David Fletcher's Upside

[Angelsjunky]

1 minute ago, Dochalo said:

some unrealistic comps:

Chuck Knoblauch
Placido Polanco

other comps:

Steve Sax
Mark Grudzielanek

Great choices for mulling. Knoblauch was a great player for a few years, but didn't he develop the throwing yips? Can't remember. Polanco is actually a really interesting choice. He was a bit of a throwback player and thus a bit underappreciated: good average and defense, mediocre power, speed and plate discipline so doesn't fit the "saber-mold." 

Sax and Grudz are realistic, but also probably lower end.

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

I think his upside is Chone Figgins light.

Racist.

[Taylor]

Dangit, TORS!

[ten ocho recon scout]

16 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Dangit, TORS!

Look at it this way. At least you, me and Lou are the tolerant ones, unlike Strad.

[T.G.]

2 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Racist

 

2 hours ago, Lou said:

racist 

 

19 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Racist.

We have confirmation...

It's like on Twitter when all of the baseball guys confirm each other's breaking news.

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Look at it this way. At least you, me and Lou are the tolerant ones, unlike Strad.

I’m super tolerant.  I have friends that are....

[T.G.]

Just now, Stradling said:

I’m super tolerant.  I have friends that are Red Sox fans.

 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, True Grich said:

 

Uh no

[Taylor]

26 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I’m super tolerant.  I have friends that are Five Guys executives.

 

[kevinb]

He's putting those numbers up at age 24. He wont hit his peak till 28 ish so we can expect nothing but great things moving forward. All Star isn't out of the realm of possibility. 

[Stradling]

18 minutes ago, Taylor said:

 

No we live in different neighborhoods.  They certainly aren’t living next door.  

[Taylor]

1 minute ago, Stradling said:

No we live in different neighborhoods.  They certainly aren’t living next door.  

Restaurantist

[beatlesrule]

I just want him playing everyday.

[Stradling]

He didn’t start the first two games, he didn’t start the last two games.  In the 24 games in the middle he started 22 of those.  He is an everyday player.  Plus when he didn’t play, like yesterday he is being replaced by Goodwin and La Stella, both who are having better years.  

[Troll Daddy]

Luv Fletch!  He’s the type of versatile player every team likes to have on their roster. No need to pin him to a everyday position just yet ... at least not on the Angels. 

Cozart is still in play this season which will takeaway some playing time for Fletcher and La Stella. Fans might as well accept that fact. I think if Cozart can turn things around it will benefit the team. 

[GrittyVeterans]

8 minutes ago, Stradling said:

He didn’t start the first two games, he didn’t start the last two games.  In the 24 games in the middle he started 22 of those.  He is an everyday player.  Plus when he didn’t play, like yesterday he is being replaced by Goodwin and La Stella, both who are having better years.  

I'm not so sure about that. Offensively, they are having better years. But Fletcher is turning into an irreplaceable defender, someone who is slightly worse than some of his peers offensively but better overall due to his glove value

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, GrittyVeterans said:

I'm not so sure about that. Offensively, they are having better years. But Fletcher is turning into an irreplaceable defender, someone who is slightly worse than some of his peers offensively but better overall due to his glove value

I agree that he is really good defensively.  But this is a team that needs to score more runs because the pitching is suspect so far.  OPS to me is the easiest indicator of offensive production and those guys along with Kole outperform him.  

My issue is if he doesn’t improve his walk rate he will just be a good glove guy that doesn’t hurt you with the bat but won’t really help either.  If you have limited power then your skill you must possess is getting on base.  

[Chuck]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

I agree that he is really good defensively.  But this is a team that needs to score more runs because the pitching is suspect so far.  OPS to me is the easiest indicator of offensive production and those guys along with Kole outperform him.  

My issue is if he doesn’t improve his walk rate he will just be a good glove guy that doesn’t hurt you with the bat but won’t really help either.  If you have limited power then your skill you must possess is getting on base.  

