what's the best shortest outfielder of all time? when i visited the hof 20 yrs ago i was in awe of mel Ott's exhibit but he was still 5'9/5'10. Willie mays hayes is 5'9 also.
They sent Tucker down. Gattis up. Kratz gone. So, you merely need to replace Tucker... who's a LF who can't play LF, can't really run well, and isn't hitting (his only use). They've replaced him with Kemp.... who at the very least can run, play defense, and possibly hit better than Marisnick. Marisnick should be looked at nothing more than a pinch-runner/late-inning defensive replacement. Gomez is a broken man right now... but they're not completely ready to cut the cord. And Kemp is a fresh rookie who they're now going to give a chance to since Gomez has been this inept.
I disagree. There were no expectations in regards to Tucker's defense. Gomez has actually cost us games.
Delino of last year would be nice but Kemp is a different player. Delino was finally sent down to AAA. I have been waiting for that to happen since he had that fluke season last year. Nothing against the guy, if he continues to struggle in the MLB it shows our scouts/front office do have some intel that certain players won't be consistently above average in the majors. I am sure they knew he could cause some noise but would not be able to sustain that over a career with all of the adjustments that need to be made. At least I hope our front office is able to project better than most.
Granted it was only a few games, but Kemp has one of the weakest throwing arms I have ever seen in professional baseball. He has good speed and can catch, so he's not a terrible defender, especially in LF. But I don't see him ever being better than average in CF; Gomez and Marisnick are elite defenders, so yes there's a dropoff.
Too bad Gomez can't be optioned to AAA. With all the day games they play in the minors, he could practice catching fly balls when the sun is out. Yes...a major league player needs help learning to catch fly balls in the sun. SMH.
Not making excuses or trying to support Gomez... but several guys on both sides had issues with the sun all weekend. A pop-up hit Correa in the shoulder on Saturday. MLB players don't have magic eyes or sunglasses that can automatically block out direct sun... they're not mutants.
kemp should bat 2nd behind altuve and move everyone else a rung in the order. You want 2 guys who can get on base in front of your mashers like Springer and Correa. Plus players who bat 1-2-3 are usually the ones who are at the plate most anyway.
I for one did not think Kemp would ever reach the majors for the Astros. I always figured he was trade bait or a guy to push the other prospects. Great job in Kemp to put his foot through the door into the Astros ML team.
Kemp/Gomez platoon would be interesting if that's the route they decide to go. It would maximize both of their abilities.
