Kris Bryant Firehose of Splooge Thread

[SKO]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

Yes but we don't say it out loud. Certainly the contact issue is one that could mean something very bad or maybe mean nothing. Maybe he continues to get insane quality out of his contact in the majors, maybe he ends up being Mark Reynolds. I don't really see him being bad, but I definitely fear him not being this transcendent franchise cornerstone.

Mark Reynolds never had an OBP as high as Bryant's career marks. This isn't a concern.

Yeah but Bryant will struggle to sustain his OBP in the majors if he's not able to hit .330 while only making contact on 65% of his swings like he did in the minors. Reynolds was an extreme case but my point was I don't see Kris Bryant being bad in the majors. I just also have that dark fear deep in the recesses of my mind honed by years of disappointment that says maybe he's just going to be "okay".

[PenFoe]

Y'all need to shut your fucking faces.

[Oleg]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

Yes but we don't say it out loud. Certainly the contact issue is one that could mean something very bad or maybe mean nothing. Maybe he continues to get insane quality out of his contact in the majors, maybe he ends up being Mark Reynolds. I don't really see him being bad, but I definitely fear him not being this transcendent franchise cornerstone.

Mark Reynolds never had an OBP as high as Bryant's career marks. This isn't a concern.

Yeah but Bryant will struggle to sustain his OBP in the majors if he's not able to hit .330 while only making contact on 65% of his swings like he did in the minors. Reynolds was an extreme case but my point was I don't see Kris Bryant being bad in the majors. I just also have that dark fear deep in the recesses of my mind honed by years of disappointment that says maybe he's just going to be "okay".

I keep hearing that the mitigating circumstances are that he controls the strike zone much better than others who have a similar swing and miss rate.  It's what separates him from Joey Gallo and why he's most likely to be a solid major leaguer, at worst.  At least that's what I hear.  By hear I mean what I say to the mirror every morning.

[SKO]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

Yes but we don't say it out loud. Certainly the contact issue is one that could mean something very bad or maybe mean nothing. Maybe he continues to get insane quality out of his contact in the majors, maybe he ends up being Mark Reynolds. I don't really see him being bad, but I definitely fear him not being this transcendent franchise cornerstone.

Mark Reynolds never had an OBP as high as Bryant's career marks. This isn't a concern.

Yeah but Bryant will struggle to sustain his OBP in the majors if he's not able to hit .330 while only making contact on 65% of his swings like he did in the minors. Reynolds was an extreme case but my point was I don't see Kris Bryant being bad in the majors. I just also have that dark fear deep in the recesses of my mind honed by years of disappointment that says maybe he's just going to be "okay".

I keep hearing that the mitigating circumstances are that he controls the strike zone much better than others who have a similar swing and miss rate.  It's what separates him from Joey Gallo and why he's most likely to be a solid major leaguer, at worst.  At least that's what I hear.  By hear I mean what I say to the mirror every morning.

Yeah he seems like a very unique case. He doesn't appear to be a free swinger at all. It seems more likely that a guy could develop timing and make better contact if he already has a good handle of the zone than to hope I guy just magically develops plate discipline. I'm not really worried. I'm just willing to admit that fear eats at my very soul because I have known a life of sadness.

[Oleg]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

Yes but we don't say it out loud. Certainly the contact issue is one that could mean something very bad or maybe mean nothing. Maybe he continues to get insane quality out of his contact in the majors, maybe he ends up being Mark Reynolds. I don't really see him being bad, but I definitely fear him not being this transcendent franchise cornerstone.

Mark Reynolds never had an OBP as high as Bryant's career marks. This isn't a concern.

Yeah but Bryant will struggle to sustain his OBP in the majors if he's not able to hit .330 while only making contact on 65% of his swings like he did in the minors. Reynolds was an extreme case but my point was I don't see Kris Bryant being bad in the majors. I just also have that dark fear deep in the recesses of my mind honed by years of disappointment that says maybe he's just going to be "okay".

I keep hearing that the mitigating circumstances are that he controls the strike zone much better than others who have a similar swing and miss rate.  It's what separates him from Joey Gallo and why he's most likely to be a solid major leaguer, at worst.  At least that's what I hear.  By hear I mean what I say to the mirror every morning.

Yeah he seems like a very unique case. He doesn't appear to be a free swinger at all. It seems more likely that a guy could develop timing and make better contact if he already has a good handle of the zone than to hope I guy just magically develops plate discipline. I'm not really worried. I'm just willing to admit that fear eats at my very soul because I have known a life of sadness.

Back to Slaky's original question, my answer is, "No."

I feel the same way about Russell and Soler.

[Eli]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

There are very, very players who ended up stars after putting up contact numbers like that in the minors.

