Aybar Article…says he's hitting 2nd.

[Hubs]

On ESPN.com

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2013/story/_/id/9088208/why-erick-aybar-baseball-most-underrated-player-mlb

 

It's an insider article, sorry I won't post it here, but basically it says that Aybar is the most underrated player in baseball. The writer says that he's a good hitter relative to his peers and good defensively too. Yet because he gets overshadowed by his more famous teammates, and doesn't show up on sportscenter a lot, he gets overlooked.

 

Highlights of the article are the comparison to Jeter, which shows Jeter as a poor fielding shortstop again, good with the bat and a bad baserunner. By Comparison, Aybar is good with the bat, good on the bases, and a decent fielder. I'm thinking they underrate him here, as someone who watches him often. The writer says his wRC+ is 99 which as we know for the league average hitter is 100, but the average for shortstops is actually 86, which shows him to be a pretty darn good hitter relative to his position, which is scarce in MLB these days.

 

Finally, at the end of the article "The Angels have just announced that Aybar is going to hit second in the order this year, putting him in between Trout and Albert Pujols, so he might get more attention than he has in previous years, and don't be too shocked if he takes another step forward offensively, with Trout opening up the right side of the infield for him on a regular basis. Of course, any step forward offensively now would just elevate him from good player to legitimate star, so perhaps we can start giving him credit for being a key part of the Angels' success now?"

 

I didn't see an announcement for him in the second spot…but there it is. I think they hope he can take a step forward offensively and improve hitting in front of Pujols and behind Trout like Hunter did in 2012. I like it.

[Chuck]

Oh yeah it was announced a few days ago, by I think Alden Gonzalez. Not my first choice, but if he can lay off his bunt attempts with Trout on base I'm OK with it. Would rather have Callaspo there since he sees more pitches and is a good contact hitter that doesn't strike out much.

[Hubs]

Oh yeah it was announced a few days ago, by I think Alden Gonzalez. Not my first choice, but if he can lay off his bunt attempts with Trout on base I'm OK with it. Would rather have Callaspo there since he sees more pitches and is a good contact hitter that doesn't strike out much.

 

I disagree Chuck if only because I expect Aybar to hit .290 and Callaspo to hit .250. They'll K about the same, and while Callaspo gives you 30 more walks Aybar is going to get 35-40 more hits and 20 more steals. He's faster, and can beat out a sacrifice if they decide to move Trout to third and the Shortstop hesitates at all.