Baez impresses Baez

[Thrilho]

Javy is my favorite, and it didn't take long at all. He is a devastatingly fun to watch baseball player.

 

And thrilho, I agree with everything you said. I think it's spelled choir though, just an fyi.

Ah wubalubalubdub...well that whole post was just an excuse to use the "I'll do whatever the horsefeathers I want" quote anyway

[Sammy Sofa]

I just assumed quire boys was some kind of gang of street toughs or something.

[UK]

I just assumed quire boys was some kind of gang of street toughs or something.

 

 

http://eil.com/images/main/The+Quireboys+Hey+You+-+Gatefold+Picture+Sle+843.jpg

[David]

this reminds me of when gronk tweeted about his mom's Sue flay

[CyHawk_Cub]

I just assumed quire boys was some kind of gang of street toughs or something.

 

 

http://eil.com/images/main/The+Quireboys+Hey+You+-+Gatefold+Picture+Sle+843.jpg

 

What in the ever-living horsefeathers is this??

[Sammy Sofa]

I just assumed quire boys was some kind of gang of street toughs or something.

 

 

http://eil.com/images/main/The+Quireboys+Hey+You+-+Gatefold+Picture+Sle+843.jpg

 

What in the ever-living horsefeathers is this??

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quireboys

[sneakypower]

this reminds me of when gronk tweeted about his mom's Sue flay

or Jake's meal prep

[USSoccer]

For me, the thing about Javy that makes him awesome is that I feel it would have been easy for him, being a top prospect with a ton of power, to half-ass the little things and not evolve as a player beyond trying to be a dongsman at the plate.

 

Instead, I feel like he's embraced his role on the team thus far and tries to excel at all the "little things". Laying a tag? Baserunning? Sliding? Plus-plus defending? He'll even bunt for a hit. The guy just seems like he wants to contribute in any and every way possible, and for me, that's awesome.

 

But really, tho, where did he get that shirt, because that's a dabbing bear wearing a US Soccer crest shirt and I want it.

[Banedon]

But really, tho, where did he get that shirt, because that's a dabbing bear wearing a US Soccer crest shirt and I want it.

 

I spent like...10 whole minutes looking for it yesterday without success.

[NOLA]

 

 

http://eil.com/images/main/The+Quireboys+Hey+You+-+Gatefold+Picture+Sle+843.jpg

 

What in the ever-living horsefeathers is this??

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quireboys

Real question:

Did you just do a google search for quire boys and stumbled across that band, or did you already know about the Quire Boys beforehand?

[Sammy Sofa]

Google. Never heard of them. The description sounds atrocious.

[sneakypower]

career wRC+ split

 

low leverage: 107

medium leverage: 67

high leverage: -2

 

bases empty: 101

men on base: 55

men in scoring pos: 21

 

this year isn't different in terms of glaring disparity

 

i still figure Theo hates this guy's (exploitable) approach at the plate and is willing to pull the trigger on a trade if somebody offers package commensurate with difference-maker MI valuation

[Transmogrified Tiger]

i still figure Theo hates this guy's (exploitable) approach at the plate and is willing to pull the trigger on a trade if somebody offers package commensurate with difference-maker MI valuation

 

The other side is that I bet he loves not needing to have a Kawasaki or Watkins type on the bench to be a SS caddy. But I agree that they aren't going to be in a hurry to find more ABs for Baez than he's getting right now.

[davell]

Javy isn't going anywhere. He's a solid player now, still improving, and likely won't be a starter here until 2018 or 2019, if Zobrist falls off a cliff. If he puts himself in a spot where he NEEDS to be in everyday, all the better. As it stands, giving him 400-500 AB's as a utility guy works out great.

[Cubswin11]

Javy isn't going anywhere. He's a solid player now, still improving, and likely won't be a starter here until 2018 or 2019, if Zobrist falls off a cliff. If he puts himself in a spot where he NEEDS to be in everyday, all the better. As it stands, giving him 400-500 AB's as a utility guy works out great.

With Schwarber back next year and Contreras up all year I'd say 400 PAs is pushing the upper limits of what Javy should be getting next season with where he stands right now offensively.

[Sammy Sofa]

still improving

 

http://i.giphy.com/l41Yo2T6voDQP1Loc.gif

[davell]

Javy isn't going anywhere. He's a solid player now, still improving, and likely won't be a starter here until 2018 or 2019, if Zobrist falls off a cliff. If he puts himself in a spot where he NEEDS to be in everyday, all the better. As it stands, giving him 400-500 AB's as a utility guy works out great.

