Cubs' Prospects FUTUREBONER thread

[Eli]

Someone make me feel better about this:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/kris-bryants-one-offensive-question-mark/

Eli, don't read it.

In Triple-A, Bryant also batted just shy of 300 times. He posted a contact rate a hair under 65%, according to the same site. Among players for whom we have data, this was the fourth-lowest contact rate at the level. Somewhat incredibly, fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Javier Baez. Fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Brett Jackson.

Bryant's Triple-A contact rate ranks 25th-lowest since 2008.

What do we do?

EDIT: Oh.

It helps tremendously that Bryant is powerful to all fields. It helps that, even though he hits a ton of fly balls, he only very seldom pops the ball up. Bryant makes a poor amount of contact, but with great and borderline unparalleled quality of contact, and this is the same conversation we've had about Springer. Yet given Bryant's age, it's possible he won't keep whiffing. Though it's unusual to go from being a swing-and-miss hitter to being a contact hitter, Bryant doesn't necessarily have to whiff as much as Chris Davis. This is the fun comp: as a rookie in his early 20s, Mike Schmidt struck out 31% of the time. The rest of his career, he struck out just 18% of the time. Aramis Ramirez figured contact out, although he was terribly rushed.

Well they mention Jim Thome as a dude who did kinda the same thing and turned out to be really, really good. Also guys could, like, improve and stuff. I hear tell that's happened once or twice.

Every fan's favorite coping mechanism: Toss aside the thousands of guys who followed the most obvious, predictable path in favor of a handful of outliers.

But really, it's just too early to know. I'd be really surprised if Bryant is a bad player in the majors, but the contact issue is what'll determine if he's more Mark Reynolds or Mike Schmidt. As for now, I'm sticking with my Troy Glaus comp and that's a good thing and screw you, Pen.

[SKO]

Someone make me feel better about this:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/kris-bryants-one-offensive-question-mark/

Eli, don't read it.

In Triple-A, Bryant also batted just shy of 300 times. He posted a contact rate a hair under 65%, according to the same site. Among players for whom we have data, this was the fourth-lowest contact rate at the level. Somewhat incredibly, fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Javier Baez. Fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Brett Jackson.

Bryant's Triple-A contact rate ranks 25th-lowest since 2008.

What do we do?

EDIT: Oh.

It helps tremendously that Bryant is powerful to all fields. It helps that, even though he hits a ton of fly balls, he only very seldom pops the ball up. Bryant makes a poor amount of contact, but with great and borderline unparalleled quality of contact, and this is the same conversation we've had about Springer. Yet given Bryant's age, it's possible he won't keep whiffing. Though it's unusual to go from being a swing-and-miss hitter to being a contact hitter, Bryant doesn't necessarily have to whiff as much as Chris Davis. This is the fun comp: as a rookie in his early 20s, Mike Schmidt struck out 31% of the time. The rest of his career, he struck out just 18% of the time. Aramis Ramirez figured contact out, although he was terribly rushed.

Well they mention Jim Thome as a dude who did kinda the same thing and turned out to be really, really good. Also guys could, like, improve and stuff. I hear tell that's happened once or twice.

Every fan's favorite coping mechanism: Toss aside the thousands of guys who followed the most obvious, predictable path in favor of a handful of outliers.

But really, it's just too early to know. I'd be really surprised if Bryant is a bad player in the majors, but the contact issue is what'll determine if he's more Mark Reynolds or Mike Schmidt. As for now, I'm sticking with my Troy Glaus comp and that's a good thing and screw you, Pen.

Peck asked for someone to make him feel better, not to make a projection based on a bunch of baseball players who didn't put up any of the good numbers Kris did in addition to their shitty contact rates.

Reynolds had a 9.6% walk rate in the minors. Bryant's at 13.3%.

It's entirely possible Bryant is a completely unique prospect. Not too many guys that have contact issues like him also seem to have really good plate discipline, so it's pretty hard to make a projection for a guy who seems to be kind of an entity unto himself.

[SKO]

Someone make me feel better about this:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/kris-bryants-one-offensive-question-mark/

Eli, don't read it.

In Triple-A, Bryant also batted just shy of 300 times. He posted a contact rate a hair under 65%, according to the same site. Among players for whom we have data, this was the fourth-lowest contact rate at the level. Somewhat incredibly, fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Javier Baez. Fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Brett Jackson.

Bryant's Triple-A contact rate ranks 25th-lowest since 2008.

What do we do?

EDIT: Oh.