If you're hitting over .300 and walking more than striking out -- a discussion to improve your walk rate doesn't make sense because it's negated by the minimal strikeouts and the amount of balls in play that are getting through the infield and splitting the gaps. 

The good news is while he isn't going to be a big HR hitter, he does drive the ball. Last season in AAA he posted a .953 OPS. 

He's kind of like Andrelton Simmons who doesn't walk much, but equally doesn't strikeout either. 

[Angelsjunky]

My gut on Fletcher is that he's going to continually out-perform his scouting report - not unlike Calhoun did/has for half a decade or so. What is encouraging about Fletcher's performance so far is that his numbers aren't BABIP fueled - a .313 BABIP should be sustainable.

I also think we're going to see some fluctuation in his batting average over the years. Some years he might hit .307 all year (like he is so far), some in the .270s, but averaging around .290ish.  He obviously doesn't hit the ball hard so can't be expected to hit for much power, and I just don't see him ever walking that much, but a .290/.750 middle infielder with very good defense is a valuable player, if not a star. But he's going to be a fan favorite.

 

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

My gut on Fletcher is that he's going to continually out-perform his scouting report - not unlike Calhoun did/has for half a decade or so. What is encouraging about Fletcher's performance so far is that his numbers aren't BABIP fueled - a .313 BABIP should be sustainable.

I also think we're going to see some fluctuation in his batting average over the years. Some years he might hit .307 all year (like he is so far), some in the .270s, but averaging around .290ish.  He obviously doesn't hit the ball hard so can't be expected to hit for much power, and I just don't see him ever walking that much, but a .290/.750 middle infielder with very good defense is a valuable player, if not a star. But he's going to be a fan favorite.

 

he's also going to fluke win a batting title one year.  book it.  

[krAbs]

6 hours ago, Stradling said:

I agree that he is really good defensively.  But this is a team that needs to score more runs because the pitching is suspect so far.  OPS to me is the easiest indicator of offensive production and those guys along with Kole outperform him.  

My issue is if he doesn’t improve his walk rate he will just be a good glove guy that doesn’t hurt you with the bat but won’t really help either.  If you have limited power then your skill you must possess is getting on base.  

I don't think that's right...Fletch has had a higher ops and ops+ than kole this year and last (and combined). Obviously this isn't a high bar, though. And, obviously, kole's historic/career numbers are better - but by that metric, pujols is our second best player.

[Broad Street]

I'm just going to throw this out there, but Altuve averaged only 30ish walks his first few years in the league. Fletcher had half that in half the plate appearances.

 

Not saying he's going to turn into Altuve, but don't give up on him before the plate discipline develops. He's a good contact hitter.

[Stradling]

9 hours ago, krAbs said:

I don't think that's right...Fletch has had a higher ops and ops+ than kole this year and last (and combined). Obviously this isn't a high bar, though. And, obviously, kole's historic/career numbers are better - but by that metric, pujols is our second best player.

Shit, early season sample size mistake on my part, sorry about that.  I checked it two days ago before Kole with 0-4 and he was slightly above Fletcher.  The point is our attitudes about the two players are totally different and they provide similar results.  I won’t bitch about a second baseman or super utility guy with an OPS of around .750 but until he learns to draw a walk I am not sure that will happen much with Fletcher.  In my comparison to Kole, we all know he isn’t what he was but if you look at last year when he made the change to his swing he had a few good months then a bad September.  Well in that September he hit .125, but still had a .271 OBP, granted that isn’t good at all, but it is something.  If Fletcher has an awful month, he doesn’t have the difference in OBP from batting average to help him still provide some sort of offensive value.  Then when you factor in his lack of power, he is a tough start when slumping.  I absolutely hope he finds the ability to work a count and to draw some more walks because he is so easy to root for.  

[Rollinghard]

I posted this last year and some guys were less than optimistic.

 

 

Will David Fletcher ever start in a MLB game?

Started by Rollinghard, March 22, 2018

 

[aznhockeyguy]

Fletcher will hopefully be a long-time MLB player.  A .700 OPS with a +glove 2Bman is nothing to sneeze at.