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Jake Meyers appears to be the real deal

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by Yordan The Great, Aug 15, 2021.

  1. bobrek

    bobrek Politics belong in the D & D

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    I didn't say you were sharp, I said I enjoyed reading your stuff. :)
     
  2. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    Hahaha I didn’t say I was sharp either.
     
  3. Joe Joe

    Joe Joe Go Stros!
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    Hobby for me. Taking information from a variety of sources, making guesses on what happened/will happened, and then collecting data to see if I was right is what I do. Applying that to baseball helps make baseball more enjoyable to me. Mostly, it keeps the lows from being too low for me.

    Everyone makes mistakes. I tend to look at the big picture of cumulative results instead of focusing too much on a specific prospect (or at least I try to).
     
    #223 Joe Joe, Aug 30, 2021
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2021
  4. awc713

    awc713 Member

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    The Francour comp is interesting. Hopefully he has a brighter career but out of the gates I remember thinking Francour was a stud
     
  5. sealclubber1016

    Supporting Member

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    Just looking at Meyers minor league track record, plate discipline was never a real issue. His K and BB rates compare fairly closely with Tuckers. Prior to this season, he was able to maintain decent rates without inspiring any fear whatsoever in pitchers.

    Of course none of what happened in the minors tell us what will happen if MLB pitchers start to regularly force him out of the zone.
     
  6. Nook

    Nook Member

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    I don't really see a similarity to be honest.

    From what I remember Francoeur was a big guy that was like 6'4" or 6'5" and 230 lbs.... and he was someone that was drafted from high school and was called up really quickly. I don't remember Francoeur ever playing centerfield or moving like Meyers does. I guess the only similarity that pops out is that neither of them walked as much as you would like.
     
  7. Nook

    Nook Member

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    So much of his success is how far he is getting the bat into the zone, his bat speed and his ability to adjust late in the zone... which is something that he lacked in college and earlier in the minors. If you believe what the Astros say, then they felt there was a "chance" he could do this (to some degree) when they drafted him if he worked hard, got stronger and made adjustments. At this point he has elite exit velocity, and I guess the real question is how can pitchers change that, and what is the likelihood of them making that change happen. Looking at the advanced numbers we have, this doesn't appear to have been "luck". Pitchers will need to make adjustments and see how Meyers counters those moves.
     
  8. vince

    vince Member

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    I appreciate your hard work and dedication…. Thanks.
     
  9. Buck Turgidson

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    This.
     
  10. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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    He's shown, he can wait on, recognize and obliterate a fastball. It's when pitchers start giving him as steady diet of breaking balls that we will know how good he can be. He's currently averaging .172 against breaking balls and .500 against fast balls and .600 against 4-seamers. Yikes.
     
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  11. Nook

    Nook Member

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    Right, because he can drive fastballs.... the fact that he can identify them is what is important. He doesn't really need to hit off speed pitches too well to be a solid player. Obviously he needs to hit better than .172 against breaking balls, but his success against breaking balls will likely go up somewhat the more that he sees them. He is also good at getting himself in a position to see more fastballs.
     
  12. TWS1986

    TWS1986 SPX '05, UH' 19

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    He is The Chosen One.
     
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  13. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    Hopefully as he gets more breaking balls he stays good at recognition and while he might see a decrease in hard hit balls, his walk rate might go up.
     
    rockbox likes this.
  14. torque

    torque Contributing Member
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    It's clear to me from watching his at bats that he is sitting dead red on fastballs every pitch. I honestly don't mind that approach from a young player especially since he has the bat speed to really do damage against high velo fastballs. You notice this when he gets breaking pitches in the zone with two strikes. He's still sitting fastball - you can see him load and start his swing and then swing over / ahead of the two strike breaking pitch. Just from my eye test (no numbers to back this up), he's done pretty well laying off breaking pitches out of the zone, especially with less than two strikes.
     
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  15. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard

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    Might be beneficial to provide some more protection in the lineup to see more fastballs...
     
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  16. Snake Diggit

    Snake Diggit Member

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    I would hit Meyers 7th or 9th. Either in front of Diaz/Bregman or behind Maldy to put him in front of Altuve.
     
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  17. Marshall Bryant

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    So I can't make an observation myself. I must only report what Professionals with an agenda want us to say. There's a lot of that going on lately.

    I also observed that Bregman did not look good several weeks ago when he was running the bases. And he wasn't ready then. But now he's much better.

    But I can't find a professional who said it, so I guess I should keep my opinion to myself and let somebody else do my thinking for me.
     
  18. Marshall Bryant

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    By the way, That play was spectacular. I'd love for that to be the expectation. Jake has elite tools and that comes with a tendency of relying on those tools to make up for missteps that a player with lesser talent can't get away with. But I think he can polish those skills and become better than just good or very good.

    I want the defense of Jake Marisnick and the bat of George Springer. And I believe he can do it consistently.
     
  19. torque

    torque Contributing Member
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    Since getting called up, Meyers has posted 0.7 fWAR in 21 games and 72 plate appearances. Since joining Cleveland, Straw has put up 0.6 fWAR in 28 games and 127 plate appearances.

    Seems like the trade is working out well for both teams, but Click was absolutely right that Meyers was ready and able to contribute more than Straw for this team. Kudos to him for making the gamble and trading away the starting center fielder on a team going for a world series.
     
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  20. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard

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    Can't help to think we could have gotten a bit more from Straw though...
     
    prospecthugger likes this.

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