But somehow, no, I'm not actually worried. Maybe that's cognitive dissonance.

[SKO]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

There are very, very players who ended up stars after putting up contact numbers like that in the minors.

But somehow, no, I'm not actually worried. Maybe that's cognitive dissonance.

To be fair we only have minor league contact data since, what, 2008? That Fangraphs article used minors stats since 2008, then major league contact rates since 2002. I mean, it's not a good sign, for sure, but who knows what past stars whiffed in the minors and grew to be good. My guess? All of them.

[PenFoe]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

There are very, very players who ended up stars after putting up contact numbers like that in the minors.

But somehow, no, I'm not actually worried. Maybe that's cognitive dissonance.

There are indeed very, very players.

[Quality Start Machine]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

There are very, very players who ended up stars after putting up contact numbers like that in the minors.

But somehow, no, I'm not actually worried. Maybe that's cognitive dissonance.

Bryant is more very, very than most though.

[Eli]

I'm actually somewhat worried Kris Bryant is gonna be not that good in the majors. Anyone else have this fear?

There are very, very players who ended up stars after putting up contact numbers like that in the minors.

But somehow, no, I'm not actually worried. Maybe that's cognitive dissonance.

There are indeed very, very players.

Damn my now-invalid point.

[CT III]

The one thing I got from watching 20 hours per week of MLB Network this winter is that Russell doesn't have the arm to play 3B.

Really? Most scouting reports I've seen on Russell rate his arm somewhere between above-average or plus. And while 3B might require a slightly stronger arm than short, I don't think the difference is all that significant. But if Baez fits better at 3B than Russell, that's fine. I still don't see Bryant sticking at third for more than 3-4 years, if at all. Especially if he can be a good defender in left field, as a lot of people have said.

Of course I've let my BA subscription lapse.  Ugh.

MLB.com rates his arm as a 55.  BP's scouting report rates his arm as a left-side of the infield arm.  Splitting hairs.

I just don't think it matters right now.

Not to derail the certainly riveting discussion I just skipped over, but 55 out of what?

[PenFoe]

The one thing I got from watching 20 hours per week of MLB Network this winter is that Russell doesn't have the arm to play 3B.

Really? Most scouting reports I've seen on Russell rate his arm somewhere between above-average or plus. And while 3B might require a slightly stronger arm than short, I don't think the difference is all that significant. But if Baez fits better at 3B than Russell, that's fine. I still don't see Bryant sticking at third for more than 3-4 years, if at all. Especially if he can be a good defender in left field, as a lot of people have said.

Of course I've let my BA subscription lapse.  Ugh.

MLB.com rates his arm as a 55.  BP's scouting report rates his arm as a left-side of the infield arm.  Splitting hairs.

I just don't think it matters right now.

Not to derail the certainly riveting discussion I just skipped over, but 55 out of what?

80.  It's the standard rating system for scouts.  Seems to go in 5-point increments.

[Eli]

The one thing I got from watching 20 hours per week of MLB Network this winter is that Russell doesn't have the arm to play 3B.

Really? Most scouting reports I've seen on Russell rate his arm somewhere between above-average or plus. And while 3B might require a slightly stronger arm than short, I don't think the difference is all that significant. But if Baez fits better at 3B than Russell, that's fine. I still don't see Bryant sticking at third for more than 3-4 years, if at all. Especially if he can be a good defender in left field, as a lot of people have said.

Of course I've let my BA subscription lapse.  Ugh.

MLB.com rates his arm as a 55.  BP's scouting report rates his arm as a left-side of the infield arm.  Splitting hairs.

I just don't think it matters right now.

Not to derail the certainly riveting discussion I just skipped over, but 55 out of what?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/scouting-explained-the-20-80-scouting-scale/

[CT III]

The one thing I got from watching 20 hours per week of MLB Network this winter is that Russell doesn't have the arm to play 3B.

Really? Most scouting reports I've seen on Russell rate his arm somewhere between above-average or plus. And while 3B might require a slightly stronger arm than short, I don't think the difference is all that significant. But if Baez fits better at 3B than Russell, that's fine. I still don't see Bryant sticking at third for more than 3-4 years, if at all. Especially if he can be a good defender in left field, as a lot of people have said.

Of course I've let my BA subscription lapse.  Ugh.

MLB.com rates his arm as a 55.  BP's scouting report rates his arm as a left-side of the infield arm.  Splitting hairs.

I just don't think it matters right now.

Not to derail the certainly riveting discussion I just skipped over, but 55 out of what?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/scouting-explained-the-20-80-scouting-scale/

Thank you.

I mean that sincerely.

[R-V]

My philosophy on all these Cubs prospects is that I'm just some boner who knows very,very about scouting.