Alex Gordon...

[penguinz]

Every time I look at the box he is hitless or at most has 1 hit. When are they going to sit him or even send him down until he can learn how to hit MLB pitching?

[Fish]

Stat of the day... the Royals are only 1.5 games ahead of where they were last year at this time.

So said KK today on the way home.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Whom are you referring to? Howard? Dunn is the only player that comes to mind, and he's typically had a much more respectable BA.

Overall, though, you've just described an unusual situation.

Well duh. There is a direct correlation to batting average and on base percentage, but what I'm saying is batting average really doesn't matter. Obviously if you have a higher batting average you will have higher on base percentage. Some people look at Giambi and Dunn's numbers the last few years and automatically go...shitty. Bad batting average, but they get on base and drive in runs. That's all I care about.

[Mecca]

OBP is an extremely important stat, generally the teams that lead it are always the best teams.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by BWillie007

Well duh.

But you said...in your previous post...oh forget it.

I agree that BA can be slightly misleading, but only slightly. 98% of ML players with an average below .240 tend to suck ass.

OPS seems to be a legit. tool, however.

[Mizzou_8541]

Originally Posted by Mecca

OBP is an extremely important stat, generally the teams that lead it are always the best teams.

...and get on base the most

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by Valiant

No, they would have sucked here and Gordon would have been a stud on the other teams..

Heh.. I just think that the reason these other players are outplaying Gordon and others on our team is not because they are better skilled.. It is a combination of our staff sucking at development and not having any other major league talent around them..

It is easier to do well when your team can pick you up or play at a higher level, it raises that players ability..

Luckily Ithink the Royals are just a few FA acquisitions away from competing.. So hopefully next year we see improvement..

And get us a ****ing hitting coach..

[SithCeNtZ]

Originally Posted by tk13

He hasn't lived up to the hype yet, but it's too early to give up on him, and like every other prospect we probably rushed him a bit too much. I really wonder if it would've helped him, Butler, and Teahen to beat up on AAA pitching for a while. That's what Billy Beane would've done with all these guys.

The funny thing is, a couple years ago, if they had passed on Gordon, everybody in baseball would've had a cow and said "there goes Glass being cheap" because Gordon was the consensus best college player. It wasn't even up for debate. But that's the baseball draft for you.

There seems to be some sort of myth floating around that sending guys to AAA instead of AA for more seasoning is the right thing to do and the Royals are somehow unique in doing not so. Gordon was not in any way rushed to the big leagues. In fact, guys like Zimmerman from the same draft class were up before him and they seemed to do ok. There are very few stud prospects who go to AAA. David Wright went for about 5 days to AAA just to say hi to his hometown Norfolk Tide and then left. Braun was there for just 34 games. Mauer was there for 5 games. Teahan was not rushed either. He was already in AAA when the Royals acquired him, and they kept him there for another 66 games. To put that into perspective, the mighty Billy Beane only kept stud prospect Carlos Gonzalez in AAA for 41 games. There might be a problem with how the Royals are developing hitting in the organization, but rushing them isn't one of them.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by SithCeNtZ

There seems to be some sort of myth floating around that sending guys to AAA instead of AA for more seasoning is the right thing to do and the Royals are somehow unique in doing not so. Gordon was not in any way rushed to the big leagues. In fact, guys like Zimmerman from the same draft class were up before him and they seemed to do ok. There are very few stud prospects who go to AAA. David Wright went for about 5 days to AAA just to say hi to his hometown Norfolk Tide and then left. Braun was there for just 34 games. Mauer was there for 5 games. Teahan was not rushed either. He was already in AAA when the Royals acquired him, and they kept him there for another 66 games. To put that into perspective, the mighty Billy Beane only kept stud prospect Carlos Gonzalez in AAA for 41 games. There might be a problem with how the Royals are developing hitting in the organization, but rushing them isn't one of them.

I think TK was getting at was letting all those guys play together down in Omaha and let them get more success from their AA championship team and develop there instead of learning on the fly in KC.

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

I think TK was getting at was letting all those guys play together down in Omaha and let them get more success from their AA championship team and develop there instead of learning on the fly in KC.

Problem is our whole team is quite sad...and they are forced to come up and learn on the fly. Gordon should finish with solid #'s, probably 20+ hrs and 80+ rbis. Not bad for a 2nd year after his initial. Just need to get more consistency going, and get that avg around .275-.280 consistently. I want to see Butler hit way more, cause that is all he can contribute to us.

[SithCeNtZ]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

I think TK was getting at was letting all those guys play together down in Omaha and let them get more success from their AA championship team and develop there instead of learning on the fly in KC.

I would buy his claim if he had any sort of real evidence that doing so was actually helpful. What team would he point to in search of proving this? The Ray's? Nope. Upton played at levels far more advanced in age than Butler or Gordon did and was called up in similar crummy conditions. Same with Carl Crawford. Both turned out ok. How about the Brewers? Nope. Braun only played 34 games in AAA and it wasn't with Prince Fielder, who was called up at the same age as Butler. Why were their players able to "get it" and "learn on the fly" and become good solid players on rebuilt teams? What does "learn on the fly" even mean anyway? Learn how to win? That isn't going to get solved with 40 games in AAA.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

He will probally end the year at .285 and 20 to 23 homers.

There is no way he adds that many points to his batting average this season.

[petegz28]

Gordon just needs to have a come to jesus meeting with Moore...or actually vice-versa...."Son you are in the big leagues making big league money. Time to get it together and be a real #3 hitter."

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Gordon just needs to have a come to jesus meeting with Moore...or actually vice-versa...."Son you are in the big leagues making big league money. Time to get it together and be a real #3 hitter."

You can't "talk" greatness out of a player. Alex has the tools to be a very productive #3 - he just needs to do it. I think next season is a big year for Alex. During year 3 in the bigs, he'll need to show that he's capable of hitting in the 3 hole, or this draft pick will have been a huge failure. We don't need another marginal 6-7 in the batting order.......we have a team full of them already.

Ryan Braun has been 2x the offensive player Alex Gordon has been thus far out of the same draft (although Gordon is a superior 3b). So we can stuff all the "we rushed him" talk. He's a college kid who was supposed to be MLB ready with his bat. Thus far he's shown he's very inconsistent. Like I said, next year is huge for Alex, and the Royals.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by penguinz

There is no way he adds that many points to his batting average this season.

how do you know?

remember when jose guillen was hitting .150?

there's still a lot of season left.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

how do you know?

remember when jose guillen was hitting .150?

there's still a lot of season left.

Guillen is a misleading example because it is much easier to add points early in the season. Gordon is starting to have too many ABs to make too big of a change. I guess ANYTHING is possible, but Gordon would have to scorching hot in the second half for this to happen.