It helps tremendously that Bryant is powerful to all fields. It helps that, even though he hits a ton of fly balls, he only very seldom pops the ball up. Bryant makes a poor amount of contact, but with great and borderline unparalleled quality of contact, and this is the same conversation we've had about Springer. Yet given Bryant's age, it's possible he won't keep whiffing. Though it's unusual to go from being a swing-and-miss hitter to being a contact hitter, Bryant doesn't necessarily have to whiff as much as Chris Davis. This is the fun comp: as a rookie in his early 20s, Mike Schmidt struck out 31% of the time. The rest of his career, he struck out just 18% of the time. Aramis Ramirez figured contact out, although he was terribly rushed.

Well they mention Jim Thome as a dude who did kinda the same thing and turned out to be really, really good. Also guys could, like, improve and stuff. I hear tell that's happened once or twice.

Every fan's favorite coping mechanism: Toss aside the thousands of guys who followed the most obvious, predictable path in favor of a handful of outliers.

But really, it's just too early to know. I'd be really surprised if Bryant is a bad player in the majors, but the contact issue is what'll determine if he's more Mark Reynolds or Mike Schmidt. As for now, I'm sticking with my Troy Glaus comp and that's a good thing and screw you, Pen.

DPD but yeah I'm still on the Glaus comp as well. And also the "Penis wrong" thing.

[CT III]

Someone make me feel better about this:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/kris-bryants-one-offensive-question-mark/

Eli, don't read it.

In Triple-A, Bryant also batted just shy of 300 times. He posted a contact rate a hair under 65%, according to the same site. Among players for whom we have data, this was the fourth-lowest contact rate at the level. Somewhat incredibly, fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Javier Baez. Fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Brett Jackson.

Bryant's Triple-A contact rate ranks 25th-lowest since 2008.

What do we do?

EDIT: Oh.

It helps tremendously that Bryant is powerful to all fields. It helps that, even though he hits a ton of fly balls, he only very seldom pops the ball up. Bryant makes a poor amount of contact, but with great and borderline unparalleled quality of contact, and this is the same conversation we've had about Springer. Yet given Bryant's age, it's possible he won't keep whiffing. Though it's unusual to go from being a swing-and-miss hitter to being a contact hitter, Bryant doesn't necessarily have to whiff as much as Chris Davis. This is the fun comp: as a rookie in his early 20s, Mike Schmidt struck out 31% of the time. The rest of his career, he struck out just 18% of the time. Aramis Ramirez figured contact out, although he was terribly rushed.

Well they mention Jim Thome as a dude who did kinda the same thing and turned out to be really, really good. Also guys could, like, improve and stuff. I hear tell that's happened once or twice.

Every fan's favorite coping mechanism: Toss aside the thousands of guys who followed the most obvious, predictable path in favor of a handful of outliers.

But really, it's just too early to know. I'd be really surprised if Bryant is a bad player in the majors, but the contact issue is what'll determine if he's more Mark Reynolds or Mike Schmidt. As for now, I'm sticking with my Troy Glaus comp and that's a good thing and screw you, Pen.

DPD but yeah I'm still on the Glaus comp as well. And also the "Penis wrong" thing.

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

That is all.

[SKO]

Someone make me feel better about this:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/kris-bryants-one-offensive-question-mark/

Eli, don't read it.

In Triple-A, Bryant also batted just shy of 300 times. He posted a contact rate a hair under 65%, according to the same site. Among players for whom we have data, this was the fourth-lowest contact rate at the level. Somewhat incredibly, fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Javier Baez. Fewer than two percentage points separated Bryant and Brett Jackson.

Bryant's Triple-A contact rate ranks 25th-lowest since 2008.

What do we do?

EDIT: Oh.

It helps tremendously that Bryant is powerful to all fields. It helps that, even though he hits a ton of fly balls, he only very seldom pops the ball up. Bryant makes a poor amount of contact, but with great and borderline unparalleled quality of contact, and this is the same conversation we've had about Springer. Yet given Bryant's age, it's possible he won't keep whiffing. Though it's unusual to go from being a swing-and-miss hitter to being a contact hitter, Bryant doesn't necessarily have to whiff as much as Chris Davis. This is the fun comp: as a rookie in his early 20s, Mike Schmidt struck out 31% of the time. The rest of his career, he struck out just 18% of the time. Aramis Ramirez figured contact out, although he was terribly rushed.

Well they mention Jim Thome as a dude who did kinda the same thing and turned out to be really, really good. Also guys could, like, improve and stuff. I hear tell that's happened once or twice.

Every fan's favorite coping mechanism: Toss aside the thousands of guys who followed the most obvious, predictable path in favor of a handful of outliers.

But really, it's just too early to know. I'd be really surprised if Bryant is a bad player in the majors, but the contact issue is what'll determine if he's more Mark Reynolds or Mike Schmidt. As for now, I'm sticking with my Troy Glaus comp and that's a good thing and screw you, Pen.