With Schwarber back next year and Contreras up all year I'd say 400 PAs is pushing the upper limits of what Javy should be getting next season with where he stands right now offensively.

 

I'm OK with that too. The bottom line is its up to him to increase his playing time.

[USSoccer]

You guys hate fun, huh?

[UMFan83]

career wRC+ split

 

low leverage: 107

medium leverage: 67

high leverage: -2

 

bases empty: 101

men on base: 55

men in scoring pos: 21

 

this year isn't different in terms of glaring disparity

 

i still figure Theo hates this guy's (exploitable) approach at the plate and is willing to pull the trigger on a trade if somebody offers package commensurate with difference-maker MI valuation

 

Possibly, but this is also technically his first full season in the bigs and he's 23 years old. Does that mean he's going to all the sudden fix several glaring holes in his approach? Maybe not. But I think Theo and especially Joe really really appreciate his defense and versatility and identify it as a reason we have historic BABIP numbers as a staff. Given that elite skill set, I think the FO will pull out all the stops to attempt to make him into an adequate offensive player and is willing to risk damaging any trade value as an asset to see it through.

[Thrilho]

career wRC+ split

 

low leverage: 107

medium leverage: 67

high leverage: -2

 

bases empty: 101

men on base: 55

men in scoring pos: 21

 

this year isn't different in terms of glaring disparity

 

i still figure Theo hates this guy's (exploitable) approach at the plate and is willing to pull the trigger on a trade if somebody offers package commensurate with difference-maker MI valuation

 

Yeah totally aware of how bad he's been in high leverage sitations. We got to see it today. To me he's a guy without enough track record to say he'll consistently suck in big sitations.

 

I could trot out KBs numbers in high/low leverage sitations and I'd be laughed out of the room if I tried to tell you they mean he'll be bad in the clutch again next year. Part of that is that KB has a season of good clutchness under his belt, part is that many people think that projecting clutch numbers based on history is dumb.

 

I'd be in the camp that thinks that for a guy this young you look at overall approach and improvements made in approach. Then figure if it's a guy who works and improves his game overall that he'll eventually extend that to the clutch situations.

 

I think Javy has improved his approach, but his starting point is so bewilderingly bad that it doesn't look like much. For instance it seems like he's taking a lot of pitches and getting deeper into the count. But then he just can't bear to not swing on that 3 ball count.

 

Today was a perfect example. He just couldn't lay off that 3-2 fastball off the plate and it could've cost the Cubs the game. But if he cares about improving his game then being shown the tape of situations like that and his failure should eventually hit home.

 

I doubt it's all a recognition problem, as he laid off a fastball just off the plate on 1-2 and does it frequently. Seems like it's a matter of patience and wanting to get that hit. It's the sort of thing that CAN improve. Hopefully he can do it.

 

But even if he stays right around offensively here I think there's a consistent 400 PAs for him. I figure there's no way the WAR stats are giving him as much credit as he deserves for all the stuff he does.

 

Either way, no way I think he gets dealt in the offseason, but he shows no improvement I could see him not topping 400 PAs next year. A lot will depend on whether Soler Is still around.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The leverage thing is a symptom, not a cause. For example, in Javy's career:

 

Innings 1-3: .769 OPS

Innings 4-6: .656

Innings 7-9: .584

 

 

Or to really get to the problem, run values the last 2 years:

 

v. Fastballs of all types: +5.6

v. Curves: -3.9

v. Sliders: -3.2

v. Changeups: -0.2

 

Javy is exploitable because he hasn't shown he can recognize off-speed well enough to lay off or hit it with authority, so he's exploitable by starters with the right stuff(hence Maddon shielding him from FB/SL RHSP, especially in the first half) and most relievers(who have a strong FB and one good off speed pitch). That's the true problem, it's a fixable problem but I certainly understand pessimism that he won't fix it.

[Thrilho]

Yeah, those numbers are pretty alarming. But I was thinking more of the situational aspect of leverage where in 2016 his wRC+ is 107 with the bases empty, 76 with men on, and 41 with RISP. Or K rates of 22.7%, 26.2%, and 28.8% respectively.

 

The right hander/hard throwing righty thing is a problem that I agree is a legit concern that I don't have a good argument handy for. But I could see the RISP numbers get better as he learns how to use his "B hack" in big situations to get the runners in.

[David]

either javy's GF runs his twitter or this is the most javy tweet ever and perfect for this thread

 

[tweet]https://twitter.com/javy23baez/status/776945786861092864[/tweet]

 

 

EDIT - damnit, it got deleted

 

http://i.imgur.com/C9hOw0v.png

[imb]

shes a bit of an ann hog

[17 Seconds]

who?