There's a pretty large gap between above average and plus-plus. I'm hoping for at least plus. It'd be hard to get excited about a 16 year old who might hit 20 homers someday.
Ive always understood that Rodriguez has the potential to be a carlos beltran type. Thats pretty lofty potential.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
Alonso has hit .300 at every stop, so he must doing something right
Every hitting prospect has to prove he can hit a quality curveball. You don't see a lot of quality curveballs in high school and college, at least not on a consistent basis. It's not just Alonso, it's every hitting prospect.
A lot of times the problem is chasing the curveball. The curve is a difficult pitch to get called for a strike -- more so in the majors than in college ball, too. Alonso is not the type of hitter who will have protracted problems chasing -- his discipline is too advanced.Every hitting prospect has to prove he can hit a quality curveball. You don't see a lot of quality curveballs in high school and college, at least not on a consistent basis. It's not just Alonso, it's every hitting prospect.
I agree OBM but BA doesn't list the issue for anyone else but him, sounds like they think he has more of an issue with it the the norm. Or maybe they don't but they put it in there for a reason and since it's a question about him I had I am choosing not to dismiss it completely.
We might start asking the question at some point "why isn't Alonso being promoted?" and this one issue could be part or all of the reason why. It may not either but it's something to keep in the back of our minds.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
I can see how that could read that way which is why I never ruled it out in my post. That said I can also see how it might read that they (the people BA gets their info from and thus BA as well) think he could have a problem there. Doesn't really matter I suppose because I believe he'll probably eventually hit them whether he has trouble now or not (just a gut hunch).Weaknesses: Offensively, Alonso has yet to prove that he can recognize and hit a quality breaking ball, though Cincinnati thinks he'll be able to do just that.
But I just think people really need to be a little more realistic with their expectations and part of that is being critical of any possible weaknesses a player might have. I think he's gonna be a very good hitter but if someone didn't know any better and read this site for it's info they would think we are getting the next Bonds/Pujols or Ted Williams. And then when he shows up you got people who are disappointed that he ain't as advertised. Granted everyone should take everything they hear everywhere with a grain of salt and that is their responsibility. But I happen to think we here at RZ also have a responsibility to be as objective as possible. But that's just me which I am gonna keep on doing and I hope others start or continue to as well.
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
--Woody Hayes
Aaron (YYZ): You can have one of these super-young Latin American prospects, Juan Duran (CIN, OF) or Kelvin De Leon (NYY, OF), which do you take?
Kevin Goldstein: Duran.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ch...php?chatId=561
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