Edwin is on pace to do what just 5 guys in the last 25 years have done at 3B....

[dougdirt]

Edwin is currently hitting .284/.380/.482 at the age of 23.

Since 1980 just 5 3B 23 or younger have had a season of 200 at bats with a season of .280/.375/.475.

Gary Sheffield
Scott Rolen
Troy Glaus
Albert Pujols
David Wright

So we are benching him for Rich Aurilia? Edwin is a special type of hitter, and it is absolutely mind numbing what is going on in Cincinnati with him.

[jmcclain19]

But Rich Aurilia has a 12 game hit streak going?

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Edwin is currently hitting .284/.380/.482 at the age of 23.

Since 1980 just 5 3B 23 or younger have had a season of 200 at bats with a season of .280/.375/.475.

Gary Sheffield
Scott Rolen
Troy Glaus
Albert Pujols
David Wright

So we are benching him for Rich Aurilia? Edwin is a special type of hitter, and it is absolutely mind numbing what is going on in Cincinnati with him.

Probably not too many players who actually qualify for that distinguishment. I don't think it's "mind numbing" at all. EE is struggling defensively and Aurilia is on a 12-game hitting streak and showed some great range at 3B tonight.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by jimbo

Probably not too many players who actually qualify for that distinguishment. I don't think it's "mind numbing" at all. EE is struggling defensively and Aurilia is on a 12-game hitting streak and showed some great range at 3B tonight.

67 players had 200 at bats as a third baseman in a season as a 23 year old or younger. That statline has happened just 5 times, or roughly 7% of the guys.

[RedsIn07]

Shouldn't Miguel Cabrera be in there too?

[dougdirt]

Follow up, I looked it up all time, and the list since 1950 only includes 3 more guys:
Gil McDougald
Eddie Mathews
Dick Allen.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by RedsIn07

Shouldn't Miguel Cabrera be in there too?

Cabrera has only played 63 games at 3B in his life.... and they were over 2 seasons.
He will likely join the list after this season barring an incredible slump. Makes the point though, look at the guys on the list that Edwin is on pace to join.

[Javy Pornstache]

Wow, sounds like a great bench player.

[jmcclain19]

Originally Posted by RedsIn07

Shouldn't Miguel Cabrera be in there too?

He would for this season, but not for any previous years as in the last three years he played 3B a 64 times for combined 513 innings.

Edit - looks like Doug got to it before I did

[Blue]

Quite an insightful post. With the way Aurilia is hitting right now, it doesn't bother me as much, though I would like to see some configuation where EE could play every day.

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

67 players had 200 at bats as a third baseman in a season as a 23 year old or younger. That statline has happened just 5 times, or roughly 7% of the guys.

That looks impressive then, no doubt. Thanks for doing the research.

I think that EE is the third baseman of the future of this team, but right now he needs to work on his defense and with the team contending it's going to be tough for him to get a lot of starts this season until he shows improvement. My guess is that as the season progresses, his starts will increase.

[dougdirt]

I should add that since 1950 161 players qualified for the survey, and just 3 more players made the list a total of 6 times. So since 1950, a .280/.375/.475 line has been accomplished 11 times in 161 attempts.
Eddie Mathews did it 3 times.
Dick Allen did it twice.
McDougald, Sheffield, Rolen, Glaus, Pujols and Wright all have done it once.

[Nugget]

But what are the fielding stats for those guys v EE.
I think the point is if your going to get comparable offense with better defense then if your going to go with that for the moment.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Nugget

But what are the fielding stats for those guys v EE.
I think the point is if your going to get comparable offense with better defense then if your going to go with that for the moment.

McDougald had 9 errors in 175 chances in 1951
Mathews had 30 errors in 495 chances in 1953. 13 errors in 379 chances in 1954. 21 errors in 441 chances in 1955.
Allen had 41 errors in 520 chances in 1964. 26 errors in 460 chances in 1965.
Sheffield had 16 errors in 414 chances in 1992.
Rolen had 14 errors in 468 chances in 1998. (had 24 errors in 1997)
Glaus had 33 errors in 492 chances in 2000.
Pujols had 10 errors in 161 chances in 2001.
Wright had 24 errors in 462 chances in 2005.

There are some really bad fielders in there....so its not like Edwin was the only young 3B with problems but could hit the crap out of the baseball.

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

There are some really bad fielders in there....so its not like Edwin was the only young 3B with problems but could hit the crap out of the baseball.

True, but you also have to consider the team that surrounded them. It's a lot easier to hide a bad defender amongst a good defensive team or to overlook his defensive liabilities if he has All-Star numbers at the plate.