Somehow he traces back to Puerto Rico, because there was talk of him debating whether to play for the US or PR in the WBC.
He's swinging for the fences right now. Almost Gomez like. Out of his shoes. Lighter bat. More Power. It's all working. If it continues to work don't change a thing. There is a Bonds like feel to what he's doing out there without the walks. You just wonder if in the playoffs it can continue against a higher standard of pitching. And if it doesn't, then some point you have to think he's going to dial it down to increase his contact rate and get to the point that Altuve has finally gotten to and that even Gurriel has dialed in a bit. Right now. Potential reached. Don't mess around with it. Keep going higher. This doesn't feel like in the zone. He's rippin long term.
@Fyreball @FLASH21 His mother was born in Puerto Rico and his dad is the son of a Panamanian immigrant. They are a really talented and fascinating family. http://www.littleleague.org/Page63379.aspx
Forget about his ceiling for a second. He is by far my favorite player to watch in all of baseball. His power is breathtaking, and he swings a short, compact, fat as **** bat. It's amazing. I'm at the edge of my seat every time he hits waiting for a 450 footer to center. Oh and he plays okay defense too. Scola would approve.
He also genuinely seems to enjoy playing the game. He's such a joy to watch and is the type of player you want your child to emulate.
Just like aloe blacc. It's why I always included him in the diverse roster from last season. Jorge springer, oso blanco, altuve, valbuena, correa, alejandro bregman, Yuli, Marwin with the only white guy being Jason Castro.
Interesting to look back at the 1st page where Andruw Jones popped up. Springer's numbers so far in his career are very similar to Jones. Springer has a better OPS+ being outside the steroid era, but the slash line very similar. Heck, before yesterday's game they had the same batting average during their age 24-27 seasons. Age 24-27 seasons Jones: .263/.340/.493 Springer: .264/.358/.482 Jones' best season (age 28): .263/.347/.575 Springer's current season (age 27): .289/.367/.585
His BB-rate could get a little better. You'd also think he could steal bases (as bad as he has been at it, he was elite in the minors and stole 16 of 20 in 2015)
I was thinking in terms of hitting and fielding. But yea, his regression in base stealing is a puzzle for sure.
Stolen bases are down across the majors. I think catcher defense is much better than it used to be. You can't just be fast anymore, you also have to have a good sense for when to run. Base-stealing is not a strength of his and I wouldn't even bother trying to pigeon hole him into a 5-tool ceiling if he's just gonna get thrown out a ton.
I don't want them to force the issue, just it is something you'd think he could do if there was more focus on in. I'm very happy with who he is (which is arguably the 2nd best player in the AL with Trout out right now). Pretty remarkable that we have 3 guys having MVP caliber seasons (though Judge is running away with it right now) and 2 guys that when healthy are having Cy Young caliber seasons.
There's also just less emphasis / interest in base stealing for whatever reason. For example, Montero for the Cubs was 0-30 catching base runners this season. Every single person that got on against him should have attempted a steal - whether it's an Altuve-type player or an Evan Gattis type player. Until he can prove he can throw someone out, people should have been going every single pitch, but they don't even in those scenarios. What happened in that Nationals game a few days ago should have been happening every single game.
Its a little surprising to me that in the Sabermetrics era, things like this haven't been exploited more. Right handed pitchers with slow delivery and low velocity in conjunction with catchers with below average throwing arms should be getting hammered in the base stealing department.
Hope we can work something out with SpringTime when his contract is up. He is probably my favorite Astro to watch, especially those outfield dives and his HR swing. When Springer hits a HR, its a no doubter about 95% of the time.
