Colvin to start taking grounders at 1B

[lumafia]

I guess one of my biggest questions with Colvin is whether or not he is sacrificing the "shortened" swing approach, and just swinging all out on his swings.

 

The Florida State baseball team implemented a similar philosophy during the late-90's to the mid-00's. They called it "The Perfect Swing" approach. I don't think it was highly publicized, but I was friends with several of their players and they explained the approach.

 

It's pretty simple really. Anybody who has ever played baseball knows that there will be times where you are completely fooled, and there are times where you alter your swing slightly to try and reach a pitch that isn't within range of your "normal" swing. Typically, this swing is results in just making contact, and there really isn't much "value" in that contact. Basically, you are just trying to put the ball in play. Using "The Perfect Swing" approach, you basically force yourself to take the same full swing every time, regardless of where the pitch is.

 

The thought process is that even though you will look horrible on some of the pitches you swing and miss, you will destroy any pitch that is thrown in the hitting zone that you do hit. The whole idea is to maximize the effect of those balls that you are able to hit. The assumption was that you don't have as many weak pop-ups, slow rollers, jam shots, etc., and more XBHs. One sacrifice you will make however, is that you will strike out more. It's possible that this is Colvin's approach. For a guy with his frame, he sure is hitting some monster homeruns.

[risico]

 

He probably isn't about to join the upper echelon of power hitters like his current rate would suggest, but this is an extremely positive sign from a young player entering his prime years.

 

That type of info is definitely encouraging. The problem I have with Colvin is that even with that incredible HR/FB rate and some good slugging numbers, he's still not much more than an average hitter. Striking out and hitting the ball on the ground are not ways to be successful as a hitter and Colvin seems prone to both.

 

I think the best improvement we could see from him would be to start hitting more balls in the air and take advantage of the Wrigley Field HR environment.

[KingCubsFan]

 

He probably isn't about to join the upper echelon of power hitters like his current rate would suggest, but this is an extremely positive sign from a young player entering his prime years.

 

That type of info is definitely encouraging. The problem I have with Colvin is that even with that incredible HR/FB rate and some good slugging numbers, he's still not much more than an average hitter. Striking out and hitting the ball on the ground are not ways to be successful as a hitter and Colvin seems prone to both.

 

I think the best improvement we could see from him would be to start hitting more balls in the air and take advantage of the Wrigley Field HR environment.

Nobody is asking him to be a superstar. The fact that he could be a starter making almost nothing for the next few years will help this team immensely considering the financial hole they're in with terrible contracts. Given his minor league numbers, it's hard to predict what the Cubs could be getting from him the next few years, but the fact that he can even be considered a starter is a huge improvement from where he was at this time last year.

[risico]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

[Guest]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

First base is the easiest position to field in baseball.

[XZero771679666304]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

First base is the easiest position to field in baseball.

 

It's totally anecdotal, but I was a pretty darned good OFer, but I struggled when I tried 1B. It was picking short hops, I was no good at that.

[flyseye]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

 

So you've been watching him play 1st ?

 

" Stop with the " making things up to help your argument.

[risico]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

 

So you've been watching him play 1st ?

 

" Stop with the " making things up to help your argument.

 

No, I haven't watched him. I did say that he wouldn't have much value if he didn't field the position.

 

People can say 1B is an easy position to play, but I don't think it's quite as easy to take a guy who has been playing the outfield for years and just move him to the infield and force him to get a lot more chances than he's ever gotten in his career.

 

Yes, my suspicion that he won't be a good 1B is speculative. I haven't seen him play 1B. But if you look at his defensive value, most of it is with his range, and I think that would be marginalized if you moved him to 1B.

 

If Colvin were to lose none of his value in moving to 1B (which means he'd actually have to improve as a player since 1B has a lower positional value than the corner OF spots), he would be the 15th best 1B in the majors this season. I just don't see the reason to move him if that's the kind of production you're going to get.

[Warpticon]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

 

So you've been watching him play 1st ?

