2009 Attendance Record: 3-5 2010 Attendance Record: 2-9 2015 Attendance Record: 2-0
2011 Attendance Record: 3-4 2012 Attendance Record: 3-4
2013 Attendance Record: 5-2 2014 Attendance Record: 3-1
I just can't get over how good this kid is. He is hitting .288/.375/.528 with 17 walks and 23 strikeouts in 144 plate appearances. He has a 143 OPS+. Has a teenager ever finished a season that high in history? Mel Ott, Tony Conigliaro and Jimmy Foxx were in the 130's. I can't think of anyone else to even check it against.
He is unreal.
What does he have that mega prospects Bruce & Heyward do not?
2009 Attendance Record: 3-5 2010 Attendance Record: 2-9 2015 Attendance Record: 2-0
2011 Attendance Record: 3-4 2012 Attendance Record: 3-4
2013 Attendance Record: 5-2 2014 Attendance Record: 3-1
Each after the game where they eclipsed 144 plate appearances:
Harper .288/.375/.528/.903 with 5 HR & 14 RBI
Bruce .292/.361/.477/.837 with 6 HR & 19 RBI
Heyward .276/.392/.553/.945 with 8 HR & 29 RBI
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
This is a bit disjointed, but...
I don't know about Heyward, but Bruce's issue is almost entirely mental. He seems to rest on his laurels a bit, but that isn't quite right. I don't think he actively ever thinks "well, that's good enough for now" but rather, when he wins an award like PoW or PoM, something clicks with him and his effort drops...no, that's not even right...more like he's reached a pinnacle of his ability and when he regresses a bit he doesn't have a baseline to fall back to. That makes him try even harder, which kills his game until he gets untracked a few weeks or months down the road.
If you watch Votto, he always has a baseline performance. If he goes into a funk, he starts concentrating on hitting the ball up the middle and his overall performance doesn't drop much. Bruce's thing might be different (Welsh suggested it might be going the opposite way), but he hasn't found it. So he hits these amazing highs, but drops off precipitously to lower lows. Honestly I think it comes from trying TOO hard, from not trusting his skills and talent and technique, and instead "trying" to make something happen. When he stops trying, the game comes to him and we all know what he can do then.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)
Teenage phenoms? How about Ken Griffey Jr.?
His age 19 season in 1989:
.264/.329/.420 for an OPS of .748, and an OPS+ of 108, with 16 HRs, 61 RBIs, and 16 SBs, in 127 games played.
__________________
"I think we’re starting to get to the point where people are starting to get tired of this stretch of ball,” Votto said. “I think something needs to start changing and start going in a different direction. I’m going to do my part to help make that change.”
Have talked to a few people about as close to Jay Bruce as it gets and it's just the opposite.
He doesn't rest on his laurels. He actually still wonders if he belongs at times. More of a confidence thing and when he gets rolling he really REALLY gets rolling and when he's bad wonders how he will ever get a hit again.
2009 Attendance Record: 3-5 2010 Attendance Record: 2-9 2015 Attendance Record: 2-0
2011 Attendance Record: 3-4 2012 Attendance Record: 3-4
2013 Attendance Record: 5-2 2014 Attendance Record: 3-1
If you read that again, I didn't mean to imply that he rests on his laurels. But I see what you're saying about the confidence thing too. It's like when he starts to go bad, he doesn't have the confidence to rely on his baseline skills and talent until he can get rolling again.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)
Reds Fan Since 1971
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
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