Quote:
Originally Posted by lollipopcurve
Are you kidding me? He's been dismissed for years, inlcuding by you, based on his K/BB ratio. While folks have been penciling in Danny Dorn for the LF job in Cincy, Francisco has been exiled to the island of Prospects Without Plate Discipline.
Rare power, combined with the ability to barrel up the ball. Meanwhile the K/BB ratio has improved steadily. Hasn't been enough to get him much acceptance as a guy bound for the bigs. You seriously cannot deny that.
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Some of us have been pro-JF. Having seen him now there are a few things that stand out and explain his numbers a bit.
As Dusty said, JF has huge plate coverage. He can hit the outside pitch. This impacts his walk numbers. He gets to pitches others can't, and hits them hard. The trade off is fewer walks but more hard hit balls.
The guy also can hit with two strikes. He stays alive well, fouls them off, and usually hits the ball. This explains his declining K rate over the years. Phillips is similar -- gets into a two strike hole often, but K rate is acceptable.
What Francisco needs to learn, like Bruce, like many other young hitters, is adjustment to the off speed stuff. Not unusual for a 22 year old. I've seen some improvement on it in the few weeks he's been with the Reds.
Last night, JF pinch hit a lineout to left field. I thought it was going to take the fielder's glove off, it was hit so hard.
From everything I've read, he has a strong desire to do well. Really rooting for this guy. Hope the Reds keep him around.