 

" Stop with the " making things up to help your argument.

 

That may be the weirdest use of quotes I've ever seen.

 

Also, you completely missed what he was saying.

[flyseye]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

 

So you've been watching him play 1st ?

 

" Stop with the " making things up to help your argument.

 

That may be the weirdest use of quotes I've ever seen.

 

Also, you completely missed what he was saying.

 

You mean I completely missed the fact that he is blindly assuming a young, tall, athletic player ,who he has never seen take so much as a grounder at first base, is probably going to be a poor fielder there ? If you say so. And please don't say he was saying his bat is less valuable there, because that is not what he was saying at all, he was referring specifically to his lack of defensive skills at first being a detriment.

 

The quotes are because his "stop with the " phrase annoys me ,like Um, and the like. Not really weird at all.

[Bote McBoteface]

Nah, it was pretty weird. Especially the spaces around each quotation mark. Super weird. MJ weird.

[flyseye]

Nah, it was pretty weird. Especially the spaces around each quotation mark. Super weird. MJ weird.

 

OK, you're right. I am kind of an odd duck. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to telepath a message to Uranus.

[risico]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

 

Your showing me that you misinterpreted what I said.

 

I like to look at win values. Colvin has a positive win value right now mainly because of his bat. But 1B has a lower positional value than the corner OF spots, so that's already a disadvantage of moving him from the OF to 1B.

 

If his defensive value, which is currently neutral, declines at all when he moves to 1B, he'll be approaching replacement-level status.

 

I guess my point is that Colvin's bat is OK in a corner OF spot but it's less valuable at 1B. Hence the sentence I bolded above.

 

Now nobody knows how he'll react to the defensive switch. I guess we'll have to see about it. I would prefer the Cubs just sign a reasonable first baseman, let Colvin continue to play his corner OF spot, and hope that he improves his offensive game.

[flyseye]

He may be a weak starter in the OF, but he certainly doesn't have much value as a starter at 1B if he doesn't field the position.

 

His bat can play at a corner OF position because he's actually a pretty good defender, but at 1B I don't think he'd be nearly as good.

 

Your showing me that you misinterpreted what I said.

 

I like to look at win values. Colvin has a positive win value right now mainly because of his bat. But 1B has a lower positional value than the corner OF spots, so that's already a disadvantage of moving him from the OF to 1B.

 

If his defensive value, which is currently neutral, declines at all when he moves to 1B, he'll be approaching replacement-level status.

 

I guess my point is that Colvin's bat is OK in a corner OF spot but it's less valuable at 1B. Hence the sentence I bolded above.

 

Now nobody knows how he'll react to the defensive switch. I guess we'll have to see about it. I would prefer the Cubs just sign a reasonable first baseman, let Colvin continue to play his corner OF spot, and hope that he improves his offensive game.

 

You seem like a reasonable enough sort, "stop with the" phrasing aside, so perhaps I did misunderstand what you were trying to say.

 

Either way, I feel Colvin has shown enough athletic/defensive ability in the OF that I feel it is safe to assume he could easily be at worst an average defender at 1st, quite possibly much better.

 

FWIW, I am not 100% sold on Colvin as a hitter either, although I think many on this site are far to pessimistic regarding him. His BB ratio is not horrible ( better than Castro or Byrd ), And as Rob pointed out earlier, when he gets a hold of one, they are not generally cheap shots. Considering he is a recently bulked up, reasonably young rookie, I feel he certainly has the ability to improve as a hitter. He has shown me enough to want to see more, particularly in this lost season. Besides, don't the Cubs employ one of the best hitting coaches money can buy ? You would think a young player like Colvin would be right up his alley.

 

Personally, I would stick him at 1st for the remainder of the season and see what he can do. Nobody is going to give us much for Nady one way or the other, so starting him there is absolutely pointless, all things considered.

 

Edit: I would still prefer Dunn for next year, but not as much as some. 2 years, 3 tops would be great, but I have no confidence in Hendry not grossly overpaying for him.