I asked this in another thread; it got buried. I've paid 0.0 attention to spring training so I'm genuinely asking from a place of ignorance: should we be worried about Carlos Gomez at all? It seems '13-'14 Gomez is not walking through that door - but he was not good with us last year and has not looked better this spring (based entirely on looking over his numbers; haven't watched a game, read an article...) - is he healthy? Is he holding back? I'm all about not getting too wrapped up in spring training stats - but there's Rasmus with an .804 OPS; Altuve .852; Springer .948; Correa 1.2 trillion... Has there been any chatter, concern? Has he said anything?
I would say no concern. Alot of baseball analysts are anticipating him to have a strong year for us, considering it is a contract year.
Was painful to watch him swing and play hurt in the playoffs (mainly because he winced each time)... but despite that, he was able to come up with some pretty big hits over those 6 games. Only ST swing I saw was Monday's HR (complete with bat-flip and dab at home plate).... looked pain free. If he's healthy, I expect him to be a very productive player this year.
Mild concern that he may not return to his 2013-2014, but zero concern that he won't be at least a solid starter. Even in a very disappointing season he posted a .724 OPS, and a 2.6 WAR in only 3/4 of a season. He's not Marisnick good, but he's still a good defensive CF. Plus he was on a tear last season when he got hurt. If he had finished the year out his numbers might have rebounded up into the high 700's by years end. Plus he had a good showing in the postseason. And he's in a contract year. IMO, If healthy he's at worst a good starter. At best, he could post a top 10 WAR, and provide MVP level value.
Well, I don't think there's any chance of that, is there? I looked at his numbers last year - better than I remember with the Brewers - but, man... pretty brutal with us. If he's up near .750 with + defense in CF, all good. I just saw his OPS was sub-.700 this spring and was wondering if there was any tangible explanation, other than "Jason Castro's OPS is .997" (ie spring training doesn't matter, who cares?)
Curtis Granderson just put a 5 win season last year. I'd say the optimism for Gomez rebounding to his career year is probably about the same level as the worry one should have.
Carlos Gomez is a weird player. His physical skills and athleticism are still very good, but at his peak were extremely elite. He also had a lot of natural power. With his personality and approach I would not be surprised to see him have long slumps. Having said that, a vast majority of his issues the last few years have been injury related. His game is very dependent on his skill set, so if he isn't 90%, he will struggle. As long as he is healthy, he should be very good. You can get a good feel for him as a player by watching him in the field. He has a cannon of an arm, he is extremely fast and athletic...... but he will make some baffling mistakes on occasion that keep him from being as good as he should be...... but on the whole, still pretty good.
I almost entirely ignore Spring numbers of veterans who have jobs locked down. He has 2 awesome years, 1 1/2 good years in Milwaukee. A week before the trade deadline, his OPS was still .780. He was already nicked up, which is why a previous trade was vetoed. The most logical explanation for his struggles here were simply about him pressing. Once he got comfortable he started to rake here as well And while I'm not expecting him to post an OPS like 2013-2014, we're only one year removed from that. It certainly doesn't seem far fetched. I would deem it a lot more likely than him continuing to post a sub .700 OPS here. I fully expect his OPS to be in the mid 700's at the least.
BP projections (for those who still believe in PECOTA): OPS: .757 HR: 21 2B: 29 SB: 29 (surprising given the huge drop-off last year... but if healthy, this could still be a dangerous component). WAR: 3.6 46% improve projection vs. 3% collapse. (Both ZiPS and Steamers are pretty close... higher avg, less HR's and an OPS of .750)
Don't recall who usually hit behind Carlos last season, but with Carter out and White in, better protection should ensue.
Not concerned about his production cause he doesn't make that much. But we did give up some pretty good prospects for him, so in that regard I do hope he plays better. But I recall him playing pretty good in the playoffs despite being hurt.
Relatively, though he is the second highest paid player on the team. My concern - and reason for posting - was that whatever injury plagued him last year was still causing him trouble (given how much, frankly, his spring stats look exactly like his Astro stats from last year). As long as he's not hurt or taking it easy, per team orders, I'll take spring training stats for exactly what they're worth, which is nothing. I loved the trade and like him, generally.
I think if you are expecting the guy who was close to mvp level a few years ago, you will be disappointed If you want a guy who will play above average defense, hit with some power, steal bases, and play his ass off everyday You will be plenty happy
I'm expecting a Carlos Gomez that will help with his arm more than his offense. Gattis is the one player I'm worried about most. He led the team in RBIs iirc but was on the back of a milk carton in the second half of last season. Disappeared and had hernia surgery this year.
