Is it just me or does Pence always seem like he takes the worst possible path to ball? For example, tonight in the 5th inning, liner hit down the RF line and Pence & his 'speed' can't cut it off. The ball rolls to the wall and the runner scores from first. Also, at Minute Maid it seems like he can never cut off balls in the RF power alley.
Pence does not read balls well, in general, and doesn't have the best hand-eye coordination. Kind of twitchy and herky jerky with his body movements. In that particular instance you referenced, I don't blame him. Wandy left a hanging curve right in the sweet spot and Fielder crushed it. I don't think anybody cuts that off.
On the positive side, he's a good athlete with a good arm. He has good lateral range and is able to gun guys down.
I agree that Fielder crushed it, but it seemed like Pence got a decent jump and then slowed down within 15 feet of the ball, allowing it to roll to the fence.
Either way, I agree with your general point. He's not great despite that nice season he had a couple of years ago. If he was consistently posting an OPS north of .900, it would be good enough.
The numbers suggest his defense his defense is average to above average. His Rage Factor per 9 Innings is 2.27 The League Average is 2.10 His numbers as a Center Fielder is 2.83 League Average in 2.71
I wish he'd help Michael Bourn on offense, and and Michael could help him on defense. EVERYBODY WINS [/yeah i'm an astros noob]
Is he forever a 25 homer a year type of guy? Geez, the guy really hasn't gotten any better from his rookie year.
RAGE FACTOR! But that's strange, it would seem just based on watching him play that he would be right around average to possibly slightly below average...
Hunter is just awkward and wiry, no way around it. I think he is fine in the outfield but sometimes I do hold my breath especially in parks like Wrigley where the wind and sun play such a huge part. Interesting thing about Hunter, I consider him a 5 tool player but he is avg to good at each skill yet not great at anything. Guy can run and has become a nice baserunner but not a blazer, dude has a good arm but not a cannon, he can hit for avg but will ever be a .300 hitter again, has power and great wrists to generate bat speed but won't hit 30 a year and is an avg to good fielder but can look bad at times. He is the definition of an above avg player but I wonder if he will ever be a great player.
Here is another viewpoint from a pretty sharp poster at TCB: Here's the link to entire article which covers things beyond just defense: Should Hunter Pence be a Long-Term Part of the Astros' Future?
Pence did a radio interview and said he is not any bigger than he used to be. He said at most his weight has changed about 5 pounds.
He's not totally useless out there, he had a pretty heads up outfield assist to throw out Minor at first last night. He's one those guys that uses hustle to make up for his lack of fundamentals and natural talent.
and there you have two examples of statistics usage: one reasonable, and one unreasonable. Hunter Pence is *not* "above average" defensively. Were it not for Bourn, we'd have one of the most humiliatingly pathetic outfield defenses in major league history.
I don't know if Pence is that bad. I do think we may have the worst middle infield range in league history on days when Blum plays SS. :grin: Actually, as fun as Onhell has been to watch, speed is not one of his tools, either. He's actually suprisingly slow for his age and body type.
Fantasy GM Trade....if the Tigers offered Rick Porcello for Hunter, would you do it? Porcello has struggled but is still very young while the Tigers need to replace Mags and really don't want to break the bank.
I'll give Hunter Pence a few more years to see if he can become a .290 30 HR 100 RBI guy, if he can't do that, then trade him for young pitchers
