Free Tyler Colvin!

[17 Seconds]

so i see that colvin is this year's spring training sensation who everybody goes crazy over for having 3 good weeks in meaningless games. micah hoffpauir, david patton, etc

[Sammy Sofa]

Everybody?

[MWV]

How does a guy manage an above .500 babip with a 3.2 GO/AO? Colvin doesn't need to go to Chicago, he needs to go to Vegas.

[17 Seconds]

Everybody?

 

you know exactly what i mean

[Sammy Sofa]

I guess, though I still wouldn't agree. Unless I've been missing the discussion the local sports radio or on a bunch of blogs/sites and so on, there doesn't seemt to be much hype over him outside of a few posters here and scattered other outlets online.

[Little Slide Rooter]

But if his ceiling is a 4th OF, why not get him used to the role now?

Because that's not his ceiling.

 

He would have to change significantly for that to no longer be his ceiling.

So I take it you haven't kept up much with this offseason?

 

Putting on muscle doesn't change the fact that he's done crap in the minors and hasn't come close to showing any patience.

 

I don't really care about media reports about what everybody does in the offseason to finally turn things around. 9 times out of 10 those efforst are meaningless. Prove it on the diamond.

 

While Colvin was never steller in the minors, he was off to a promising start before lsoing 2008 to TJS. Its no inconceivable for someone like that to pull things together and become a productive member of the team.

 

What does worry me is the complete lack of BB though.

[17 Seconds]

I guess, though I still wouldn't agree. Unless I've been missing the discussion the local sports radio or on a bunch of blogs/sites and so on, there doesn't seemt to be much hype over him outside of a few posters here and scattered other outlets online.

 

i checked cubs.com (i know, i know) and theyre allllll over colvin... wanting him to be the starter, etc. i know cubs.com is terrible, but they probably represent the most common cubs/baseball fan.

 

even if you read one of the articles on cubs.com about colvin, the comments are saying the same thing.

 

it's just funny because these are the same people who will want him gone after he has a bad 10 at-bats in the regular season. i think most baseball fans in general are pretty dumb when it comes to this type of stuff.

[17 Seconds]

[

Because that's not his ceiling.

 

He would have to change significantly for that to no longer be his ceiling.

So I take it you haven't kept up much with this offseason?

 

Putting on muscle doesn't change the fact that he's done crap in the minors and hasn't come close to showing any patience.

 

I don't really care about media reports about what everybody does in the offseason to finally turn things around. 9 times out of 10 those efforst are meaningless. Prove it on the diamond.

 

While Colvin was never steller in the minors, he was off to a promising start before lsoing 2008 to TJS.

 

??? colvin played 2008 and sucked. he has tjs after the season (during the arizona fall league)

[Sammy Sofa]

I guess, though I still wouldn't agree. Unless I've been missing the discussion the local sports radio or on a bunch of blogs/sites and so on, there doesn't seemt to be much hype over him outside of a few posters here and scattered other outlets online.

 

i checked cubs.com (i know, i know) and theyre allllll over colvin... wanting him to be the starter, etc. i know cubs.com is terrible, but they probably represent the most common cubs/baseball fan.

 

even if you read one of the articles on cubs.com about colvin, the comments are saying the same thing.

 

it's just funny because these are the same people who will want him gone after he has a bad 10 at-bats in the regular season. i think most baseball fans in general are pretty dumb when it comes to this type of stuff.

 

That's what I get for avoiding cubs.com like the plague.

 

Yeah, it is annoying how people glom onto long shots like Colvin.

[Rob]

I was on colvin as a bounceback candidate before spring training. Do I get a free pass?

[biittner77]

Hendry is in win now mode. There's no way in the world Colvin is the starter unless they have absolutely no choice and he gets off to a really good start. This coming from one of Colvin's biggest defenders. He needs to show something at AAA before they even consider making him the starter unless everyone else in front of him gets hurt.

[TruffleShuffle]

I was on colvin as a bounceback candidate before spring training. Do I get a free pass?

 

bounce back from what? his play in tennessee last season was the best he's been since he was drafted.

[ctcf]

.475 ain't too shabby.

[UMFan83]

so i see that colvin is this year's spring training sensation who everybody goes crazy over for having 3 good weeks in meaningless games. micah hoffpauir, david patton, etc

 

Scott McClain! What about Die Hard!!!!

[Rob]

I was on colvin as a bounceback candidate before spring training. Do I get a free pass?

