Could Fontenot be a Pedroia type?

[Little Slide Rooter]

they seem to be similar players. Little guys who can hit, and have surprising power for their size. They both have great bat speed. Maybe Fontenot would need to gain about 10-15 pounds, and hed be about Dustins size. We could definitely use that type of player on the Cubs.

[cbbryan]

they seem to be similar players. Little guys who can hit, and have surprising power for their size. They both have great bat speed. Maybe Fontenot would need to gain about 10-15 pounds, and hed be about Dustins size. We could definitely use that type of player on the Cubs.

 

I would say there's some similarities.

[badnews]

I don't think Pedroia is a good comparison for Fontenot's best case scenario. Pedroia's main feature to me is his ability to make contact, something that he's much, much better at than Fontenot.

 

I'm not even actually convinced Pedroia is as good as he appears to me. It vaguely reminds me of Placido Polanco's 2007, and especially, at least to me, it begs comparison to Mark Loretta's 2004. I'd also like to see what Pedroia's home/road splits look like next year.

 

For Fontenot I think I like a slower, lefthanded Marcus Giles 2004-2005 comparison better as best case scenario.

[17 Seconds]

It will be interesting to see if he's used as trade bait. What kind of value do you guys think he has? He's a former first round pick and he's hit pretty well at every level, so it's not like he came out of nowhere. I think he could definitely be an .800-.850 OPS every day player.

[JimSorgi]

We should sell high on Derosa. I really want to see what Fontenot and his sneaky power can do.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Pedroia - .391 OBP in the minors while flying through the system at ages 20-22. .369 MLB OBP at a decently young age while showing no significant platoon split.

 

Fontenot - Only managed a .390+ OBP season in the minors once while taking until age 26 to break into the big leagues regularly. .369 MLB OBP getting almost all of his playing time in a favorable platoon situation.

 

 

Other than the fact that their OBPs happen to be identical for their careers and they are both 2b, I'm not seeing it.

[17 Seconds]

Pedroia - .391 OBP in the minors while flying through the system at ages 20-22. .369 MLB OBP at a decently young age while showing no significant platoon split.

 

Fontenot - Only managed a .390+ OBP season in the minors once while taking until age 26 to break into the big leagues regularly. .369 MLB OBP getting almost all of his playing time in a favorable platoon situation.

 

 

Other than the fact that their OBPs happen to be identical for their careers and they are both 2b, I'm not seeing it.

 

He said he was talking about their size and relative power.

[JeffH]

The biggest reason that Dustin Pedroia is a star and Mike Fontenot is a nice role player/possibly decent regular:

 

Pedroia: 52 strikeouts in 653 AB

 

Fontenot: 51 strikeouts in 243 AB

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The biggest reason that Dustin Pedroia is a star and Mike Fontenot is a nice role player/possibly decent regular:

 

Pedroia: 52 strikeouts in 653 AB

 

Fontenot: 51 strikeouts in 243 AB

I'd say the biggest reason is talent, not K rates

[JeffH]

The biggest reason that Dustin Pedroia is a star and Mike Fontenot is a nice role player/possibly decent regular:

 

Pedroia: 52 strikeouts in 653 AB

 

Fontenot: 51 strikeouts in 243 AB

I'd say the biggest reason is talent, not K rates

 

Obviously, the two are related.

[zamrambo]

We should sell high on Derosa. I really want to see what Fontenot and his sneaky power can do.

 

Or just keep your best players and see if anyone has a water cooler they don't want anymore in return for Kosuke.

 

I wanted Fontenot in there for the last 3 months, especially the last month of the season when it was obvious Fukudome was getting benched. then all of a sudden here comes #1 to save the Cubs in the playoffs, yay!

[17 Seconds]

The biggest reason that Dustin Pedroia is a star and Mike Fontenot is a nice role player/possibly decent regular:

 

Pedroia: 52 strikeouts in 653 AB

 

Fontenot: 51 strikeouts in 243 AB

I'd say the biggest reason is talent, not K rates

 

Obviously, the two are related.

 

No, they aren't.

 

Seriously, strike outs aren't that big of a deal. They're not good, but to say that talent and strike outs go hand and hand is ridiculous.

 

You know what 2 things DO go hand in hand? Patience (walks) and strikeouts. Fontenot drew a ton of walks this season, Pedroia did not. It's no surprise that Fontenot struck out more.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Of course they're related, don't be silly.

 

Pedroia and Fontenot aren't similar for many reasons, age, defense, speed, but most importantly, platoon split. Pedroia can hit right hand pitching quite well(especially for a RH 2B), Fontenot can't hit LHP. Fontenot is perfect for the role he had this year, platoon 2B and LH bench bat. He'd be great in a platoon with say, Ryan Theriot, if you wanted to get rid of DeRosa.

[17 Seconds]

Of course they're related, don't be silly.

 

Pedroia and Fontenot aren't similar for many reasons, age, defense, speed, but most importantly, platoon split. Pedroia can hit right hand pitching quite well(especially for a RH 2B), Fontenot can't hit LHP. Fontenot is perfect for the role he had this year, platoon 2B and LH bench bat. He'd be great in a platoon with say, Ryan Theriot, if you wanted to get rid of DeRosa.

