Jose Barrero Called Up

[Kc61]

I think a healthy Barerro would have given the Reds something like what Jeremy Peña is giving the Astros...which is a pretty solid overall player. Top-10 at the position.

Pena doesn’t have Jose’s current strike out problem, never did in the minors. Big difference there.

His OBP is low as a rookie, but it was high throughout the minors. Not walking much, but rookie season.

[Chip R]

If they like Barrero and see him as the SS of the present and near future, and I'm not saying they should do this or will do this, they can play with EDLC and the others' service time. I don't know where they are in their minor league service time but they have so many seasons to keep them off the 40 man roster. After then they have options. After Barrero gets a few years in, he could be traded like the Braves did with Andrelton Simmons. Barrero may not be the sexiest prospect among all the other SS prospects but we're going to find out what he can do this year and probably next year. We don't know that with the others. A lot of them are performing very well in the minors. But so did Barerro save for this year.

[TRF]

I don't think it overly matters what the bat result is so long as the defense is as advertised and he makes the adjustments at the plate that he's asked to. He's the 2023 starting SS and that's a lot better than what they have had since, and I can't believe I am saying this, Zack Cozart.

Ok, Iglesias was pretty good in his time as a Red, true, but historically he's got the weaker stick. Galvis SHOULD have been better, but his power stayed behind in Canada. Farmer was a guy.

The Reds have candidates to play SS but Barrero is closest and I am rooting for him to take the job and run with it.

[Marc D]

2-4 with 2 SB against two tough pitchers tonight

nice

[Ron Madden]

2-4 with 2 SB against two tough pitchers tonight

nice

He only had 1 SB but he did have a good game

[Marc D]

He only had 1 SB but he did have a good game

My bad, I thought he stole another one in the 9th.

[Ron Madden]

My bad, I thought he stole another one in the 9th.

It was probably defensive indifference

[Marc D]

It was probably defensive indifference

This team has that effect on people.

[CaiGuy]

Pena doesn’t have Jose’s current strike out problem, never did in the minors. Big difference there.

His OBP is low as a rookie, but it was high throughout the minors. Not walking much, but rookie season.

Going into this year their K rates were the same throughout their careers. Barrero didn't have a monster K rate last year in AA/AAA. This year, yes, it's off the charts.

Maybe this is the new normal as some weakness of Barrero was exposed. Or maybe it was conected with his surgery and coming back from that, and he will settle into his previous form.

I guess time will tell.

[Wonderful Monds]

Going into this year their K rates were the same throughout their careers. Barrero didn't have a monster K rate last year in AA/AAA. This year, yes, it's off the charts.

Maybe this is the new normal as some weakness of Barrero was exposed. Or maybe it was contacted with his surgery and coming back from that, and he will settle into his previous form.

I guess time will tell.

I was theorizing that with the hamate injury, pitchers may be attacking him more aggressively in the zone, and with his power currently missing he’s not able to punish them for it. If that were the case, pitchers might not be able to do that and would have to pitch him more carefully once his hitting fully recovers.

I haven’t looked at any numbers to see if that’s true though.

[mth123]

I was theorizing that with the hamate injury, pitchers may be attacking him more aggressively in the zone, and with his power currently missing he’s not able to punish them for it. If that were the case, pitchers might not be able to do that and would have to pitch him more carefully once his hitting fully recovers.

I haven’t looked at any numbers to see if that’s true though.

I think this is a plausible theory.

[CaiGuy]

I was theorizing that with the hamate injury, pitchers may be attacking him more aggressively in the zone, and with his power currently missing he’s not able to punish them for it. If that were the case, pitchers might not be able to do that and would have to pitch him more carefully once his hitting fully recovers.

I haven’t looked at any numbers to see if that’s true though.

Exactly what I was wondering.

K/BB rates are really useful for telling you about how a guy is really doing outside of good and bad luck, and it seems to stay pretty constant for most players. Yes, sometimes they can cut their K's a bit, or take a few more walks, but it doesn't really swing drastically one way or the other.

His K/BB was 36/84 in 380 plate appearances last year, which is more than acceptable considering his power (he hit 19 doubles and 19 HR's in that time) and defense. It's not like he has a long-term problem in that area.

This year it has taken a nosedive at 11/89 in 237 PA's. Some are hung up on that, and obviously they are right that he can never succeed as an MLB hitter with those kind of rates. So at 24, did he really regress that much talent-wise? It's possible, but I am guessing it's connected to his injury more than anything. And maybe he never recovers from that, but it's not like that was his normal throughout his career. 2022 is the outlier.

[Kc61]

It’s dangerous thinking to sweep this strikeout issue under the rug for Barrero. Even last year at AAA, I was carefully watching it. At the end, in a hot streak, he got down to 22%, good for him. But the guy has a tendency toward swing and miss. We’ve seen it in every stint in the bigs, though some were pretty early in his career.

It’s not insurmountable. Just requires a bit more patience and selectivity at the plate. The Reds need to have a plan to work on that early in his career and make it a non-issue.

[CaiGuy]

It’s dangerous thinking to sweep this strikeout issue under the rug for Barrero. Even last year at AAA, I was carefully watching it. At the end, in a hot streak, he got down to 22%, good for him. But the guy has a tendency toward swing and miss. We’ve seen it in every stint in the bigs, though some were pretty early in his career.

It’s not insurmountable. Just requires a bit more patience and selectivity at the plate. The Reds need to have a plan to work on that early in his career and make it a non-issue.

He got it down to 22% with an end-of-year hot streak at the end of 2021?

2018 A - 21.7%
2019 A + - 18.4%
2021 AA - 22.2%
2021 AAA - 22.0%
2022 AAA - 37.6%

Looks pretty consistent to me outside of 2022. Obviously, he has faceplanted in the majors, but hasn't played enough to make any kind of determination yet. It will be interesting to see what he does with extended playing time.

The strikeouts will be higher than you would want, but we are talking about a plus SS with big-time power and speed. He doesn't need to make elite contact to stick in the bigs. I was comparing him to a guy with a 24.1 K%, not DJ LaMahieu.

[mth123]

I think the right answer is no matter what he does, Barrero is an unanswered question heading into 2023. My only concern is that he doesn't try to make some adjustment based on this year and end up worse off for it. Its why I would have left him in AAA.

Either way, I think he is the SS on opening day next year. That's when we may find something out. Evaluate next year at this time.