Josh Fields

[RockRaines]

Yeah, sure, but he can't pull fastballs. He kills breaking pitches but that isn't going to last forever, especially not as the league adjusts, which it's currently doing. There are good signs -- when he took Putz deep, that was a great game to be at, but there are some awful signs, too, like all the times he strikes out on 89-91 pitches down the pipe and the fact that he Ks so much.

Agreed. The only fastballs he can hit are the ones that are low and away which he takes to RF. I dont think its abad approach, but he will have to shorten it up. LIke I said before, he loads his bat too much prior to the pitch. I would actually like to see him cut down his leg kick a bit and just use a small toe tap if possible.

[Steve9347]

Troy Glaus has been one of the more consistent power hitters during the 2000s. Comparing Fields to him is quite lofty.

Dude, did he say "Josh Fields is as good as Troy Glaus and has been a great power hitter for the last 8 years," or did he say something more along the lines of "Josh Fields seems to be on a similar track to Troy Glaus"?

 

It's not a comparison, it's just a feeling that multiple people have that Josh Fields will hit for power while not hitting for a high average, but still be a great bat in any lineup.

[29andPoplar]

Josh Fields will hit for power while not hitting for a high average, but still be a great bat in any lineup.

 

I agree that he looks like a potential high impact power bat. As was said in this thread his pitch recognition looks to be getting better but he will need to continue to make major adjustments.

 

One thing they will talk about in November for sure, how many 100+ strikeout guys can they carry? Thome, Dye, Konerko, Crede if he comes back, Fields. I won't count Uribe. Even without Juan that's a lot of K's and they have gone on record the K's need to decrease in 2008.

 

Certainly they don't want all spray hitters, you need power and with power comes strikeouts. But it is a balancing act to come up with the right mix and it is on their agenda.

[fathom]

Dude, did he say "Josh Fields is as good as Troy Glaus and has been a great power hitter for the last 8 years," or did he say something more along the lines of "Josh Fields seems to be on a similar track to Troy Glaus"?

 

It's not a comparison, it's just a feeling that multiple people have that Josh Fields will hit for power while not hitting for a high average, but still be a great bat in any lineup.

 

No, but I'm not going to project Fields as a possible 400 homer guy just yet. I'm one of his biggest fans on this site, FWIW.

[fathom]

I agree that he looks like a potential high impact power bat. As was said in this thread his pitch recognition looks to be getting better but he will need to continue to make major adjustments.

 

One thing they will talk about in November for sure, how many 100+ strikeout guys can they carry? Thome, Dye, Konerko, Crede if he comes back, Fields. I won't count Uribe. Even without Juan that's a lot of K's and they have gone on record the K's need to decrease in 2008.

 

Certainly they don't want all spray hitters, you need power and with power comes strikeouts. But it is a balancing act to come up with the right mix and it is on their agenda.

 

With the 5 power guys we have in PK, Thome, Dye, Fields, and Crede, and adding AJP to the mix, we really should focus on having OBP guys in the 3 other spots.

[beautox]

Personally i think fields develops somewhere between Jermaine Dye and Troy Glaus as a hitter; someone who can control the zone pretty well but either his average or obp will suffer while he tries to spray the ball or hit for more power. either way he needs to shorten up when he gets too 3-2 and protect the zone.

 

i must say i do like the fact that he doesn't chase breaking balls out of the zone that often, but he needs to be able to get around on that maso menos fastball down the heart of the plate.

 

either way strike outs aren't the worst thing(provided he starts walking more).

 

 

[Steve9347]

No, but I'm not going to project Fields as a possible 400 homer guy just yet. I'm one of his biggest fans on this site, FWIW.

 

and?

 

I don't think anyone questioned that or really cared...

[LVSoxFan]

I'm diggin Fields too as our Left Fielder for the Future, after Crede comes back. Put Josh in some off-season ball to get some good LF experience, show him how to hit OF (as Ozzie mentioned this week), and I think we're good to go!

 

[fathom]

and?

 

I don't think anyone questioned that or really cared...

 

Because I am often pessimistic about players that I'm not high on, like Owens, Pods, etc. I'm very happy with Fields power so far. The one thing that's been disappointing is his speed. I expected a little more speed getting out of the box based on his minor league steal numbers.

