So who is pitching today?

Don't let Pratto's surface stats fool you - he is still bad and should not be leading off.

He's getting insanely lucky, with that .409 OBP driven by a wildly inflated .490 BABIP.

His batting average is .321 but his xBA is .256. His SLG is .469 but his xSLG is .397. His average launch angle is right-at-the-ground (6.3 degrees) and his barrel rate is only 7.8%. He is striking out 32.3% of the time.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Check out last week&#39;s affiliate standouts, as selected by our quartet of esteemed broadcasters! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RaisingRoyals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RaisingRoyals</a> <a href="https://t.co/MCC76d3Ywc">pic.twitter.com/MCC76d3Ywc</a></p>&mdash; Raising Royals (@KCRoyalsPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/KCRoyalsPD/status/1661017088197283841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

To be honest with you, the vast majority of guys with advanced plate approaches always had them. There are scouts that believe you can't just teach someone to draw walks and be selective you either have it or you don't.

The Royals have for the most part never valued that trait which is why we tend to not see a whole lot of it here.

Ok but is it cherry picking to look at the top 2 prospects heading into last year and a duo who was drafted 1-2 also? Rutschman is tearing it up at the plate and did it the moment he walked into the league. He was 24 and BOOBY is 22 so there’s a slight age diff but you can’t say our guy hasn’t been a total zero at the plate thus far

One guy was 24 when he came in and now is 25 and succeeding at the plate. One guy was 21 when he started out and is now 22. One guy played 3 years of college ball at an elite college baseball program. One guy came up straight through minors out of high school ball.

You really think that’s the same situation??

Yes, one guy has a more advanced hitting approach than the other and has had success in MLB early because of it. Wonder why that is?

It’s almost like I’m making the Vinnie argument all over again.

Were people expecting Ken Griffey Jr. when Bobby came up? Good lord, give the kid some time to see what he becomes. If we wrote off all MLB stars after 700+ PA’s, we’d be missing out on a lot of really great players.

Not saying BWJ is going to become a superstar, but let’s at least give him a fair shake before we write him off. Some guys take a little bit (even Top prospects) to figure things out in MLB.

Vinnie likely had a more advanced hitting approach at 19 than BWJ does today, Carter Jenson has a more advanced hitting approach in the minors than BWJ ever has, there's a reason scouts think you either have it or you don't.

I think we're still waiting on Bubba starling

Those same scouts thought BWJ worthy of the #1 or #2 pick in the draft, while Vinnie was taken as an 11th round flyer.

Look, im not knocking Vinnie. I love Vinnie.

But I think it’s pretty clear scouts thought BWJ could exceed in a BIG way in his hitting approach with a little time. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been a discussion about who should be the #1 pick (Adley or BWJ).

Edit: And if ‘scouts’ really thought BWJ never ‘had it’ or never would, he wouldn’t have been drafted where he was. That’s the kind of thing that gets you fired. And ANY team not named the Orioles (even though supposedly they were weighing it at the time) would have selected BWJ at #2 if they’d had that pick. It wasn’t like this was a Royals ‘blind spot’ thing and they keyed in on one guy and reached. Everyone agreed he was a consensus Top pick.

Because of athletic traits, guys who they think can play SS at the big league level with pop in the bat always go high.

When a scout has a guy graded as this guy can play big league SS and go 30/30 that's a top 5 pick. A guy who isn't as athletic that is position limited to 1st base but shows a good stick and a great plate approach isn't as valued.

Valuing athletes has ALWAYS gotten the Royals into trouble because you can be the greatest athlete that ever lived, doesn't mean you can hit.

I'm genuinely curious here and not being an ass, but what MLB stars were average at best through their first 700 PAs? It'd be nice if just for once one of our big time prospects came out of the gate and just dominated.

Indeed.

Starling had some tools, but it was a pick the local guy to win the fanbase sort of move. In addition to being scared of repeating the Albert Pujols scenario.

It just seems to never happen for the Royals, top prospects always seem to struggle.

I agree with you on the last part, but as to the first part: David Ortiz, Craig Biggio, Edgar Martinez, Larry Walker . . . . . . all guys that have made the Hall in the last 7 years. It took a while for them to get going.

Let’s give Bobby some time to see what he can become. If we’re all still having this discussion 3 years from now, I’ll concede the argument.

Jeff Francoer. I think that is who Bobby is. Jeff came in at 21 or 22 and had some early success but his lack of plate discipline got him exposed a bit and he regressed a tad before having an average career.

When Jeff was 22 his OPS was .742 and 23 was .782. Hopefully Bobby Witt can be that good.