Randal Grichuk

[Chuck]

Has been getting benched quite a bit lately and is sporting a Mathis-like .210 BA with an .281 OBP and 53 K's so far.

That said, his .681 OPS would be better than anyone we've had in LF in two seasons. 

Here's hoping Marte plays well enough defense in LF to stick, because I cannot see how he would be any worse than Grichuk going forward. 

[Cdaniel]

Maybe we can trade Salas for him at the deadline.

[JarsOfClay]

11 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Has been getting benched quite a bit lately and is sporting a Mathis-like .210 BA with an .281 OBP and 53 K's so far.

That said, his .681 OPS would be better than anyone we've had in LF in two seasons. 

Here's hoping Marte plays well enough defense in LF to stick, because I cannot see how he would be any worse than Grichuk going forward. 

I noticed him being benched a lot the last couple weeks also.  Any chance that he could be traded back?

 

 

[Blarg]

But, but, but Grichuk was what won the trade for the Cardinals.  

[totdprods]

I was actually thinking of potential Shoemaker trades and wondered about the Cards and players like Grichuk and Wong. 

As good as his numbers started off, I always had a Jeff Francoeur vibe from Grichuk.

[NrM]

paging @Inside Pitch...paging @Inside Pitch...

[Second Base]

Grichuk has yet to get going this year, plus he was due for some slight regression. This wasn't unexpected.

Grichuk should be fine in the long run. He's young, athletic and has all the intangibles. He should be a .250 25 HR hitter with low OBP but good defense. Solid option, probably a 3-win player.

[m0nkey]

Thanks Jerry!

[Inside Pitch]

20 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

paging @Inside Pitch...paging @Inside Pitch...

Is it June where you are or October?   His exit velocities are just under where they were last year, his walk rate is up, his K rate is down.   His BABIP is .243....   So, what's that tell you?  

He's been unlucky and dealt with an injury early on -- so unless you think he's going to carry a sub .300 BABIP all year he's as good a bet to improve as anyone in MLB..  

You're free to get you crow on for now but, he's still better than anyone we got in that trade or that we have capable of playing LF....  I mean, Grichuk hasn't hit and he's still sporting a 1.5 bWAR..   Calhoun's sitting at 1.4.   That's always been the thing with Grichuk -- he has a glove to fall back on when his bat is flat.

[NrM]

13 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Is it June where you are or October?   His exit velocities are just under where they were last year, his walk rate is up, his K rate is down.   His BABIP is .243....   So, what's that tell you?  

He's been unlucky and dealt with an injury early on -- so unless you think he's going to carry a sub .300 BABIP all year he's as good a bet to improve as anyone in MLB..  

You're free to get you crow on for now but, he's still better than anyone we got in that trade or that we have capable of playing LF....  I mean, Grichuk hasn't hit and he's still sporting a 1.5 bWAR..   Calhoun's sitting at 1.4.   That's always been the thing with Grichuk -- he has a glove to fall back on when his bat is flat.

bWAR has always been pretty whack. He has a .4 fWAR. 

bWARs defensive metrics seem broken.

[Inside Pitch]

28 minutes ago, Blarg said:

But, but, but Grichuk was what won the trade for the Cardinals.  

He did..  24 and five years of control still.   His 1.5 WAR this year would be second on the team to Trout.   

But but but..  indeed!

[Oz27]

34 minutes ago, Blarg said:

But, but, but Grichuk was what won the trade for the Cardinals.  

You're actually suggesting the Cardinals didn't win that trade? lol

[Inside Pitch]

6 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

bWAR has always been pretty whack. He has a .4 fWAR. 

bWARs defensive metrics seem broken.

Yeah -- I knew that would be your response, and honestly -- it's a fair point.   It doesn't change the fact that he's actually improved in the two areas he was most lacking in.  So unless you think he's a  sub .300 BABIP hitter, you know the average will come up...   Its basically his AA season all over again with all the same people making all the same mistakes.

Edit -- if you recall, I've never expected him to hit for average, I just believe the power and glove will make the lack of average less of an issue.

 

[NrM]

8 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Yeah -- I knew that would be your response, and honestly -- it's a fair point.   It doesn't change the fact that he's actually improved in the two areas he was most lacking in.  So unless you think he's a  sub .250 BABIP hitter, you know the average will come up...   Its basically his AA season all over again with all the same people making all the same mistakes.

 

I agree he's been unlucky this year just like he was very lucky last year. The bWAR makes no sense though. The deviation with fWAR is abnormally large.

[Taylor]

He's on my fantasy team and he skus. Riding the bench currently.

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I agree he's been unlucky this year just like he was very lucky last year. The bWAR makes no sense though. The deviation with fWAR is abnormally large.

Yeah -- the defensive component of bWAR and even fWAR is kinda loopy....    Honestly, I'd sooner use fWar than bWAR, I went with what was quickest...    Also agree he's been on both ends of the luck spectrum -- the power though is real.  

That power and glove combo will always make him useful although I've said this before and I will again -- I don't think he would have the same success in the AL that he has had in the NL..

[Kevin]

Well it's good to know the Angels would have sucked regardless if they had him or not.

 

Lose-Lose!

[kevinb]

His 681 ops is just a little shy of Pujols 

[Oz27]

It's very rare to see a hitter being BABIPed as badly as Grichuk is now. Last year he had a 137 wRC+. This year it's 84. But he is walking more, striking out less, is popping up less, is making hard contact at a nearly identical rate to last year, has an average launch speed 4.3 miles per hour above league average and is making contact really just as much as he did last year. His line drive rate is down a bit but he's still hitting the ball hard. His numbers are crazy but he will be just fine.

[jh82]

The Cardinals have been playing Wong in center field the last couple of games.  He has been nothing but a 2nd baseman during his time in the majors.  Maybe they're having 2nd thoughts on weather Grichuk is the guy or maybe they're considering a platoon situation.  

[NrM]

40 minutes ago, Oz27 said:

It's very rare to see a hitter being BABIPed as badly as Grichuk is now. Last year he had a 137 wRC+. This year it's 84. But he is walking more, striking out less, is popping up less, is making hard contact at a nearly identical rate to last year, has an average launch speed 4.3 miles per hour above league average and is making contact really just as much as he did last year. His line drive rate is down a bit but he's still hitting the ball hard. His numbers are crazy but he will be just fine.

We'll see if he can continue to improve his BB/K ratio. Over his last 20 games he has regressed. 20 Ks and only 2 Walks.

[JarsOfClay]

1 hour ago, Oz27 said:

You're actually suggesting the Cardinals didn't win that trade? lol

It's hilarious when people try to humiliate others, but actually end up humiliating themselves.

[Blarg]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

He did..  24 and five years of control still.   His 1.5 WAR this year would be second on the team to Trout.   

But but but..  indeed!

Oh come on, practically every player in the league would be second to Trout.

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, Blarg said:

Oh come on, practically every player in the league would be second to Trout.

LOL -- fair point.   We do have a bunch of tall pygmies on the roster...

 

[Blarg]

We have crap on the roster but Grichucks stats does not put him better than Calhoun, nor Escobar. In fact even Poopholes is doing better. The Angels have a fucked up lineup right now but it doesn't mean Grichuck would be a real improvement, he is what he is, an 81 OPS+ replacement level payer. Maybe he is better than that but he really has to put it on the field to prove it.