Berkman's OPS back over .800 Pence's numbers are currenty respectable, though no where near All-Star caliber. Carlos Lee still has an OPS under .700.
I always feel like Pence has another level that he can reach but at his age, you have to wonder if he'll get there. As is, he's been good in his career. I think he could be very good to great. He had a terrific minor league career and projected to be a little better than he has been so far.
It was the time for him to take the next step if he was going to do it. I'm still crossing my fingers. He has so much natural ability.
The most interesting man in the world? *Photoshop opportunity (I would do it if I had any photoshop skills)
If only he had patience. I remember last year he started the year with a bunch of walks, then I don't know what happened
I don't know how you measure wrist strength but I bet Pence's are among the strongest in all of baseball... seriously. The way he can slap hit HRs on pitches out of the zone while choked up on the bat is impressive. Just now, he hit a ball off the thin part of the bat into right field.
Some speculate it was Cooper encouraging him (and everyone else) to be more aggressive. Not sure if there is any truth to that but he was walking at a Puma-like rate early. He also walked at a good rate in the minors. High OBP and SLG at every level.
Another run. This is crazy. It is as if the offense forgot the game started a few hours ago. Interestingly, the Astros are 15-18 in day games before today. Maybe then need more of them. It is not like they can hurt their home attendance any more than it is currently...
He is what he is, it'd be a bit foolish to expect anything other than what we've seen. He's not going to suddenly develop strike zone judgement or any sort of approach at the plate other than "grip it and rip it", he's never really shown an inkling of it in either the minors or bigs. He is *still* a very mediocre to bad OFer: still can't take a proper route to a ball, still has only a minimal idea of where the ball is going once it leaves his hand. The only truly above average skill he has is that he hustles his ass off. He's a nice player, but he's nothing special and that makes the business side of the FO's push to make him some sort of "face of the franchise" even more silly.
