Royals interested in Bruce?

[corkedbat]

Bruce heating up, leads MLB in triples




You guys...I feel like I should know better, but I'm starting to come around on that contract extension idea that has been tossed around.

Just say "No" to insanity.

[PuffyPig]

He could always move to first, also, since Votto has 4 years on him and he'll start to show age first, IMO.

Making Votto the most expensive back up in history?

[Raisor]

Dave Cameron just said on Twitter there are no good outfielders on the market. I tweeted him and said Jay Bruce is having a solid season, at least from the power department. He responded by saying "Jay Bruce has been a disaster in the field."

That is a good point, we may be overselling Bruce's worth right now. Defense is important and Bruce so far this season has been one of the worst fielders in major league baseball statistically. That has to be hurting his value.

I saw that exchange.

My only question is why am I following you when you don't follow me.

Punk

[RedTeamGo!]

I saw that exchange.

My only question is why am I following you when you don't follow me.

Punk

/followed

[Tom Servo]

Bruce has 12 HRs in his first 206 plate appearances. This is his highest HR total this many PAs into the season since 2012, which got me to look even closer at those numbers.

His line is currently .279/.325/.579 with 12 HRs, 11 doubles, 5 triples, (53 hits) 12 walks, 44 strikeouts, and a .301 BABIP

His line in 2012 was .265/.318/.552 with 12 HRs, 14 doubles, 1 triple (48 hits), 16 walks, 51 strikeouts, and a .286 BABIP

This time last year: .217/.333/.389 with 7 HRs, 5 doubles, 2 triples (38 hits), 31 walks, 49 strikeouts, and a .258 BABIP.


It's still early, but the old Jay Bruce just might be back, folks.

[Wonderful Monds]

Somebody called him slow as molasses, but I don't think that's true either, especially evidenced by the triples (and a very near ITP HR.)

He's actually looked pretty mobile running the bases, to be honest.

[Wonderful Monds]

No, he doesn't. He's not getting access to the internal trackman/defensive data and how teams are using it. He might be able to look deeper into UZR than "we" are, but at the end of the day, that's still just some dude watching the play and saying Player X caught the ball in spot Y and it had this kind of trajectory. The teams are tracking where the guys started, where they finished, the route they took, how far they traveled, the speed of the ball, the exact trajectory of the ball, how long it took the player to start moving from contact - things that are very important and paint a complete picture of what was happening. What UZR does is absolutely pre-school esque compared to that stuff.

Think about it like this: If a team is positioning players and they kind of stink at it, his defensive metrics are going to suffer. But maybe he's actually a really good defender. Won't matter - UZR says he sucks. But a team may know that he covers more ground than anyone, but it's just being misused. Then he goes to a team who knows how to position guys and it's a huge difference maker. This may not apply to Bruce, but it probably does apply to someone out there.

It's also worth noting, if I'm not mistaken because this is off the top of my head, but I'm fairly certain the last time Bruce had a positive UZR was also the last time Dusty was manager, who for better or worse, seemed to put a stronger emphasis on good fundamentals. Maybe his staff/scouts were also better at coming up with defensive alignments and positioning than Bryan Price? It's not hard to imagine a former OF being better at positioning his OF defense than a former pitching coach. And of course there's also the injury to factor in as well.

Food for thought.

[Will M]

Making Votto the most expensive back up in history?

Ryan Howard is now the Phillies backup 1B and is making $25M (ok $25MM for nitpickers ) this year!

[TNRED55]

Bruce seemed to be tentative on fly balls..displaying poor judgments on failing to catch balls that fall in for hits. Makes you speculate if he has a fear of getting injured.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Bruce seemed to be tentative on fly balls..displaying poor judgments on failing to catch balls that fall in for hits. Makes you speculate if he has a fear of getting injured.

Personally, it makes me think he may need glasses/contacts. Sometimes we overlook the simple possibilities.

[kaldaniels]

Bruce seemed to be tentative on fly balls..displaying poor judgments on failing to catch balls that fall in for hits. Makes you speculate if he has a fear of getting injured.

Several times this year I have wanted to ask if Bruce should have caught or dove for a ball that fell in front of him but I decided to let it go.

[Bourgeois Zee]

Several times this year I have wanted to ask if Bruce should have caught or dove for a ball that fell in front of him but I decided to let it go.

I've asked and/or commented and gotten jumped for it, so I stopped saying/ posting anything about his defense at all.

[Tom Servo]

I think he belongs in LF, but it's not something I'm going to go to war about.

[JMO]

I think he belongs in LF, but it's not something I'm going to go to war about.

100% agreed. Move Bruce to LF if we extend him. Then Duvall or Winker plays RF

[lollipopcurve]

There's just as much ground to cover in LF than in right. It would be harder for Bruce to play because he's not used to balls off the bat in LF. His arm is stronger than Duvall's or Winker's, making him a better fit in RF anyway. Don't see the logic of a move.