Quote:
Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine
Mike Cameron.
And I would be very happy if Stubbs were able to produce at that type of level.
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Funny to bring up Mike Cameron (definitely a good comp based on skillset IMO) because he's one of the few guys whose history gives Stubbs hopes of turning into someone useful as a Major League regular.
After being drafted out of high school, Cameron didn't hit over .250 for a full season until he repeated AA in 1996 - his
sixth pro season. In fact, none of his statistics (walks, K rate, average, homers, RBIs, OPS) were even above average until then, meaning all anyone had to go on was his talent and skills and hoping they would eventually allow him to turn it on.
Something obviously clicked because in that '96 season, he hit .300/.402/.600 as a 23-year-old in the Southern League with 28 homers, 77 RBIs, and 39 steals. He still struck out over 100 times (117), but his walk total vaulted up to 71 at the same time. After a cup of coffee in September of that year, he only spent 30 games in AAA the following season before ascending to the majors for good.
Certainly, I would be ecstatic to have Stubbs turn into Cameron on the Major League level. I'd say that's probably his ceiling actually. It's just interesting when you look back to Cameron and see how rare and unique his career was in terms of early minor league production and how it related to his work in the bigs.
Again, it's difficult to compare since we're talking a high school player vs. a college player, who theoretically should be more advanced. However, I do find the potential parallel interesting.