End of the Season Evaluation Part III-Outfield

[klaiggeb]

1-IMHO, any talk of our outfield must begin with Yaz.

I mean, how can you not root for this guy?
Seriously! Yaz is as clutch a hitter as I've seen on a Giant team for a long, long time.
He can hit with 2 strikes and hit well
He can stand in there and pound lefties as well as righties.
He's fast, can hit for some average, drives in runs, hits for power and gets on base so he can hit one hole if you like.
The only negative thing I can think of about this guy is his defense. At best, he's above average, but that's okay.
He comes to play every day, every inning, every at bat.
You really couldn't ask for more.

2-Dubon-He has some holes, he makes too many foolish mistakes on the bases, but I think the kid is a player. NOT a SS, but an outfielder. More specifically a CF.
I thought he showed incredible growth as he learned a brand new position at the ML level.
He learned discipline at the plate, and he'll get better the more pitching he faces.
I believe he has the potential...note I said potential to maybe, may...be... some day be a 1 hole hitter.
That is still to be determined, but he was certainly a really bright spot among the kids

3-Slater-Is it even possible for this guy to stay relatively healthy for one complete year?
Seriously, I'm not sure.
He came a long...long... long way with the bat this year, and if he's stayed healthy and stayed in the line up, it would have been a pretty big year for him.
I like the kid. He takes WAY TOOOO MANY pitches right down the heart of the plate, but I think he's a player.
Defensively, when he's on the field, he's above average, IMHO, to good.
He can run, hit for power, and has a good arm.
Now, if we could just keep him off the Red Cross train, we'd really have something.


4-Dickerson-Hey, the guy can flat out hit! Problem is, he's a below average outfielder, and really more suited for DH than in the field.
Still, I think he's a keeper

5-Ruf-Darin surprised me. Really surprised me. When I first saw him with Philly, I thought he was really a waste of space both in the field and at the plate.
But not now.
He'll never win a gold glove, but he's at least as good as Dickerson, plus, he can ply 1B.
He can hit! I really hope we are able to bring him back. I really do.

6-Jaylin Davis-Another kid I really like. But that doesn't mean nada if you can't make consistent contact. Here's hoping he can learn that, and soon.

7-Duggar- I really liked this guy when he first came up... but not so much anymore.
Firstly, as I've pointed out ad nauseum, he's excellent going left, right or forward on defense, but he's border line terrible on balls hit over his head.
Still, I could live with that IF he'd hit.
And maybe he will.
There's been times when he's really buoyed my hopes... only to have them dashed when he sputters again.
He deserves a chance next year to at the very least, be a back up outfielder with us.


Bottom line: Stay healthy! But I really do believe we need to come up with another outfielder

[reedonly]

I believe Yaz will do what it takes to improve his defense. Before the season, Krukow said he watched Yaz spend an hour working on nothing but his bunting and he was impressed with his dedication to learning.

[klaiggeb]

I would never question his dedication, Reed, that's for sure.

But here's the thing; Bunting is all about technique. Technique can be practiced and improved upon.

Outfielders can certainly improve, but so much of playing defense is instinct, and instinct can't be taught.


Will he get better? Of that, I have no doubt.

But unlike bunting, there will be a limit to how much improvement he can make.


Much like Marvin Benard, and Steven Duggar.

Benard never was able to improve his route to the ball that much, even though he spent hours tyrying.


Duggar simply can't judge the ball hit over his head the way Darrin Lewis, Curt Flood, or other great outfielders could.


It's like the middle infielder who can make all the plays into the holes... but struggles with the ball hit right at him.

They'll get better, but there is a limit.


But all of that considered, I'll take Yaz and the holes in his defense in a heartbeat!

[reedonly]

Duggar has too many holes in his game to play at the major league level. Although he has a lot of speed, he can't get to balls hit over his head and he is not a good baserunner. My guess is that when he was younger fielder playing at lower levels, he was able to get to everything. In a spacious field and with defensive shifts, he cannot get away with it. Also, he doesn't seem to learn things or make improvements, even worse than Marvin Benard. I don't think he will ever pick up the game enough to play consistently at the major league level. If his skills which rely on speed are below average, then he really has no value.

[klaiggeb]

Reed, so far you are the ONLY other guy I've ever seen who agrees with me on balls hit over Duggar's head.

We do agree, also, that he's really not good, or can't learn, to make the adjustments needed to play at the ML level.

[garyd4sf]

Yastrzemski (.297, 10HR-35RBI, WAR-2.5). How did that guy spend so much time in the Minors (someone in that org didn’t like him)? He kills the low pitch even better than most lefties. He has overall skills but not in CF where he often takes a quick first step in as he misjudges the ball hit directly at him. That's a possible disaster in a big park. Better in right field IMO.

Dickerson (.298, 10HR-27RBI, WAR-0.7). is solid, an average fielder but sharpens his throwing arm by trying to nail cardboard fans in the stands after fielding foul balls. At least thats an explanation. Smart.

Maurice Dubon (.274, 4HR-19 RBI, WAR-0.8). has a good sense in CF, has speed and is gaining at bat.

Slater (.282, 5HR-7RBI, 8SB, WAR-0.9). actually had played well - if only he could stay healthy.

Dugar- disappointment.

SF is loaded in the OF in the minors I saw Hunter Bishop in his last year at ASU and liked what I saw.