TxBuckeye
Sixth Man
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2020
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sorry, couldn't resistCome on now lol
Just don't start telling us Plutko will win the Cy Young next year
sorry, couldn't resistCome on now lol
sorry, couldn't resist
Just don't start telling us Plutko will win the Cy Young next year
Do you honestly think the Indians FO haven't evaluated him to see if he can be at least an average defensive CF? If the Indians thought he could play CF, they'd have given him a shot there. They literally moved him off the position full-time last year. Can he play a few innings there when the everyday CF needs a day off? Sure. But he's not an everyday guy at the position and the Indians handling of him clearly bears that out. I mean, the value of Johnson in CF is WAY higher than in RF so there's no reason to move him off unless he can't play it.
Further, not all OF positions are created equal. CF is the most important position in the OF and probably the 2nd most important defensive position in baseball behind C. Defense really matters there....
Well, considering Daniel Johnson had -19.8 UZR/150 in 33 Corner OF innings this year to DeShields' -5.6 in CF.... umm yeah, he could've been, and would've been, much worse defensively in CF.
And who's to say Johnson would've even been better offensively? I like him enough as a prospect but you're acting like he's some can't miss top 20 prospect and he's not. There's some real concern about his pitch recognition and making enough contact to access his plus raw power. There's a very good chance he's a platoon corner OF if he ever sticks in the MLB.
Not even the most analytically inclined and progressive organizations would do a CF platoon. Not sure why the Indians would..... The only way it would ever work is if both guys are both plus defenders.
Nah,,,Reno?
Do you honestly think the Indians FO haven't evaluated him to see if he can be at least an average defensive CF? If the Indians thought he could play CF, they'd have given him a shot there. They literally moved him off the position full-time last year. Can he play a few innings there when the everyday CF needs a day off? Sure. But he's not an everyday guy at the position and the Indians handling of him clearly bears that out. I mean, the value of Johnson in CF is WAY higher than in RF so there's no reason to move him off unless he can't play it.
Further, not all OF positions are created equal. CF is the most important position in the OF and probably the 2nd most important defensive position in baseball behind C. Defense really matters there....
Well, considering Daniel Johnson had -19.8 UZR/150 in 33 Corner OF innings this year to DeShields' -5.6 in CF.... umm yeah, he could've been, and would've been, much worse defensively in CF.
And who's to say Johnson would've even been better offensively? I like him enough as a prospect but you're acting like he's some can't miss top 20 prospect and he's not. There's some real concern about his pitch recognition and making enough contact to access his plus raw power. There's a very good chance he's a platoon corner OF if he ever sticks in the MLB.
Not even the most analytically inclined and progressive organizations would do a CF platoon. Not sure why the Indians would..... The only way it would ever work is if both guys are both plus defenders.
I like a Mercado/Johnson platoon in center in 2021 until one of them emerges as the clear winner. If neither one does, continue with the platoon and whoever isn't playing that day becomes a pinch runner and late inning defensive replacement at one of the corners.
By 2022 Nolan Jones should be playing either first base or in the outfield. I prefer first base since he's 6'4" and has been an infielder his whole career. Ground balls would not be a new thing. If Jones is the heir apparent at first base that puts Naylor at one corner outfield spot. The other could be a Luplow/Naquin platoon.
We have options at the corner outfield spots; Naylor, Naquin, Luplow, and don't forget the pre-pandemic plan this year was to play Reyes in right field much of the time. I would be open to Johnson in right field if Mercado proves he can hit enough to play every day in center and Johnson proves he can hit enough to play a corner outfield spot.
I don't think we're in as bad a shape in the outfield as a lot of fans think, but I would love it if the Indians could trade for somebody like Clint Frazier or Miguel Andujar to DH and move Reyes to right. He wants to play the field and he might hit better if he's more involved in the game.
Naylor in LF, Reyes in RF and Johnson in CF would be the worst defensive OF in the history of baseball. Let's just add probably the worst defensive infielder in baseball in Miguel Andujar to top it off! I understand wanting to add some offense but holy cow....
Naylor in LF, Reyes in RF and Johnson in CF would be the worst defensive OF in the history of baseball. Let's just add probably the worst defensive infielder in baseball in Miguel Andujar to top it off! I understand wanting to add some offense but holy cow....
We just had one of the worst offensive outfield ever so what's the difference? I wouldn't want Reyes in right, but we might have to live with a liability if we want to start to develop a respectable offense. Just playing guy who put up a .600 Ops because they are "solid" on defense needs to stop.
Defensively in center field he’s still a plus-plus defender. He can run. With the addition of the extra guy on the roster this year (26th man), there are things you might be able to do that maybe you couldn’t in the past. - Tito Francona on Daniel Johnson, 2/1/20Naylor in LF, Reyes in RF and Johnson in CF would be the worst defensive OF in the history of baseball. Let's just add probably the worst defensive infielder in baseball in Miguel Andujar to top it off! I understand wanting to add some offense but holy cow....
Defensively in center field he’s still a plus-plus defender. He can run. With the addition of the extra guy on the roster this year (26th man), there are things you might be able to do that maybe you couldn’t in the past. - Tito Francona on Daniel Johnson, 2/1/20
I'm not thrilled with Reyes in right but he wasn't that bad when he played there in San Diego. According to Fangraphs he was involved in close to 400 plays in RF in 2018-19. He made the routine play 98.5% of the time, the "likely" play 75% (9 of 12), the "even" play 25% of the time, and the "unlikely" play 1 out of 7 times. That doesn't put him in the upper half but he's not a huge liability, either. It beats watching Naquin hit .218 and never draw a walk if that's the alternative.
As for Naylor, he looked fine to me in left field this year. Over the last two years he made the routine play in left 95.3% of the time.
In the event they move Jones to first base and Luplow can't hit right-handed pitching and Naquin continues to hit like this year rather than last I could see moving Reyes to right, especially if we end up with somebody like Frazier or Anduar to DH. With Lindor moving on we need production from the corner outfield spots to make up for what we'll lose at SS and probably 2B as well.
I'm all for outfield defense but we're losing Lindor and probably Hernandez and Santana so we need to do better than .192 from the outfield. My theory is the pitching will actually get better if they can get these guys some early leads so the pitchers don't have to worry about one bad pitch losing the game.
It's also frustrating for fans to watch a high quality pitching performance go to waste because of no offense. And the fans pay the bills.
We just had one of the worst offensive outfield ever so what's the difference? I wouldn't want Reyes in right, but we might have to live with a liability if we want to start to develop a respectable offense. Just playing guy who put up a .600 Ops because they are "solid" on defense needs to stop.
You're kinda helping me make my point here....
Honestly, what do think the Indians front office thinks of Johnson at CF when four guys with a respective .348, .603, .534 and .628 OPS play over him this year? Four guys got a shot at CF this year and he was not one of them.
The job is wide open and nobody is blocking him and he still didn't get a sniff. Why is that? I mean, people on here are now telling me he's a plus-plus defender in CF and you're saying he'd provide more than a .600 OPS. Like, is the Indians front office that incompetent then?
Hell, the Indians front office even went outside the organization to add another LHH OFer in the Clevinger trade instead of giving him another shot at a corner OF spot.
I like Johnson as a prospect. I really do. I like him as a platoon corner OF. Seeing what the A's and Rays have done with versatile platoon players of late, there's nothing wrong with that projection. But as of right now, I just think this is a classic case of fans falling in love with a prospect that just isn't as highly thought of by his organization.