I would rather him strikeout that hit into a double play . Striking out also implies he is seeing at least 3 or more pitches. High strikeout with a high OBP percentage is really unique and I think I like it.
I don’t disagree but will note that with his speed he won’t be hitting into very many double plays regardless of how he hits.
It's a story we've heard before, but if he can keep his K rate at a manageable 25-30% instead of an unmanageable 35-40% he could be a star. His tools are loud AF, you can probably count on your hands the amount of players in all of baseball that can put up an exit velo/bat speed/sprint speed/arm strength combo that we've already seen from him.
Yep. Pretty simple: K rate: outcome <20%: superstar 20-25%: star 25-30%: solid everyday player 30-35%: fringe regular 35-40%: bench player 40%+: AAAA
You can still be successful striking out a ton if you are staying in the zone. What you’re describing sounds a lot like the Kyle Schwarber approach - he’s got an elite chase rate and one of the lowest zone swing percentages. If you start leaving the zone and have a high K rate, it’s pretty much impossible to be a high impact player.
I would like to see Cam getting more run too......an outfield with: Cole, Meyers and Cam is probably our best. DD
Isn't Zach more of a center fielder? We would be wasting his arm in left. He has a Carlos Correa arm.
Cole will have to cut down his strikeout rate to get to where Schwarber is or has been in the minors or big leagues. Not to say he cannot do it - but he needs to actually do it. Defensively he is very good.
Cole is a prospect. 25 years old, just made it to AAA, and was not expected to be on the big league club. He was hitting the hell out of the ball, so they promoted him again on a "look and see". His MLB output has outpaced the most optimistic possibilities.
Dana Brown was driving through Iowa when he saw a ball player walking through the cornfields with a 40 inch/50 oz bat taking BP without a catcher. Zach would crush the pitches, then run at full speed and catch his own flyballs with his bare hand. The real story isn't THAT interesting, but it is still interesting. Cole was a middling high school player that went to Ball State for baseball and was pretty bad for his first couple of seasons. They retooled his swing some as a junior and he put up good but not amazing stats and the Astros drafted him because his tools were really LOUD. When he was drafted I remember there was some discussion of him becoming a Jake Meyers type guy, with more speed and less power. He struggled in short season - then was solid his first full season in the minors.... but there were major red flags over the strikeouts and skeptics said he would not hit for enough power in AA or AAA. Then in his second full season in the minors he was mediocre and it looked like the naysayers were right. However, it came out before this season that he played the previous season all year injured. This season he didn't start out amazing but has just gotten increasingly better while still striking out at a huge rate. His power has only increased and his bat speed, arm strength, leg speed and explosiveness have only gotten better. Before last season I had posted how some Astros scouts had Cole as the highest ceiling prospect in the organization and had the highest tool set in recent Astros memory. We will have to see what the future holds, he wasn't in AAA a really long time and hasn't been in the big leagues long either -- guys with the strikeout profile of Cole usually are limited at the big-league level. However, he walks, has tremendous power, has elite MLB bat speed and has the type of glove to give him surplus value. If Cole can keep his average above like 230 in the big leagues, he could we a 5+ WAR player for a while because the rest of his profile ranges from good to elite.
wow nice! I'm all excited now . let'ss goooo. Would be amazing to see a 10th round pick become a 5+ WAR player
The morally questionable commissioner would find a way to punish only the Astros for using a wonder boy bat after evil Yankees manager cries wolf.