[Steve9347]

Because I am often pessimistic about players that I'm not high on, like Owens, Pods, etc. I'm very happy with Fields power so far. The one thing that's been disappointing is his speed. I expected a little more speed getting out of the box based on his minor league steal numbers.

 

Tell me about it... I'm the ultimate Owens/Richar pessimist.

[Jeremy]

There seems to be some pretty extreme pessimism and optimism in this thread.

 

Jeff Abbott put up similar power numbers as a rooking in '98, though Jeff actually had a higher SLG.

 

Also, Jeff Liefer: 18 HR in 254 ABs in 2001.

 

Josh Fields = Joe Borchard?

 

(let the rumblings begin... )

 

First of all, slugging percentage includes singles so if you really want to look at how much power a guy is hitting for you have to look at his ISO (isolated slugging percentage, SLG - AVG). In that case, Fields .223 bests Abbott's rookie year .213 and anything Borchard has ever done in the majors.

 

More importantly though, you have to look at Fields' performance in context. First of all, he's having this relative major league success at a younger age than Borchard (never), Liefer (26), and Abbott (25) ever did. He's also been a more highly regarded prospect (peaked at 45 on Baseball America's top 100 list) than Abbott (80) and Liefer (never made the list). He also performed better (.894 OPS) than Abbott (.871 OPS) or Borchard (.847 OPS) ever did in AAA. Most importantly of all, he plays a defensive position so he doesn't have to hit as well as those players did to be good major leaguers. He's not a lock to be a great player but he's quite a bit ahead of where any of those players were at this stage in their career.

[29andPoplar]

With the 5 power guys we have in PK, Thome, Dye, Fields, and Crede, and adding AJP to the mix, we really should focus on having OBP guys in the 3 other spots.

 

Obviously yes and that's what they've said. My comment is more based on whether or not they'll commit to Fields as LF in 2008 on a team they want to contend. Guillen seemed to hedge a bit the other day when he said something like "we'll have to see what's available to us".

[Kalapse]

There seems to be some pretty extreme pessimism and optimism in this thread.

First of all, slugging percentage includes singles so if you really want to look at how much power a guy is hitting for you have to look at his ISO (isolated slugging percentage, SLG - AVG). In that case, Fields .223 bests Abbott's rookie year .213 and anything Borchard has ever done in the majors.

 

More importantly though, you have to look at Fields' performance in context. First of all, he's having this relative major league success at a younger age than Borchard (never), Liefer (26), and Abbott (25) ever did. He's also been a more highly regarded prospect (peaked at 45 on Baseball America's top 100 list) than Abbott (80) and Liefer (never made the list). He also performed better (.894 OPS) than Abbott (.871 OPS) or Borchard (.847 OPS) ever did in AAA. Most importantly of all, he plays a defensive position so he doesn't have to hit as well as those players did to be good major leaguers. He's not a lock to be a great player but he's quite a bit ahead of where any of those players were at this stage in their career.

I just answered the question that was originally posed. I don't remember comparing or passing judgment on anyone.

[Gregory Pratt]

I agree that he looks like a potential high impact power bat. As was said in this thread his pitch recognition looks to be getting better but he will need to continue to make major adjustments.

 

One thing they will talk about in November for sure, how many 100+ strikeout guys can they carry? Thome, Dye, Konerko, Crede if he comes back, Fields. I won't count Uribe. Even without Juan that's a lot of K's and they have gone on record the K's need to decrease in 2008.

 

Certainly they don't want all spray hitters, you need power and with power comes strikeouts. But it is a balancing act to come up with the right mix and it is on their agenda.

 

Crede's a 100 K hitter? I didn't know that.

[NorthSideSox72]

Because I am often pessimistic about players that I'm not high on, like Owens, Pods, etc. I'm very happy with Fields power so far. The one thing that's been disappointing is his speed. I expected a little more speed getting out of the box based on his minor league steal numbers.

He beat out a double play last night and looked pretty good down the line. And he has shown some speed in LF, at times, when he feels confident in his judgement of the ball.

 

[southsider2k5]

Because I am often pessimistic about players that I'm not high on, like Owens, Pods, etc. I'm very happy with Fields power so far. The one thing that's been disappointing is his speed. I expected a little more speed getting out of the box based on his minor league steal numbers.

 

He's a guy with a big swing who takes a while to uncork after letting loose. His first to third speed tells you how quick he is.

