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Thread: Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Symanski"

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    Member New Fever's Avatar
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    Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Symanski"

    The draft was 2004 and many people on this board had already saw their mood sour after the first round selection of a HS pitcher from Texas. That's when the Reds made a great second round pick according to most people with knowldege of the draft by selecting B.J. Szymanski the 19th best prospect in the draft according to Baseball America. All we needed to do now was sign B.J. and our farm would improve immediately. Not so fast my friend, 2 1/2 seasons later and B.J. is still in Dayton and he has struck out over 100 times and his BA. is .234. OBP is not good either and he has hit 12 homeruns but not too many lately. Here are his 2 1/2 season stats:

    2004 Club (Class) AVG OBP SLG AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB
    Billings (R) .259 .330 .469 81 13 21 4 2 3 17 9 26 2


    2005 Club (Class) AVG OBP SLG AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS
    Dayton (Lo A) .262 .332 .471 191 32 50 8 1 10 26 21 57 7 1

    2006
    Team League Level Pos AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB
    Dayton Dragons MID Low A OF .234 71 261 43 61 16 2 12 39 30
    SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB GIDP HBP
    105 17 6 .316 .448 .765 0 1 3 1 2


    There is still hope left for B.J, and the Reds system has taken a huge step forward with him being a disappointmente. Right now he is probably 4 on prospect list regarding Reds outfielders behind Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, and Chris Denofria. He is 23 right now but he was a two sport athlete in college so he still has a lot of development time left.
    Last edited by New Fever; 06-28-2006 at 06:35 PM.


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    Member New Fever's Avatar
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    Re: Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Szymanski"

    I was trying to get Szymanski name spelled right in the title.

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    Kmac5 KoryMac5's Avatar
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    Re: Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Symanski"

    I think BJ's career is over with the Reds. Wayne K will add his name to sweeten the pot of a possible trade especially with both Bruce and Stubbs in the system.

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    breath westofyou's Avatar
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    Re: Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Symanski"

    http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=5232

    Not What We Expected: A second-round pick in 2004, outfielder B.J. Szymanski is a lesson in why you take raw, athletic high school players, but not college ones. At 23, Szymanski is only in Low Class A, batting .231/.310/.455, and has a strikeout for every 2.49 at-bats.

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    Box of Frogs edabbs44's Avatar
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    Re: Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Symanski"

    If BJ ever makes it to AAA, it will be more than I expected.

  7. #6
    Rock n Roll HOF! KittyDuran's Avatar
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    Re: Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Symanski"

    I'll give the kid a break only because he's been injured a lot. I scanned an article in Play Ball from last year (8/14/05): [hope this is readable...] Oops... it's not - I'll put it in a text format...sorry
    Last edited by KittyDuran; 03-26-2007 at 03:49 PM.
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    Rock n Roll HOF! KittyDuran's Avatar
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    Re: Prospect Profile: "The Disappointing B.J. Symanski"

    Here we go... From Play Ball! August 14, 2005

    Dragons outfielder B.J. Szymanski grew up in an athletic family. Competition on the gridiron and the diamond was around ever since BJ was a kid. In fact, he competed at the varsity level in both sports at Princeton University.

    Play Ball! sat down with BJ to talk sports, family and life as an Ivy League freshman.

    Play Ball: How much did it hurt mentally to sit out with an injury during the start of the season?

    Szymanski: It was very frustrating considering I hurt myself warming up for a game. It also happened last season, so it's been two years in a row now that I've been on the DL (disabled list).

    PB: You're a natural right-handed hitter, but your first game back off the DL, you hit two left-handed home runs. Were you surprised at how quick you got back in the flow?

    BJ: When it comes to hitting left-handed, it definitely wasn't expected. I have equal pop from both sides of the plate. If you were to say that I would've hit two homers from the left side before that game, I would've told you that you're crazy.

    PB: Ever get made fun of for going to school in the Ivy Leagues at Princeton?

    BJ: Oh boy, I can't do anything wrong without getting made fun of. For instance, when I forget my glove somewhere, it's always "Oh, you're the Princeton boy" or "You went to Princeton, huh?"

    PB: How much of a culture shock was it for you arriving at the University of Princeton from Wichita Falls, TX?

    BJ: A big one. I played football at Princeton, too. When we start off with two practices a day as soon as you hit campus, it's not exactly like they rolled out the red carpet. I was 2,000 miles away from home for the first time. I was so homesick that there would be times I literally cried myself to sleep. But I made some good friends there and everything turned out fine.

    PB: We heard a story that as a kid playing t-ball, they had to stop the game because you were playing with ants and not paying attention.

    BJ: Yeah. I was three and my older brother was five. He was the MVP of our t-ball team, so I wanted to play with big brother. My dad stuck me in right field, and I guess I had more fun with the ants than the actual game.

    PB: Complete the phrase: If I were Baseball Commissioner for a day, I would...

    BJ: ...put in a salary cap. If you want everything to be fair, if everyone is going to whine about teams "buying" championships, then put it in. I wouldn't necessarily like it as a player, but I think if you're going to whine about the big market teams "buying" players, then put the salary cap in to make it fair for everyone.

    EDITOR'S NOTE: As the day-to-day uncertainty of baseball would have it, shortly after this story event to press, B.J suffered a season-ending injury when he broke his hand on a play in the outfield. His season will unfortunately end the same way it began, on the disabled list.
    2023 Reds record attending: 13-18 FINAL
    2023 Dragons record attending: 0-0 FINAL
    2023 Y'Alls record attending: 0-0 FINAL
    "We want to be the band to dance to when the bomb drops." - Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran


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