Assume the Position: LF

In Commentary And Analysis by myles9 Comments

Bad news and good news:

Bad News: The Cubs have terrible prospects at left field. There isn't even really a projectable major-league starter here (maybe Pin-Chieh Chen? Maybe?). It might be more barren than catcher.

Good News: The Cubs are loaded at CF and RF. It's extremely likely that one of those prospects could just slide over and play LF. Generally, that's how it works out. Who knows, maybe Vogelbach will play there if he makes to the big leagues (dying laughing)

      Last Year 2013 Career
  Name Age AVG OBP SLG wOBA pwOBA AVG OBP SLG wOBA
MLB Soriano 100 0.262 0.322 0.499 0.350 0.320 0.273 0.323 0.505 0.351
  Sappelt 26 0.275 0.351 0.449 0.345 0.294        
AAA Wright 28 0.287 0.348 0.435 0.346          
  Sappelt 26 0.264 0.313 0.374 0.306   0.256 0.314 0.369 0.302
  Adduci 28 0.306 0.377 0.435 0.359          
AA Adduci 28 0.294 0.367 0.409 0.357          
  Perez 25 0.205 0.282 0.402 0.311          
A+ Perez 25 0.278 0.380 0.494 0.395          
  Andreoli 23 0.289 0.402 0.376 0.369          
A Chen 21 0.259 0.345 0.347 0.324          
  Balaguert 20 0.208 0.232 0.262 0.228          
  Radamacher 22 0.213 0.273 0.287 0.263          
A- Kim 23 0.250 0.288 0.455 0.343          
Rk Dunston 20 0.185 0.254 0.323 0.275          

The average LF wOBA was .324 last year.

MLB

Alfonso Soriano is going to have to deal with father time sooner or later. My money is on "April 2013". Please trade this guy while you can get some semblance of value for him. Dave Sappelt was curiously competent in his limited time last year. It wasn't even BABIP magic (.293), it was solid contact and an atypical ISO. Sappelt is a natural CF but I imagine he could definitely spell Soriano periodically (if Hairston is a primary 1B relief, as I imagine he will be). Sappelt has exactly the required skillset of a 4th outfielder: he makes contact, draws walks, steals bases, and plays every outfield position passably. He also has a crush on Jasmine. I'm happy with Sappelt as my 25th man (definitely happier than if Campana was, sorry).

AAA

Ty Wright is basically just a warm body. He's 28, a AAA triple repeater, and has never really shown anything to be excited about. I'm not even sure he's on the team anymore, and it doesn't matter either way. I'm sure he's a really nice guy. All of that also qualifies to Jim Adduci, except I know for sure he's in the Rangers' minor league camp. 

AA

Nelson Perez loves striking out so much he does it around 30% of the time in the major leagues. He was able to walk for the first time in his career last year (up to 12% or so from a career 5%) which was great, but he still can't really hit at all and should triple-repeat AA this year. He's a non-prospect at this point.

A+

John Andreoli is a really intriguing guy in the fact that he has great plate discipline. Taken in the 17th round of the 2011 draft, Andreoli has (in 534 PA) amassed 95 strikeouts, 79 walks, and 26 extra base hits. I'll leave it to you to decide which of those 3 is the most shocking. He's 6' 1", 215, so I'm not sure he can "grow" into power without growing out of his outfield versatility, so his upside is probably a Sappelt-type. That's not a bad career to shoot for.

A

Pin-Chieh Chen is a contact machine much like Andreoli is. In Chen's case, he also has some power and a projectable frame (he could add 30 pounds and still be 15 lighter than Andreoli and stands the same height). He's got some speed and plays acceptable defense, but he'll either need to develop some more power with that frame or get better with the bat because his slap hitting isn't going to work in the majors unless he's Ichiro, which he's not. Yasiel Balaguert is a seriously badass name. He wasn't that good at baseball this year, though. He was a middling Cuban prospect when they signed him (December 30, 2011) and he had a pretty poor season last year (though he was mid-season promoted to A from R, which does say something). He's got plenty of time to figure things out but his first 283 PA were definitely forgettable. Same goes for Bijan Rademacher, except he's less of a prospect by virtue of being older.

A–

What a sweet name Dong-Yub Kim is. Seriously, that's a 60/70 name tool right there. His twitter handle is lovetome3181, which is either sort of creepy or just illustrates his deep love of old books. He's also not that good at baseball; he had to switch throwing arms due to labrum surgery, and he missed time in 2011 recoving from it. He's got a really small sample size, but it hasn't looked pretty.

Rk

Shawon Dunston Jr. is still only 20, but he was only so-so. Obviously waiting and seeing, as he is 6-2, 170, so he's got plenty of growing to do. I hope he makes it as a 4th OF because I DESPERATELY want to say "Dunston checks in" when he gets into the game.

All in all, not a very inspiring group of names (except for the ACTUAL names). The young people could pan out, but they probably won't. As I said, though: the Cubs are loaded at CF, and those guys will inevitably shift over, either because they can't play CF anymore or because LF gets them in the lineup earlier/easier.

Projected Lineups

MLB: Soriano/Sappelt

AAA: Wright?/NRI

AA: Perez/Andreoli

A+: Andreoli/Chen

A: Balaguert/Radamacher

A-: Dunston/Kim

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  2. Aisle424

    Bad news and good news:

    Bad News: The Cubs have terrible prospects at left field. There isn’t even really a projectable major-league starter here (maybe Pin-Chieh Chen? Maybe?). It might be more barren than catcher.