[3E8]

Fields has trouble with fastballs anywhere between the middle and the top of the strike zone (not just inside). This is because he drops his hands noticeably when loading his swing. Watch any video of him where the camera is pointed to the batter's box from the first-base side and you will see it. It's too hard for him to get his hands back up in time to hit major league fastballs in the top-half of the zone. He'll either have to shorten that dip in his hands or start cheating to catch up to these pitches. On the other hand this tendancy helps him hit the breaking ball because A: his hands are staying back and B: breaking balls usually enter the lower-half of the zone.

[The Ginger Kid]

I like his speed - I was surprised by how well he runs. Wouldn't mind seeing him start for the Bears once the season's over.

[29andPoplar]

Crede's a 100 K hitter? I didn't know that.

 

Well let's not lump him in the 100K category like I did, let's just say the 80k category. Let's also take a couple of the other guys and put them into the 120K per year category vs. the 100k per year level. Crede strikes out twice as much as he walks, his OBP is not great and who knows how he'll swing after basically a year off and rather serious back surgery.

 

The point being, do they carry Fields with that large amount of K's when they have 5-6 other guys who also do their share of striking out. It is something they will talk about and analyze which is what I was trying to get across.

[Balta1701]

Well let's not lump him in the 100K category like I did, let's just say the 80k category. Let's also take a couple of the other guys and put them into the 120K per year category vs. the 100k per year level. Crede strikes out twice as much as he walks, his OBP is not great and who knows how he'll swing after basically a year off and rather serious back surgery.

 

The point being, do they carry Fields with that large amount of K's when they have 5-6 other guys who also do their share of striking out. It is something they will talk about and analyze which is what I was trying to get across.

Not sure how much it tells us, but here's the current numbers for Strikeouts (and walks) for teams in the AL (sorted by k's)

 

1 Tampa Bay 1219 501

2 Texas 1136 470

3 Cleveland 1120 546

4 Chicago Sox 1058 502

5 Oakland 1035 626

6 Detroit 989 454

7 Kansas City 985 406

8 Boston 961 644

9 Toronto 960 486

10 NY Yankees 900 575

11 Baltimore 866 462

12 LA Angels 804 471

13 Seattle 786 364

14 Minnesota 769 475

LEAGUE AVERAGES SO BB

American League 971 499

National League 1001 496

Major League Baseball 987 497

 

[29andPoplar]

Interesting numbers, thank you for posting that. I think what it tells me and apparantly Guillen and hopefully Williams is, the White Sox strike out a lot and that's not good. Hopefully they can re-do the lineup so there are less strikeouts and more guys on base, and more guys who make opposing pitchers throw lots of pitches.

[Jeremy]

Interesting numbers, thank you for posting that. I think what it tells me and apparantly Guillen and hopefully Williams is, the White Sox strike out a lot and that's not good. Hopefully they can re-do the lineup so there are less strikeouts and more guys on base, and more guys who make opposing pitchers throw lots of pitches.

 

It's important to remember though that walks and strikeouts don't have that close of a connection. For instance, Thome's strikeouts the most and walks the most of anyone on the team. If I had to choose between the two, I'd place more of an emphasis on walks right now.

[Balta1701]

It's important to remember though that walks and strikeouts don't have that close of a connection. For instance, Thome's strikeouts the most and walks the most of anyone on the team. If I had to choose between the two, I'd place more of an emphasis on walks right now.

And in terms of walks...we are right around the MLB "Average" level. And that's still with a guy like Erstad and a guy like Uribe getting a bunch of at bats. And Gonzalez. And Cintron.

 

Even if all we do is replace some of that grindy garbage...that alone could improve those #'s.

[elrockinMT]

When is the last time a Sox rookie has put up those kind of home run numbers?

Wouldn't he look good as Sox DH the next 20 years?

Trade Thome who is showing he still has some pop in his bat for some studs and let Fields DH?

Just a thought.

 

 

You're losing me with all this bubbly excitement. Trading Thome is not an option. Josh Fields can fit into LF quite well I believe alhtough it will be defensively a work in progress for awhile. Josh has shown a good power bat with a poor BA and OBP. I would think that as he learns at the major league level that will improve. We might see better numbers in 2008. He is certainly someone to look forward to in our line up though.

[knightni]

Thome 3rd, Konerko 4th, Dunn 5th, Fields 6th.

 

It'd be the '91 Tigers all over again.