Forum
Forum Navigation
30-man Active O.D., 40-man MLB, 60-man "Taxi" Rosters
#151 · July 15, 2020, 9:12 am
Mejia's uber elite arm should (now? someday?) be able to overcome the tiny .03 hundredth of a second difference between he & Hedges average "pop time".
Where he (& 90% of other C's in MLB & minors) will never approach Hedges is his pitch framing, ability to block balls in the dirt, and game calling / handling of pitchers. Their personalities are very different too. Hedges is naturally vocal & works as hard on game planning as any C out there. But there is a selfish side or outlook. Mejia is a more quiet introverted guy in general; less ideal in a C. Team has had to work & push him to come out his shell. In the past there were some work ethic whispers. Haven't heard that issue with Pads, but he's a guy who is going to REALLY have to work to improve his shortcomings at the position to ever get to "OK" on the overall defensive C side; even with his arm. Indians clearly thought despite all his tools he was no "lock" to stay at C.
I think of it like this: In an AL playoff game, which C would you want behind the plate? This season in general looks like that. Because every game matters more & have extra guys on roster half the season, Teams are going to play a version of baseball that looks more like the playoffs in terms of managing/approach. Pinch runners, stolen bases, going to pen sooner, etc. I think lower scoring, quicker to bullpen, defensive oriented, "small ball" games amplify Hedges' vlaue. If Mejia's bat is THAT great, he can DH. If not good enough to beat out the rest of the bench to DH, then we're probably overstating his offensive impact.
#152 · July 15, 2020, 9:28 am
I actually don't fault Hedges for the approach he took earlier in career: He's got basically a "40" hit tool; it's ALWAYS since draft day (2nd round) been THE issue, but for a C he has at least "50" power. HR pay off in Arbitration; if you have the natural tool, why not try for them (I personally don't agree with this, but "get it"). No matter what he does he's never going to hit .275 or be a.340 OBP guy, so why try to be something you're not?
The problem is: 1) He's hit his "worth" ceiling relatively more quickly via arb than a decent bat / no power guy would. 2) He is "below the line" of even marginally acceptable. IMO, partly because his approach is so universal in game that P's use it against him.
#153 · July 15, 2020, 10:39 am
Then again,with his defense he doesn't have to be a .275, .340 guy.
If he could just be a .235, .305 guy he would be a top 5-8 Catcher in baseball and make a ton of $$.
#154 · July 15, 2020, 11:11 am
If only he could do that, which was hoped for after 2018 season where he finished strong (.255 BA/.303 OBP for him) in the second half after being sent down to the minors. Unfortunately, last year, back to his norms with an under .180 BA and barely over .250 OBP. Those numbers are near to the bottom for any position player. I earlier stated that .225 BA OR .300 OBP would be acceptable to give him the majority of starts and I agree with you that if he could just be that guy you mentioned, he would be in the top 5-8 overall catchers in baseball. Comments I have seen from him, however, seem to indicate he thinks he has everything under control and is content with his offensive game. Just my perception as, in all honesty, we truly need him to step up for the team to be as successful as it could be this year. Tingler will have a tough time making that decision every day but it would be greatly helped if Hedges shows just a little more offense.
#155 · July 15, 2020, 11:13 am
Quote from MrPadre19 on July 15, 2020, 10:39 amThen again,with his defense he doesn't have to be a .275, .340 guy.
If he could just be a .235, .305 guy he would be a top 5-8 Catcher in baseball and make a ton of $$.
I know. And so does Hedges. But my point is that Hedges has to do something differently to get to that .235 / .305. Tingler threw out ".300 .... .320" as possibly attainable (my words) OBP for Hedges. In a 60-game stats skewed season? Sure.
In a full season with his last 3 years = .252 / .282 / .262 OBP in well over 1,000 PA... 3 year Avg of .265 (actually lower)? A .320 would be a 55 point improvement = > 20%. It's simply not realistic. This would be the equivalent of Wil Myers suddenly increasing his .327 career OBP to .392 over a full season. If the ability were there to make that happen, it would have already.
Personally, I'd be thrilled with Hedges reaching .300 OBP. That's still a massive 13+% improvement... a tall order.
Keep in mind we're comparing him to Mejia who is a vastly better hitter.... BUT is one of the most free-swinging, least selective guys in all of MLB. He is also never going to shine in terms of OBP; his too small sample career OBP? .300
#156 · July 15, 2020, 11:36 am
Quote from MrPadre19 on July 15, 2020, 10:39 amThen again,with his defense he doesn't have to be a .275, .340 guy.
If he could just be a .235, .305 guy he would be a top 5-8 Catcher in baseball and make a ton of $$.
IF is a big conditional term for a guy who is turning 28 next month and with well over 1000 PA. He IS a .201 (BA) and .257 (OBP) hitter ... or worse if we go by 2019 at .176 / .252. Doubt we will see any sustained improvement over that at this stage of his career and can’t include improvement into his evaluation.
Actually if you check his slugging (not all that impressive with a career .360) against the other starting catchers ... near the bottom too.
I have made this comp before ... HS defensive wiz from a years earlier with a similar developmental path ... Jeff Mathis. Still bouncing around the ML as a back-up for his defensive skills but his .198 career BA just does not get him a regular starting role.
Hedges has to be accepted as he is all defense / no offense. If that fits the team ... he starts.
poolie has reacted to this post.
poolie
#157 · July 15, 2020, 5:43 pm
inter-squad game today .... Davies v Richards to start.
Looks like the 1st team line-up vs. the "others". Couple of interesting point (maybe portents the future) on the 1st team:
- Pham is batting 4th behind Tatis .. Grisham ... Machado
- Hedges is catching batting 9th
- Garcia is DH
On the "other team":
- Olivares is leading off and in CF
- Mejia is catching and 5th
- France is hitting 4th and DH
- Cordero in LF vs. Trammell in RF (seems opposite of what their scouting suggests)
- Cronenworth is SS vs. Abrams at 2B (again opposite of expectations?)
#158 · July 15, 2020, 7:06 pm
Early observations of inter-squad. I like the professionalism shown byRichards and Davies, although Pham seems to have him figured out. Got a good feeling every time Pham comes up.
#159 · July 15, 2020, 7:49 pm
Mejia and Pham looked very good at the plate. Richards threw some nasty breaking stuff and you can tell Davies knows how to get out of trouble even without a top heater. Liked what I saw in Strahm. Hedges looked bad at the plate and Trammell got some outstanding pitches from Richards to strike him out. Machado and Hedges made some good defensive plays. Otherwise, no one got hurt and game looked competitive with right amount of intensity. Look forward to watching tomorrow.
#160 · July 15, 2020, 7:51 pm
Fun inter-squad.
Both pitchers need more innings to gain command but seem to know how to pitch. Richards in the mid-90s with FB is encouraging.
Trammell made a spectacular catch against the wall in RF. Struggled a bit with the bat.
Clearly Pham is ready to hit.
Naylor is in the best shape I have ever seen him in ... and moved really well on a play at 1B.
Good swings (and a hit) from France. Olivares moved easily in CF plus got an opposite field hit.
All in all ... a good first look at live Padres actually playing.