He has been crushing the ball when healthy. Is he a legitimate SS prospect, or does he join Frazier, Soto, and Valaika and move to a 2nd or 3rd?
He has been crushing the ball when healthy. Is he a legitimate SS prospect, or does he join Frazier, Soto, and Valaika and move to a 2nd or 3rd?
Buchholz is a second baseman through and through. Unlike Frazier and Valaika, the Reds haven't even bothered playing him at shortstop because he has no chance of sticking there. That said, he can flat out hit. His bat looks like it will play anywhere.
Why do you think his numbers were so down his last year of college? What type of defense does he play at 2nd?Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine
Thanks for the info!
I believe I read somewhere that he battled an injury problem in his last year of college which kept his numbers down. He hit the heck out of the ball his first two seasons though. That is how you find sleepers in late rounds - a guy mashes the ball his whole career and then gets injured and struggles and ends up falling in the draft. The same thing happened with Danny Dorn. I like Buchholz a lot. He reminds me a bit of Chris Valaika but with a better eye at the plate. As for his defense at second base, I have no idea. I'll try to contact the Billings writer and ask him for his opinion on Buchholz's defense.Why do you think his numbers were so down his last year of college? What type of defense does he play at 2nd?
Thanks for the info!
College guy's should crush Rookie ball pitching. The test will be how he hits in A
and A+.
What I like about Buchholz is he's still only 20 years old and still fairly age appropriate for Billings.
His age is exactly the average age for a hitter in the Pioneer League. It doesn't get any more appropriate than that.
A 5-5 night later and he is hitting .407 with an OPS over 1.100..... thats impressive, even if he has just over 100 PA.
I loved this pick when they got him and was surprised he was still there. Bucholz can flat hit and will be the Reds 2nd baseman someday. I know that's a quick judgement but I loved this kid's game when he was in college. His senior year was a fluke because of minor nagging injuries but that was a blessing, too, because now the Reds have him. His defense at second should be solid, btw, its range at SS that is his biggest problem. IMO he'll be a league average fielder at second with a better than average bat.
I'm a big nerd, like most of us here, and I write future lineups consisting of only Reds prospects. For a while now, I've been writing Justin Turner or Chris Valaika as the second baseman of the future (I alternate because I like to cling to the hope that Valaika can stick at shortstop, even though I know he can't), but pretty soon, it looks like I could be writing in Buchholz on the Reds' all-prospect team.
Thats almost Redus-esque
I got a response from Mike Scherting of the Billings Gazette regarding Buchholz's defense at second base:
OBM,
I didn’t get to see Buchholz a whole lot before he went down with his injury, but he seemed to be pretty good at 2B. In 20 games, he made 3 errors (.967 fielding percentage) and had 63 assists.
I’m not as certain as you that his playing second base is a statement by the Reds. It seems to me that Miguel Rojas is the obvious choice to play shortstop (have you seen his skills?) and in order to get Buchholz’s bat in the lineup, the Mustangs had to put him at second.
I hate to admit that I know nothing about Miguel Rojas. Anyone got an opinion on they guy?
He's 19-years old and was signed by the Reds in November of 2005 from Venezuela. He may have great defensive skills but he can't hit much. Last year he hit just .231/.341/.333 in the DSL and VSL and this year is only hitting .189/.256/.247 with Billings.
Bucholz tonight: 2-for-4 double, walk. Ho-hum, just another day at the office.
Posting Permissions
|
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |
Reply With Quote