Following the threads in the minor league forum for a couple years, I somehow came up with the idea that The Boss had a plate discipline problem. If he had an Achilles heel, it was supposed to be walks. So now I look at his stat line, and 41 AB into his ML career, he has 9 BB. Of course, this could be just a result of the notorious small sample size error made by many fans, but watching him play the game, I have to say that he actually seems to have good-to-very-good patience when he's up there, even against tough pitchers and when he doesn't get a hit.
So I find myself wondering about this topic in general. Was our whole "theory" about Bruce's "lack of plate discipline" just a mirage caused by the fact that he was facing inferior minor league pitching? Has he all of a sudden decided to be a more selective hitter now that he is in MLB? Alternatively, is this just a function of the pitchers not yet knowing how to pitch to him? Will these stats even out as he sees more AB in the weeks to come?
My apologies for jumping the gun after only 41 AB, but I'm really curious as to what type of player the Reds have here. We know he's good, but how good?