Brandon Belt finally getting national respect

[allenreed]

Fact is, Pablo has been there and done that already while Belt hasn't yet.

Allen= Fact is, he isn't doing it anymore, and hasn't for some time. He had a big day today, other than that, he's been leaving tons of runners on base, and until today had two homers since May. He's a big reason for our collapse this year.

[rxmeister]

He is a big reason they've failed this year, no doubt about it. That doesn't mean you give up on him. He showed last night what he's capable of when healthy and in shape. Let me know when Joaquin Arias can do things like that, and I'll gladly discuss Panda trade scenarios.

[sharksrog]

Randy --

Sept 4, 2013 21:52:36 GMT -5 sfgdood said:

I expect Belt to hit over 300, with an OPS over or close to 900, 25+ HRs, 90+ RBI. I always expected this and until he puts together a season like this, I will say he is underachieving.


Allen- How many hitters are doing that? You think Brandon (in his second full season) should be on a par with the best hitters in the game?

Rog -- I agree with Randy that Belt has that type of potential, but who is to say whether he is underachieving or not? Just because a guy has potential doesn't mean he has the ability to reach it.

When we assign a certain potential to a player, it is our assessment of what he is capable of. Who is to say our assessment is correct? If our assessment is too high, we could consider a player to be underachieving when in actuality he is playing to his ability.

Maybe it's just semantics. I don't agree that Brandon is underachieving (especially since it is early in his career), but my own assessment of his potential is that it is higher than he is presently achieving.

But let's not forget that Willie Mays was hitting .477 in AAA when he was called up. He hit .271 as a rookie, winning the Rookie of the Year Award. He hit 206 points LOWER than he had been hitting in AAA.

Did he underachieve? When he put up a .302 career average with power, did he underachieve?

Based on .370 and .477 in the minors at the age of 19, might we have believed Willie had the potential to become a .330 hitter or better? Might it have even looked as if he had a chance to have the highest average in history?

My belief is that in the next couple of years Brandon will show us what we SHOULD expect of him. Until then, our expectations could be too high, to low -- or right on. But they are merely estimates.

Randy says Brandon is underachieving. Who is to say that Randy himself is over-estimating? As I said, I agree with Randy's assessment (or close to it), but to me that is more of a top end projection than something I would expect completely.

When we call a guy an overachiever, we're saying that our estimate of what his performance SHOULD is a more accurate estimate of what we should expect than his performance to date has been an accurate estimate of what we should expect.

I will say that Brandon hasn't met my expectations, but I'm certainly not prepared to say he is an underachiever. I think that would be quite presumptuous of me.

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[Islandboagie]

Rog- I will say that Brandon hasn't met my expectations, but I'm certainly not prepared to say he is an underachiever. I think that would be quite presumptuous of me.

Boagie- Would that be more or less presumptuous than calling him the next Buster Posey?

I've probably been the most frequent critic of Brandon and his struggles and even I think Randy is being a little tough on him. But I think in large part thats due to the expectations that all these people have set for Belt (like calling him the next Buster Posey after seeing one afl game on tv.) Let's not forget that most of my arguments on the Belt topic were in large part with Randy. Until just recently Randy stuck up for Belt more than anyone else. So I give Randy credit for admitting Belt has not been the player that was advertised back in 2010, while also sticking with the idea he can still be that player. I guess I respect this more than dropping the expectations and applauding small victories like many other Brandon supporters are now doing.

I like what Brandon is doing right now, but I'm still not convinced. He could be just one uncomfortable at-bat away from another lengthy slump. I root for the kid so I hope that doesn't happen, but I won't be convinced until he puts together a full season where he doesn't need a "mental break."

[rxmeister]

Who said he needed a "mental break?" Just because Bochy decided to give him one doesn't mean that actually accomplished anything. Belt is a young player coming into his own, and for the most part he's done it despite Bochy jacking him around.

[Islandboagie]

He's gone on a tear since having those three days off..during those three days he worked on making adjustments like moving back in the box and not strangling the shit out of the bat. Those adjustments are being credited for Brandon's success now...and you don't think that accomplished anything?

[sharksrog]

Randy -- I would say he had an ok series in Denver. 5 singles, a double and just one measly RBI.

Rog -- It seems to me that if Gary Brown had such a series, you would praise him for it.

Dood - Of course I would because for Brown it WOULD be a great series just to get any kind of hits. I said as much in my post but you ignored it.

Rog -- How did you say it, Randy? I seem to have missed it, so help me out here please.


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