 

Well, they can be related, but to say they go hand in hand is silly. To say that strikeouts are the main reason they'll never be the same is even more ridiculous, especially when you consider that Fontenot outperformed Pedroia in the time he played this season. Obviously that doesn't mean he would have if he played an entire season, but he pointed out that strikeouts will keep Fonenot from being as good as Pedroia. Okay, so why didn't they keep him from doing that this season in a pretty big chunk of at-bats?

 

Think about all the crappy players who don't strike out and then think about all the elite hitters that do.

 

Seriously guys, strikeouts aren't that big of a deal.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Of course they're related, don't be silly.

 

Pedroia and Fontenot aren't similar for many reasons, age, defense, speed, but most importantly, platoon split. Pedroia can hit right hand pitching quite well(especially for a RH 2B), Fontenot can't hit LHP. Fontenot is perfect for the role he had this year, platoon 2B and LH bench bat. He'd be great in a platoon with say, Ryan Theriot, if you wanted to get rid of DeRosa.

 

Well, they can be related, but to say they go hand in hand is silly. To say that strikeouts are the main reason they'll never be the same is even more ridiculous, especially when you consider that Fontenot outperformed Pedroia in the time he played this season. Obviously that doesn't mean he would have if he played an entire season, but he pointed out that strikeouts will keep Fonenot from being as good as Pedroia. Okay, so why didn't they keep him from doing that this season in a pretty big chunk of at-bats?

 

Think about all the crappy players who don't strike out and then think about all the elite hitters that do.

 

In Fontenot's case, yes, they go hand in hand. Jeff wasn't making a blanket statement about strikeouts, he's pointing out that Fontenot's inability to make contact(especially his 25% K rate against LHP) is part of his physical/mechanical shortcomings that keep him from being a player of Pedroia's caliber.

[David]

I think the best way to put it is that strikeouts are useful to look at in terms of development and in terms of attempting to project how good a hitter will be. Obviously, a potential inability to make contact would be a red flag within that context. I'll tend to look at minor league K numbers more than I normally would with big league numbers.

 

On the other hand, if a guy is an established productive hitter at the big league level, the strikeouts mean little to nothing beyond giving you a little information about how that hitter makes the outs he makes. You already know that he's productive and the strikeouts aren't really a negative.

[17 Seconds]

Exactly. Fontenot struck out a lot last season, but also walked a ton and was extremely productive. If he did it for 200-300 at-bats last season, why can't he keep doing it?

 

Strikeouts aren't a big deal if you've proven you can hit with them.

[David]

I don't know if you can really consider Fontenot the type of established hitter I was referring to, even though he has had a good amount of productive PAs (i think 600ish) at the big league level.

 

It's hard for me to say if you can really expect that production out of him in the future, even if he only faces RHP.

[17 Seconds]

I don't know if you can really consider Fontenot the type of established hitter I was referring to, even though he has had a good amount of productive PAs (i think 600ish) at the big league level.

 

It's hard for me to say if you can really expect that production out of him in the future, even if he only faces RHP.

 

Well I wasn't saying he was an established hitter. I was talking more about the strikeout theory in general. He said that strikeouts will be the main reason Fontenot can't be as good as Pedroia and I don't think that's true at all. He was implying that strikeouts automatically put you in a hole and you can't be extremely successful with them.

 

I just didn't like the "obviously K-rates and talent go hand in hand" statement because that's not at all true.

[JeffH]

I think the best way to put it is that strikeouts are useful to look at in terms of development and in terms of attempting to project how good a hitter will be. Obviously, a potential inability to make contact would be a red flag within that context. I'll tend to look at minor league K numbers more than I normally would with big league numbers.

 

On the other hand, if a guy is an established productive hitter at the big league level, the strikeouts mean little to nothing beyond giving you a little information about how that hitter makes the outs he makes. You already know that he's productive and the strikeouts aren't really a negative.

 

This is an excellent post.

[abuck1220]

hey, did you guys know that fontenot has never, ever, even once faced a left-handed pitcher? it's true.

[nilodnayr]

If you randomly chose two players who play the same position you'd have about a 95% chance of picking two players who are a closer match than Fontenot and Pedroia.

[David]

hey, did you guys know that fontenot has never, ever, even once faced a left-handed pitcher? it's true.

 

huh? usually i get your sarcastic quips but I'm not really seeing your point on this one

[abuck1220]

hey, did you guys know that fontenot has never, ever, even once faced a left-handed pitcher? it's true.

 

huh? usually i get your sarcastic quips but I'm not really seeing your point on this one

 

unless he figures out how to OBP better than .310 against lefties his ceiling is probably that of a part-time platoon guy/24th man who puts up decent numbers if he plays sparingly and never ever, ever faces lhp.

[David]

hey, did you guys know that fontenot has never, ever, even once faced a left-handed pitcher? it's true.

 

huh? usually i get your sarcastic quips but I'm not really seeing your point on this one

 

unless he figures out how to OBP better than .310 against lefties his ceiling is probably that of a part-time platoon guy/24th man who puts up decent numbers if he plays sparingly and never ever, ever faces lhp.

 

oh. i agree.