Who does Cowart have to blow to get a shot?

[Second Base]

On 7/17/2017 at 9:46 AM, Inside Pitch said:

Who exactly has done that?  If Moustakas is the answer...  then the Angels need to be asking smarter questions..

Here's how've I'm looking at it. If we move on from Escobar and Maybin (and Espinosa, and probably Cron too), we need to replace a couple hitters with an OBP north of .350, for an offense that already isn't that good to begin with. 

More than likely, we need a lead off hitter, and we need someone that can hit between Trout and Pujols, and we need these two hitters to play either 2B, 3B, LF or 1B. Now me personally, I like Cowart at 3B. His defense is phenomenal, but his bat will likely mean our lead off and cleanup hitters need to be really good if we're going to generate any offense. 

So basically we need a 2B, LF or 1B to hit quite well. My guess is it'll be easier to find a leadoff hitting 2B and power hitting LF and 1B than the other way around.

Mous just doesn't fit our equation unless we think Cowart is a 2B, which he's fine at. But if I'm going to suffer through his unproven bat, I'd want brilliant defensive play, and that's what we get at 3B from him.

I don't know who they're targeting, but Dee Gordon at 2B, Carlos Santana at 1B and Jay Bruce in LF would probably make up for Cowart's bat and the loss of OBP sustained by Escobar and Maybin leaving. There are a thousand combinations they'll probably consider, this is just one I came up with after 30 seconds of looking at MLBTR.

[Troll Daddy]

F**k Cowart and his so called phenomenon defense. Cowart is a downgrade from Yescobar ... get a legit power hitting third baseman. 

No way we go into next season with a experiment at third base. Besides, I think  Cowart is being groomed for a utility player.

I stand by my take!

[Chuck]

2 hours ago, Troll Daddy said:

F**k Cowart and his so called phenomenon defense. Cowart is a downgrade from Yescobar ... get a legit power hitting third baseman. 

No way we go into next season with a experiment at third base. Besides, I think  Cowart is being groomed for a utility player.

I stand by my take!

Your takes suck 95% of the time.

Including this one. 

[ettin]

27 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Your takes suck 95% of the time.

Including this one. 

Cowart's last 20 games:

 

[mulwin444]

3 minutes ago, ettin said:

Cowart's last 20 games:

 

And he just hit a grand slam tonight and, even after slumping, he's still near .300.  He needs to be up here at 2B every night 

[ettin]

Just now, mulwin444 said:

And he just hit a grand slam tonight and, even after slumping, he's still near .300.  He needs to be up here at 2B every night 

I agree he should have a chance to show it mulwin but Chuck was getting on TD (and a bit rightfully so) about the comment of Cowart being a utility guy and as much as we want him to be more you also have to look at everything including the bad. It was one game in the last 21? He really is looking like a super utility guy to me too but I hope I am dead wrong.

[tdawg87]

3 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Your takes suck 95% of the time.

Including this one. 

95%?

Don't be so kind, Chuck.

[m0nkey]

He always gets reactions though, so good for him

[Troll Daddy]

9 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Your takes suck 95% of the time.

Including this one. 

Everybody deserves a second chance ... we all want him to succeed at the ML level. 

[Stradling]

8 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Everybody deserves a second chance ... we all want him to succeed at the ML level. 

Except you who doesn't want him at the major league level because you think Franklin is better. 

[Troll Daddy]

27 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Except you who doesn't want him at the major league level because you think Franklin is better. 

I'm not sure where you heard that ... but I did say that Pennington is a better fit for now at second base.

Experience over inexperience ... let's see what happens in the next week. 

On the bright side ... Yescobar is head and shoulders better that what the Red Sox are playing at third base now.

Keep fingers crossed 

[AngelsLakersFan]

20 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Sosh: That's great for the Bees. We got Franklin and Pennington, girl. We good! 

Nothing would make me happier than to see Alex Curry ask Sosh in the post game interview, point blank, "who does Kaleb Cowart have to blow to get a shot?"

[totdprods]

For all the talk about how Cowart has taken a big step forward this year, I was surprised to see that the separation from his numbers last year isn't that wide. 
'16 SLC: 457 PAs - .280/.340/.452/.792 - 37 BB to 100 K, 34 2B, 5 3B, 9 HR, 58 RBI, 18 SB to 4 CS
'17 SLC: 404 PAs - .298/.371/.462/.834 - 43 BB to 72 K, 24 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 55 RBI, 19 SB to 5 CS

He's making more contact and his discipline has improved, but that's about it. 