    Good News: The Cubs are loaded at CF and RF. It’s extremely likely that one of those prospects could just slide over and play LF. Generally, that’s how it works out. Who knows, maybe Vogelbach will play there if he makes to the big leagues (dying laughing)

    Last Year 2013 Career
    Name Age AVG OBP SLG wOBA pwOBA AVG OBP SLG wOBA
    MLB Soriano 100 0.262 0.322 0.499 0.350 0.320 0.273 0.323 0.505 0.351
    Sappelt 26 0.275 0.351 0.449 0.345 0.294
    AAA Wright 28 0.287 0.348 0.435 0.346
    Sappelt 26 0.264 0.313 0.374 0.306 0.256 0.314 0.369 0.302
    Adduci 28 0.306 0.377 0.435 0.359
    AA Adduci 28 0.294 0.367 0.409 0.357
    Perez 25 0.205 0.282 0.402 0.311
    A+ Perez 25 0.278 0.380 0.494 0.395
    Andreoli 23 0.289 0.402 0.376 0.369
    A Chen 21 0.259 0.345 0.347 0.324
    Balaguert 20 0.208 0.232 0.262 0.228
    Radamacher 22 0.213 0.273 0.287 0.263
    A- Kim 23 0.250 0.288 0.455 0.343
    Rk Dunston 20 0.185 0.254 0.323 0.275
    The average LF wOBA was .324 last year.

    MLB

    Alfonso Soriano is going to have to deal with father time sooner or later. My money is on “April 2013”. Please trade this guy while you can get some semblance of value for him. Dave Sappelt was curiously competent in his limited time last year. It wasn’t even BABIP magic (.293), it was solid contact and an atypical ISO. Sappelt is a natural CF but I imagine he could definitely spell Soriano periodically (if Hairston is a primary 1B relief, as I imagine he will be). Sappelt has exactly the required skillset of a 4th outfielder: he makes contact, draws walks, steals bases, and plays every outfield position passably. He also has a crush on Jasmine. I’m happy with Sappelt as my 25th man (definitely happier than if Campana was, sorry).

    AAA

    Ty Wright is basically just a warm body. He’s 28, a AAA triple repeater, and has never really shown anything to be excited about. I’m not even sure he’s on the team anymore, and it doesn’t matter either way. I’m sure he’s a really nice guy. All of that also qualifies to Jim Adduci, except I know for sure he’s in the Rangers’ minor league camp.

    AA

    Nelson Perez loves striking out so much he does it around 30% of the time in the major leagues. He was able to walk for the first time in his career last year (up to 12% or so from a career 5%) which was great, but he still can’t really hit at all and should triple-repeat AA this year. He’s a non-prospect at this point.

    A+

    John Andreoli is a really intriguing guy in the fact that he has great plate discipline. Taken in the 17th round of the 2011 draft, Andreoli has (in 534 PA) amassed 95 strikeouts, 79 walks, and 26 extra base hits. I’ll leave it to you to decide which of those 3 is the most shocking. He’s 6′ 1″, 215, so I’m not sure he can “grow” into power without growing out of his outfield versatility, so his upside is probably a Sappelt-type. That’s not a bad career to shoot for.

    A

    Pin-Chieh Chen is a contact machine much like Andreoli is. In Chen’s case, he also has some power and a projectable frame (he could add 30 pounds and still be 15 lighter than Andreoli and stands the same height). He’s got some speed and plays acceptable defense, but he’ll either need to develop some more power with that frame or get better with the bat because his slap hitting isn’t going to work in the majors unless he’s Ichiro, which he’s not. Yasiel Balaguert is a seriously badass name. He wasn’t that good at baseball this year, though. He was a middling Cuban prospect when they signed him (December 30, 2011) and he had a pretty poor season last year (though he was mid-season promoted to A from R, which does say something). He’s got plenty of time to figure things out but his first 283 PA were definitely forgettable. Same goes for Bijan Rademacher, except he’s less of a prospect by virtue of being older.

    A-

    What a sweet name Dong-Yub Kim is. Seriously, that’s a 60/70 name tool right there. His twitter handle is lovetome3181, which is either sort of creepy or just illustrates his deep love of old books. He’s also not that good at baseball; he had to switch throwing arms due to labrum surgery, and he missed time in 2011 recoving from it. He’s got a really small sample size, but it hasn’t looked pretty.

    Rk

    Shawon Dunston Jr. is still only 20, but he was only so-so. Obviously waiting and seeing, as he is 6-2, 170, so he’s got plenty of growing to do. I hope he makes it as a 4th OF because I DESPERATELY want to say “Dunston checks in” when he gets into the game.

    All in all, not a very inspiring group of names (except for the ACTUAL names). The young people could pan out, but they probably won’t. As I said, though: the Cubs are loaded at CF, and those guys will inevitably shift over, either because they can’t play CF anymore or because LF gets them in the lineup earlier/easier.

    Projected Lineups

    MLB: Soriano/Sappelt

    AAA: Wright?/NRI

    AA: Perez/Andreoli

    A+: Andreoli/Chen

    A: Balaguert/Radamacher

    A-: Dunston/Kim

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  5. Berselius

    @ dmick89:

    FWIW, I suspect there are about as many LF prospects around the minors as there are 1b prospects. Anyone that can hit is going to be tried at a more premium position for as long as possible.

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  6. Myles

    Berselius wrote:

    @ dmick89:
    FWIW, I suspect there are about as many LF prospects around the minors as there are 1b prospects. Anyone that can hit is going to be tried at a more premium position for as long as possible.

    That’s kind of what I was trying to get at. A lot of LF “prospects” are 3B prospects or perhaps a different OF position in the minors.

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  8. Tim

    Nice job on the LF breakdown Myles! Just an FYI, Dunston Jr. has gained 18 lbs since last year, he told me he’s at 192 right now. So hopefully that projects into his game this season.

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