Tyler Stephenson note and question
So with today's 3 for 5, and big 4 days in a row, Tyler is hitting .424 in his last 10 games.
His overall average is .281 which is higher than it's ever been. His OBP is .367 which would be second best ever, his SLG pct is .399 which is second highest in his career (when he has over 20 at bats).
http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp...tting/2019/ALL
But here's the thing that kind of jumped out at me. Look at his GO/OA average over his career. This year it is 1/3 of what it was at Billings, and 1/2 of what it was just 2 years ago. To me that's an indication he's working his swing in launch angle fashion.
Am I misreading that? It could pay off in more power down the line.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
There's been too much hand-wringing done over Stephenson, in my opinion. Of course ideally you'd want him to be crushing it with an .850 OPS and forcing a callup ASAP, but he's been steadily progressing and seems on track to debut at around age 24. Barnhart managed to become a fringy major league starting catcher and he had a sub .700 OPS in the minor leagues. Stephenson's already well ahead of him there.
With regards to your question, I do think it's entirely possible that he has more power that he just hasn't tapped into yet. He's a big guy, I tend to believe over time he's going to be able to slug over .400 regularly.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Looking at some league wide numbers for the Southern League, I am not real worried about Stephenson's slugging. It seems like the league as a whole suppresses power a bit. His .399 SLG is in the top 30% of guys in the Southern League with 100 or more PA's. That puts him above Siri and in line with top prospects such as Alex Kiriloff, Brandon Marsh, Jesus Sanchez, and Nico Hoerner.
He's also got a nice BB rate, pretty low K rate, both positive indicators.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tom Servo
There's been too much hand-wringing done over Stephenson, in my opinion. Of course ideally you'd want him to be crushing it with an .850 OPS and forcing a callup ASAP, but he's been steadily progressing and seems on track to debut at around age 24. Barnhart managed to become a fringy major league starting catcher and he had a sub .700 OPS in the minor leagues. Stephenson's already well ahead of him there.
With regards to your question, I do think it's entirely possible that he has more power that he just hasn't tapped into yet. He's a big guy, I tend to believe over time he's going to be able to slug over .400 regularly.
I'm bullish on Tyler Stephenson. He's not a prospect list darling, but like you said, he's just produced at every stop. One big positive is his .281 batting average. It's been discussed on this board recently that young prospects can fatten their OPS on a diet of low-grade pitching. Taking walks is great, but building your offense on wildness in the lower minors can spell trouble in the future. A lot of those guys wither as the pitching improves. Stephenson has been up-and-down, but he does seem to have a solid hit tool. I think that augurs well for the future.
I'd be interested to know whether anyone has a good read on his defense. I remember the reports of his defense being real rough early in his career, but it seems there have been scattered reports on improvement. Fangraphs has his defense at 40/50 and his arm at 70/70, and the organization has never played him at another defensive position. So, I suppose that bodes well.
At the very least, assuming passable defense, he's a cheap No. 2 catcher with upside for a season or two. It's been a long maturation process, but it's hard not to be optimistic about Stephenson's future. He seems to be a high floor, high ceiling catcher on the cusp of the majors.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Griffey012
Looking at some league wide numbers for the Southern League, I am not real worried about Stephenson's slugging. It seems like the league as a whole suppresses power a bit. His .399 SLG is in the top 30% of guys in the Southern League with 100 or more PA's. That puts him above Siri and in line with top prospects such as Alex Kiriloff, Brandon Marsh, Jesus Sanchez, and Nico Hoerner.
He's also got a nice BB rate, pretty low K rate, both positive indicators.
Even the 11 HR's he hit in Daytona last season is solid for that league. In some of those stadiums, the HR is a rare result in games. He was 14th in HR's that season in the Florida league. Honestly, that is why it is crazy what Ibandel Isabel did there last season with 35 HR's.....I know nobody has came close to that number in the Florida State League for decades....if ever.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
I like this number the best....22.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
From the Athletic
Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts: In the second half of the season, catcher Tyler Stephenson is hitting .327/.425/.565 in 30 games. He’s hitting .289/.376/.410 with five homers.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
i have been critical of stephenson's progress, but gotta give credit where it's due. the young man is having a very good year at chattanooga, especially for a 22-year-old catcher. he started the season somewhat slow, and has been on absolute fire lately.
in his last 10 games, he's batting .455 (15-of-33) with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts.
for the season, he's batting .289 with an OPS of .786. very nice numbers at this stage of his development. he really seems to have turned a corner. going to be interesting to see what his power numbers look like playing with a juiced ball in triple-a next year.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
If over-the-wall power trails the rest of Tyler's game, that's fine by me. You can take one look at his frame and figure the boom boom is coming.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Quote:
Originally Posted by
M2
If over-the-wall power trails the rest of Tyler's game, that's fine by me. You can take one look at his frame and figure the boom boom is coming.
Not that I know the intricacies of Stephenson's swing, but I get the sense he's more Joe Mauer than masher. Mauer was a big dude but never hit for a ton of power (career .132 ISO). Poor man's Mauer is a reasonably good comp for Stephenson (and I imagine it's been made a number of times on here).
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BillDoran
Not that I know the intricacies of Stephenson's swing, but I get the sense he's more Joe Mauer than masher. Mauer was a big dude but never hit for a ton of power (career .132 ISO). Poor man's Mauer is a reasonably good comp for Stephenson (and I imagine it's been made a number of times on here).
I think Matt Weiters would be a much better comparison. Mauer is a career 300 hitter in the bigs with an almost even k/bb ratio. Weiters has always been solid, big dude who doesn’t strike out just a ton.
Love what Stephenson is doing but Mauer was elite for a while
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
I'd take a Weiters career for TySteve but I don't think a Mauer like impact is terribly far fetched. I do agree that comping a young guy to a great player is really unfair though so I'll "settle" for the Wieters comp....
Which brings this to mind....a catching duo of TySteve and ChadTromp now seems near reality
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RedlegJake
I'd take a Weiters career for TySteve but I don't think a Mauer like impact is terribly far fetched. I do agree that comping a young guy to a great player is really unfair though so I'll "settle" for the Wieters comp....
Joe Mauer is borderline HOF. That's a heady comp. Maybe something more modest like a Wilson Ramos future would be in order? I suspect we'd be pretty happy with that.
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Have always liked Stephenson...
Re: Tyler Stephenson note and question
Quote:
Originally Posted by
M2
Joe Mauer is borderline HOF. That's a heady comp. Maybe something more modest like a Wilson Ramos future would be in order? I suspect we'd be pretty happy with that.
Heck yeah with the way catchers are these days