Not disagreeing that he shouldn't be getting some MLB at-bats, but I was surprised to see that his line isn't dramatically off from last year's. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 minutes ago, totdprods said:

For all the talk about how Cowart has taken a big step forward this year, I was surprised to see that the separation from his numbers last year isn't that wide. 
'16 SLC: 457 ABs - .280/.340/.452/.792 - 37 BB to 100 K, 34 2B, 5 3B, 9 HR, 58 RBI, 18 SB to 4 CS
'17 SLC: 404 ABs - .298/.371/.462/.834 - 43 BB to 72 K, 24 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 55 RBI, 19 SB to 5 CS

He's making more contact and his discipline has improved, but that's about it. 

Not disagreeing that he shouldn't be getting some MLB at-bats, but I was surprised to see that his line isn't dramatically off from last year's. 

It's a solid improvement, though not the type I think he needs to make to really turn a corner. He's playing himself into the conversation.

One thing I find interesting is that he has shown enough improvement over a long enough stretch that ZiPs and Steamer now can't agree on him. Last year both thought he was awful, projecting around ~60 wRC+. Currently ZiPs is still at 60, but Steamer has pushed him all the way up to 80. 

If he can put up an 80 wRC+ and play stellar defense he will be a huge upgrade over what we have had at second base. Even if the defense is closer to average he will be a big improvement.

[tdawg87]

I think the improved discipline is quite significant. When he came up last year he swung at literally anything thrown in his general sense of direction. He's showing more patience and plate recognition. 

I don't think he's going to be a .300 hitter. But if he can hit .270 with an OBP around .330 that would be neat. 

[totdprods]

I believe the real reason he hasn't gotten a shot at 2B is they really liked Danny's defense there - I did too - and really hoped his decent June was a sign of a turnaround. 
Scioscia/FO plainly stated that they didn't think Cowart's 2B defense was sufficient yet, and I'll take them at their word on that. I don't watch all the SLC games and I've been pretty happy with Eppler and Co.'s scouting. There was always a chance Espinosa could play himself into some trade value too, but it simply didn't happen.

Franklin's acquisition was purely opportunistic. Trying to catch lightning in a bottle. We're very thin in MIF depth and if we can find something there, it's worth the risk. It's not likely that the difference between Cowart and Franklin will be so vast that a month will mean much in the grand scheme of things.

Once the deadline passes and guys like Escobar and Pennington have had a chance to be dealt (remember, they could be August candidates too) and playoff odds diminish and roster expansion looms, I imagine we will see Cowart, and he will probably get a good look. I think he's out of options next season, so he'll need to make the team or be exposed. He can keep getting his reps as a 2B/UT IF right now until time comes.

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I think the improved discipline is quite significant. When he came up last year he swung at literally anything thrown in his general sense of direction. He's showing more patience and plate recognition. 

I don't think he's going to be a .300 hitter. But if he can hit .270 with an OBP around .330 that would be neat. 

It's improvement, but if you adjust his '17 numbers to equal his 457 PAs in 2016, we're talking...
12 more walks than 2016
18 fewer strikeouts than 2016
7 more hits than 2016. 

That's improvement of course, but it's not that dramatic.

[tdawg87]

Why does it need to be dramatic? Any improvement is good and now it's time to give him a shot. 

[totdprods]

Just now, tdawg87 said:

Why does it need to be dramatic? Any improvement is good and now it's time to give him a shot. 

All I'm saying is, he hit pretty good last year in SLC, and sucked pretty hard in the bigs. 
He's hitting about the same in SLC this year, so there may not be much reason to believe he'd hit any better than he did last year. 

But I agree, I hope he gets a shot soon. I imagine he will. We have openings at 3B, 2B, and UT IF.

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

It's improvement, but if you adjust his '17 numbers to equal his 457 PAs in 2016, we're talking...
12 more walks than 2016
18 fewer strikeouts than 2016
7 more hits than 2016. 

That's improvement of course, but it's not that dramatic.

That is a 42 point improvement in OBP and most of that is sustainable (K & BB rates stabilize quickly)

[totdprods]

13 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

That is a 42 point improvement in OBP and most of that is sustainable (K & BB rates stabilize quickly)

Working in his favor, his BAbip is one point lower this year than last year's (.345)

[tdawg87]

4-4 tonight with a HR and a walk.

[Chuck]

4 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

4-4 tonight with a HR and a walk.

No errors either. 

Cowart has played 6 straight games at 2B too.

[tdawg87]

The HR was a walkoff in the 10th. 

If he isn't up by Tuesday then they should trade him. 

[Chuck]

20 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

The HR was a walkoff in the 10th. 

If he isn't up by Tuesday then they should trade him. 

Why Tuesday?

But yeah, he should have been up here yesterday. I'm still not sure why we signed Franklin and why Pennington/Robinson are on this roster.