DPD but yeah I'm still on the Glaus comp as well. And also the "Penis wrong" thing.

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

That is all.

They're both third baseman who have/will hit a bunch of dramatic dongblasts for the Cubs SO HELL YEAH THEY'RE COMPARABLE BROTHER

[Eli]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

[SKO]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

Bryant also seems like he has more raw power than Aramis. I suspect they might be similarly "gifted" at 3B though.

[CT III]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

Bryant also seems like he has more raw power than Aramis. I suspect they might be similarly "gifted" at 3B though.

I don't care. I just demand that the Cubs build a statue of Aramis Ramirez at Wrigley Field and that everyone of those media dopes who shit on him for not looking like he cared enough or wearing a ski mask in April be forced to prostrate themselves before it.

[SKO]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

Bryant also seems like he has more raw power than Aramis. I suspect they might be similarly "gifted" at 3B though.

I don't care. I just demand that the Cubs build a statue of Aramis Ramirez at Wrigley Field and that everyone of those media dopes who shit on him for not looking like he cared enough or wearing a ski mask in April be forced to prostrate themselves before it.

I have only one question and it's why can't I make you president

[InternetApex]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

Bryant also seems like he has more raw power than Aramis. I suspect they might be similarly "gifted" at 3B though.

I'm not having any revisionist disparagement of Aramis Ramirez's glove work. He had problems throwing the ball that were completely corrected through hard work, dedication and Derrick Lee's ginormous wingspan. If Bryant turns out to be the player at third that Ramirez became we're going to be glad they didn't trade him for Cole Hamels.

[SKO]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

Bryant also seems like he has more raw power than Aramis. I suspect they might be similarly "gifted" at 3B though.

I'm not having any revisionist disparagement of Aramis Ramirez's glove work. He had problems throwing the ball that were completely corrected through hard work, dedication and Derrick Lee's ginormous wingspan. If Bryant turns out to be the player at third that Ramirez became we're going to be glad they didn't trade him for Cole Hamels.

A) Aramis slowly became a good third baseman after years of being a bad one, that's not disparaging, that's fact, and a lot of people seem to think Bryant needs work at 3B.

B) I don't think anyone has ever put Bryant into any of the imaginary trade scenarios for anyone.

[InternetApex]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

Bryant also seems like he has more raw power than Aramis. I suspect they might be similarly "gifted" at 3B though.

I'm not having any revisionist disparagement of Aramis Ramirez's glove work. He had problems throwing the ball that were completely corrected through hard work, dedication and Derrick Lee's ginormous wingspan. If Bryant turns out to be the player at third that Ramirez became we're going to be glad they didn't trade him for Cole Hamels.

A) Aramis slowly became a good third baseman after years of being a bad one, that's not disparaging, that's fact, and a lot of people seem to think Bryant needs work at 3B.

B) I don't think anyone has ever put Bryant into any of the imaginary trade scenarios for anyone.

A) Why you bringin' up old shit?

B) They had better not.

[SKO]

I also saw Aramis Ramirez's name tossed off there. Is he actually a comparable? Because post-Pittsburgh Aramis Ramirez was a goddamned monster and I fucking love him.

It could work, maybe. Lower BA but likely more walks.

Of course Ramirez's prime numbers (2004-2008) in Today's Offensive Environment are basically MVP-worthy.

Bryant also seems like he has more raw power than Aramis. I suspect they might be similarly "gifted" at 3B though.

I'm not having any revisionist disparagement of Aramis Ramirez's glove work. He had problems throwing the ball that were completely corrected through hard work, dedication and Derrick Lee's ginormous wingspan. If Bryant turns out to be the player at third that Ramirez became we're going to be glad they didn't trade him for Cole Hamels.

A) Aramis slowly became a good third baseman after years of being a bad one, that's not disparaging, that's fact, and a lot of people seem to think Bryant needs work at 3B.

B) I don't think anyone has ever put Bryant into any of the imaginary trade scenarios for anyone.

A) Why you gotta bring up old shit?

B) They had better not.

A) We were making a Bryant- Ramirez comp and if I didn't make sure to insert a dark cloud of shit rain on all of the sunny stuff Ol' Uncle Eli was surely going to come along to rain on our parade so I had to head him off at the pass.

B) Glad that's settled.

[Eli]

Ol' Uncle Eli was surely going to come along to rain on our parade so I had to head him off at the pass.

Says the guy who relishes his role in stopping college kids from having fun in college.

[SKO]

Ol' Uncle Eli was surely going to come along to rain on our parade so I had to head him off at the pass.

Says the guy who relishes his role in stopping college kids from having fun in college.

I'll ask those kids what they think of Bryant's ZiPS projection before I start issuing summary justice this time.