 

bounce back from what? his play in tennessee last season was the best he's been since he was drafted.

 

sorry, I meant breakout, referring to the thread in the minor league forum.

 

4/5 today with a HR and a 3B.

[TruffleShuffle]

his babip is approaching .600 now.

 

don't get me wrong, his performance over the second half of last season and in spring training is really nice to see, but that plate discipline is still very bad and i could easily see him being exploited by big-league pitchers.

[Irrelevant Dude]

I'm beginning to wonder whether Colvin's offseason workout routine may have included a special prescription.

[Rob]

I'm beginning to wonder whether Colvin's offseason workout routine may have included a special prescription.

 

This is the dumbest thing I've read today.

[17 Seconds]

he meant zoloft

[CUBZ99]

his babip is approaching .600 now.

 

don't get me wrong, his performance over the second half of last season and in spring training is really nice to see, but that plate discipline is still very bad and i could easily see him being exploited by big-league pitchers.

 

If you watched the game today, you could obviously see that he was squaring the ball up. None of his hits were cheap. I was also impressed by his eye. During his first ab, I though he may actually get his first walk.

 

Is he going to hit .400+ during the season? No, but he does appear to be healthy and he is hitting the ball better than any player on the team atm.

[Guest]

his babip is approaching .600 now.

 

don't get me wrong, his performance over the second half of last season and in spring training is really nice to see, but that plate discipline is still very bad and i could easily see him being exploited by big-league pitchers.

 

Spring Training isn't really the time to be evaluating plate discipline, especially for guys without reputations. Pitchers are going to prioritize throwing strikes and working on themselves rather than planning for each hitter. Ramirez doesn't have a walk in 26 ABs this spring. Byrd has one in 46 PAs. Fuld has a terrific eye and he only has 2 in 35 PAs.

[17 Seconds]

he doesn't have a single walk yet this spring in 59 ABs? wow

 

that's my main thing with colvin. it's hard for me to ever get excited about a guy who refuses to take walks.

[imb]

he probably got those red nike contacts like brian roberts

[CubsWin]

his babip is approaching .600 now.

 

don't get me wrong, his performance over the second half of last season and in spring training is really nice to see, but that plate discipline is still very bad and i could easily see him being exploited by big-league pitchers.

Exactly. This is encouraging, but by no means should it be taken to mean that he is ready to hit well in the majors. Spring training is the time for pitchers to get ready. They are refining mechanics. Getting their pitches in. Building stamina. Working on a pitch. They are not setting batters up with their pitch selection and the order of pitches thrown. They don't have their sharpest control of the fastball or their greatest feel for their breaking balls.

 

And specific to Colvin, they don't have a book on him. They don't know his weaknesses, but he's definitely got 'em. His eye isn't the greatest. His minor league numbers show that, as well as his 10/0 strikeout to walk ratio this spring. He'll see a lot less fastballs once the season starts, and it's likely the fastballs he sees will be better located. It's not a question about whether his numbers will come back to earth, they will. The question is how badly will he get exposed? By his performance in the second half at AA last season and so far this spring, when the conditions are right he can hit. But the conditions are about to change.

 

Should he make the team? So long as if/when he struggles, he's given a good shot at working through it and learning how to adjust, I got no problem with it. He's hot right now. Let's ride it out. But with a win now attitude, how likely is it that Colvin will be given the chance to work through it? Not likely. The safer approach, especially since he's not really needed on the roster right now, is to have him start out at AAA and work on his plate discipline, so that when he does come up, he can lay off the pitcher's pitches and make them come over the plate with something that he's shown us he can hit and hit with authority. Without that ability (and without the Cubs ability to let him learn at the big league level), it's just a matter of time before he gets exposed and is forced back to the minors to figure it out.

[scarey]

It's entertaining to me that people will go through such lengths to provide explanations on why a guy like Colvin is impressive in spring training (pitchers working on pitches, fastball ineffectiveness, etc.) but are not hesitant at all to throw a pitcher under the bus when he gets knocked around and don't recognize the fact that not even everyone is hitting .475/.475/.729.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm in no way saying Colvin is the real deal. But isn't it just as ignorant to completely write off what he's done the last 10 months as it is to proclaim him ready for the big show?

 

Also, while he hasn't shown it in spring training, Colvin has shown significant improvement in plate discipline. In his first two years he had an IsoD of .041 and improved to .071 in his second two years. His plate discipline fate is not exactly set in stone.