Lance & Frazier are both right. Frazier looks "God-awful" in most of his ABs, but has 9 HRs and plays an acceptable 3B.

 

He appears to be the new Adam Dunn -- except without the walks. HR or K. Binary system for Frazier so far. He'll shake out of it to the back of his baseball card - which is fine.

Lance wasn't wrong when he said his swing was brutal. Look at that thing! His body moves in every direction when he hits. I don't even know how he ever makes contact in the first place.

RT @lanceMcAlister: Byrd last 10 games:

.306/.359, 2 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB. #Reds

 

Byrd is a notoriously slow starter. Hopefully he follows suit this year. He also was robbed by Neil Walker on a hard hit smash in the 1st inning.

Wow, just saw this....

 

Byrd: BABIP .220

Bruce: BABIP .192

Frazier: BABIP .182

 

That's absurdly bad.

 

Based on the MLB average of ~.300, I agree.

 

What is super odd is that Bruce's 2014 BABIP was .269 but his hard hit rate was 19.0% (MLB avg. is ~17%), good enough to be Top 50 in all of MLB! (NOTE: Meso was #5 at 23.3%.)

 

Tells me Bruce hit into some tough luck in 2014 AND struck out a TON (no surprise there 27.3%).

Lance wasn't wrong when he said his swing was brutal. Look at that thing! His body moves in every direction when he hits. I don't even know how he ever makes contact in the first place.

 

I agree with all this, which makes it more remarkable that he hits some of the more impressive distance homeruns at GABP and on the road. Was it last year that he hit one out one handed? He's not the biggest guy around, I think he is about 6'3. That all being said, he's one of my 5-6 Reds you want to keep around.

Based on the MLB average of ~.300, I agree.

 

What is super odd is that Bruce's 2014 BABIP was .269 but his hard hit rate was 19.0% (MLB avg. is ~17%), good enough to be Top 50 in all of MLB! (NOTE: Meso was #5 at 23.3%.)

 

Tells me Bruce hit into some tough luck in 2014 AND struck out a TON (no surprise there 27.3%).

 

Tells me that he should probably adjust at the plate a little and hit smarter against the shift. All the hard hit balls don't mean much if its into the shift.

As bad as Frazier may look, Bruce is even worse. Many times I have seen Bruce swing and miss pitches by more than a foot

As bad as Frazier may look, Bruce is even worse. Many times I have seen Bruce swing and miss pitches by more than a foot

 

Frazier is Wade Boggs compared to Bruce, if your a smart pitcher that does his homework on batters these two should be as guaranteed an out as a pitcher batting. I actually think Hamilton and Phillips would be far more worrisome for a pitcher and of course Votto

Based on the MLB average of ~.300, I agree.

 

What is super odd is that Bruce's 2014 BABIP was .269 but his hard hit rate was 19.0% (MLB avg. is ~17%), good enough to be Top 50 in all of MLB! (NOTE: Meso was #5 at 23.3%.)

 

Tells me Bruce hit into some tough luck in 2014 AND struck out a TON (no surprise there 27.3%).

Also he hits every single grounder right into the shift.

Also he hits every single grounder right into the shift.

 

A lot of people think he's just too stubborn to go the other way, but I don't buy it. There is virtually no benefit to continually try to pull everything when a team shifts on you like they do with Bruce. IMO, he tries to go the other way, and just can't do it. It's why his K rate is as high as it is, and has been increasing since 2013 (the year they started shifting regularly against him).

 

2008: K'd 26.6% of ABs

2009: K'd 21.7% of ABs

2010: K'd 26.7% of ABs

2011: K'd 27.0% of ABs

2012: K'd 27.6% of ABs

2013: K'd 29.5% of ABs

2014: K'd 30.2% of ABs

2015: K'd 33.3% of ABs

Edited May 6, 201511 yr by UKMustangFan

^Looked very good IMO. Kid is going to be a good one.

 

Guru and SF are going to hate him though. In his postgame interview he gave a lot of credit/praise to God, and mentioned that wherever he was called to be, he'd be there working hard and using it as his ministry to spread God's love.

 

 

Typical wayward youth, espousing talking points he has heard since being rocked in the crib. I don't care if he worships a pink tiger as long as he throws strikes and gets wins. That's what matters.

A lot of people think he's just too stubborn to go the other way, but I don't buy it. There is virtually no benefit to continually try to pull everything when a team shifts on you like they do with Bruce. IMO, he tries to go the other way, and just can't do it. It's why his K rate is as high as it is, and has been increasing since 2013 (the year they started shifting regularly against him).

 

2008: K'd 26.6% of ABs

2009: K'd 21.7% of ABs

2010: K'd 26.7% of ABs

2011: K'd 27.0% of ABs

2012: K'd 27.6% of ABs

2013: K'd 29.5% of ABs

2014: K'd 30.2% of ABs

2015: K'd 33.3% of ABs

 

IMO Bruce's stance in the batters box is a big part of his problem. He tries an "open" stance which enables him to see the ball better, but that front shoulder does not come back in when the pitch is delivered. He honestly does not even hit the pitches that left handers should absolutely tattoo. I know he talks to Votto a lot, but he does not have that ability. His pitch selection is horrible as well.

Didn't get to watch much of the game last night but it's good to hear that Lorenzen pitched well. I heard that all but 3 of his out were either groundouts or K's which is good, if he keeps the ball down in the zone he will be fine. Also heard that he averaged 96 mph with his fastball topping out at 98 mph and still throwing just as hard even as he threw his final pitches.

 

It's extremely impressive that he was known more as an outfielder than a pitcher just a few seasons ago. He's got so much upside and from listening to him he's got the right mindset on baseball and life. I was watching some YouTube video highlights of him and stumbled upon a workout video of his, very nice athlete looks more like a linebacker than a pitcher.

Edited May 6, 201511 yr by nkufan23

Hamilton CF

Byrd LF

Votto 1B

Frazier 3B

Phillips 2B

Bruce RF

Negron SS

Barnhart C

Leake P

 

2 straight days playing 2 down, 24 straight playing a man down.

 

Surely even those who think keeping Meso active is good sound decision-making, don't agree with having 2 bench spots wasted, do they?

I agree with all this, which makes it more remarkable that he hits some of the more impressive distance homeruns at GABP and on the road. Was it last year that he hit one out one handed? He's not the biggest guy around, I think he is about 6'3. That all being said, he's one of my 5-6 Reds you want to keep around.

 

All upper body and core, he doesn't even use his hips lol. And I agree, I do like Frazier. He proved last year it can work for him