Quote:
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho
He might grow into a slight bit more power as he gets older, but he's a guy with a low K rate, high contact rate, AND a good walk rate (about an 11 percent walk rate in the minors, currently about 7.5 percent in the majors). I'd expect the walk rate to tick up a bit as he gets more MLB experience, especially if he starts to hit the ball with a little more authority.
If he ends up at SS, it's an offensive profile that fits nicely. I think he's their best current defensive option at that spot.
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I was thinking the same thing - why aren't they playing him at SS and Witt at 3b?
Are they just hell-bent on making Witt their SS long-term?
And the walk rate could improve a bit as he gets more comfortable but it won't if he can't develop a little more gap to gap power, IMO. With his present power, I think pitchers may start to challenge him a bit more and dare him to beat them rather than put him on the bases where they know he's gonna cause problems.
In the minors there are plenty of pitchers who just CAN'T avoid walking someone - their command sucks. In the bigs, 90% of the guys at that level can absolutely avoid walking you if they feel so inclined. And can usually at least get it in the outer 1/3 of the zone to keep it out of his power wheelhouse.
If he were to develop 15 HR/30 2b power potential and the ability to drive it to all fields, he could be a real problem in the 1/2 spots in the order.