have to rememeber there is not one area of his game that he extremely excels at ( average, gap power, obp, defense). He still has time before he will be a productive every day baseball player... even to the point of brian anderson.

One key little element you're missing when you look at his season numbers...he's gotten better as the season went on. Which is exactly what you'd hope from a guy his age.

 

OPS by Month, Ryan Sweeney:

0.741

0.773

0.766

0.857

0.852

 

HR by month:

1

1

3

3

5

 

2B by month:

3

0

5

7

10

 

(May he was on the DL for a couple weeks, so his at bats were a little low that month)

[witesoxfan]

Francouer? There are guys that put up numbers like him dime a dozen if you give them 600 at-bats plus a season. His approach up there is just disgusting to watch. He is the definition of a guess hitter.

 

are you trying to tell me that a .736 OPS isn't good?

 

THAT DOESNT MAKE SENSE

[jimhaiduck]

Willing to bet anderson first year out produces sweeney in his first year... both defensively and offensively.

I could see you making a case for him if he was top 15-20 in the entire minors... but he is top 15-20 in his own individual league. There are what... 19 leagues in the minors? His numbers were not quite as impressive as you take them as... if you consider his age they are slightly more impressive.

He had an .802 ops in charlotte of all places. Just watching him play ( and yes i have seen him in person in charlotte and online when games are available) he is not ready yet. A year or two from now is when he will likely have it all down. He needs to work on his power and better defensive reads/jumps. You have to rememeber there is not one area of his game that he extremely excels at ( average, gap power, obp, defense). He still has time before he will be a productive every day baseball player... even to the point of brian anderson.

 

Francouer? There are guys that put up numbers like him dime a dozen if you give them 600 at-bats plus a season. His approach up there is just disgusting to watch. He is the definition of a guess hitter.

 

>

 

That makes no sense. You can't compare stats from 20 different leagues. He's at the highest level of minor league baseball and doing very well and he's been steadily improving.

 

Francouer is a dime a dozen player? How many other 22 year olds are going to drive in 100 runs this year and have it considered a sophomore slump year?

 

I originally thought that Sweeney was slated for 2008, but he could easily be a platoon player at worst in 2007. I saw him in Spring Training this year and he has a better arm than Anderson and is better defensively than Pods, Ozuna, Mackowiak and Dye. If he can hit .260, he'll play. Pods won't be here next year so there will be plenty of opportunities.

[witesoxfan]

Francouer is a dime a dozen player? How many other 22 year olds are going to drive in 100 runs this year and have it considered a sophomore slump year?

 

How many other 22 year olds have the opportunity to drive in 100? He's hitting 3rd or 5th in a pretty poor hitting Atlanta offense, BUT he has 2 guys ahead of him getting on at good clips(Renteria, .370 OBP; Giles, .351 OBP). If you put those two in front of Sweeney, I'm sure he'd have the ability to drive in 100 runs as well. The fact that the Sox have better players suited for the 3 hole is why he won't.

[qwerty]

>

 

That makes no sense. You can't compare stats from 20 different leagues. He's at the highest level of minor league baseball and doing very well and he's been steadily improving.

 

Francouer is a dime a dozen player? How many other 22 year olds are going to drive in 100 runs this year and have it considered a sophomore slump year?

 

I originally thought that Sweeney was slated for 2008, but he could easily be a platoon player at worst in 2007. I saw him in Spring Training this year and he has a better arm than Anderson and is better defensively than Pods, Ozuna, Mackowiak and Dye. If he can hit .260, he'll play. Pods won't be here next year so there will be plenty of opportunities.

 

Do you realize the stat line sweeney would have in with a .260 average? He would be another podsednik. I think i am one of the few that understands he will really only be a upgrade of podsednik defensively... in likely his first two seasons.

 

Also, i agree with wite 100% about francouer and others in his situation.

 

One key little element you're missing when you look at his season numbers...he's gotten better as the season went on. Which is exactly what you'd hope from a guy his age.

 

OPS by Month, Ryan Sweeney:

0.741

0.773

0.766

0.857

0.852

 

HR by month:

1

1

3

3

5

 

2B by month:

3

0

5

7

10

 

(May he was on the DL for a couple weeks, so his at bats were a little low that month)

 

Well they say the jump from single A is the hardest to make. Players that come up straight from double A can and have suceeded many times... it is not out of the ordinary. But more times than not a player will struggle for a long length of time when they first come up... rather than playing well. There is always a transition one way or another for every player that comes up.

[Colorado Sox Fan]

Again, he might develop into a guy with a decent OBP, but I doubt we'll see much of that in his first cup of coffee.