HOW CLOSE IS MONCADA?
Yoan Moncada will likely be a superstar at the big league level. That time might occur as early as this September. With second base and shortstop blocked by Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts, perhaps Yoan will play the hot corner for the Red Sox. “We’ve talked about Yoan, and not just as a pinch-runner,” manager John Farrell said. “It’s an exciting young player. Extremely talented guy. There’s all positive reviews and evaluations of him. When that major league experience is going to initiate, time with tell that. But in terms of playing the position of third base, yes, that conversation has been had.”
There is a precedent for the Sox doing this as they called up Bogaerts in 2013 to play third base after he appeared at third base for just a couple of weeks in the minors. They might need another infusion this season as Travis Shaw and Aaron Hill have been manning the hot corner for the Sox after Pablo Sandoval was sent to the minors. In August both men have sucked adds with Shaw posting a .542 OPS and Hill a .594 mark. The Red Sox need more than that, even with the tremendous depth in their lineup.
As for Moncada…
Yoan is an elite talent. He entered the season as a top-7 prospect according to Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com and he recently took over the top spot at MLB.com, this on the heels of being moved to #1 at Baseball America while he has slid into the #2 spot with Baseball Prospectus. Moncada is an elite talent. Off the charts. Just look at the numbers over 106 games this season: .298-15-61-94-45. Note that he’s appeared in just 44 games at Double-A with a .285/.388/.547 slash line. There’s batting average. There’s on base percentage. There’s power. There’s elite level speed. It’s all here folks. At the same time, two issues I see. (1) Moncada has played just nine professional games at third base. (2) Though he has an impressive .314/.409/.584 slash line in 44 games at Double-A against righties his work against lefties has been pretty poor (.171/.310/.400). Keep that in mind when he steps on the diamond for the Red Sox.
METS RECALLING CONFORTO
Michael Conforto will be recalled by the Mets Thursday. Many things to consider, not the least of which is playing time.
Yoenis Cespedes will play every day.
Jay Bruce is slumping, but he will be in the lineup every day he’s able to take the field.
Will the Mets bench Curtis Granderson? Curtis has been awful against lefties this season with a .220/.284/.382 line, but as we will see, Conforto is even worse, and it’s doubtful that the Mets will flat out bench Granderson.
Conforto in the minors has been a star. Over 166 games his slash line is legendary (.330/.402/.522). The numbers at Triple-A this season are astounding. Over 33 games Conforto has hit .422 with a .483 OBP and .272 SLG as he’s gone deep nine times with 28 RBI and 30 runs scored. An unstoppable force has he been over his last 17 games with a .493/.541/.821 slash line.
Conforto in the majors… not so much.
Conforto has appeared in 140 big league games with 20 homers, 59 RBI and 62 runs scored. Those are all solid numbers for a young player. I would even add in the .450 SLG and say solid work. Then it gets dicey. His batting average of .239 is below league average. His .312 OBP is below league average. He has a 0.36 BB/K ratio, a league average number. He has a 20.1 percent line drive rate, a league average number. He has a 0.87 GB/FB ratio, slightly worse than a league average number. But the really scary part is his complete and utter ineptitude against lefties. Over 65 plate appearances against portsiders, and yes he is being sheltered against them because he flat out stinks, Conforto has been a zero. In those 65 plate appearances he has hit .133 with a .185 OBP and .150. He can’t hit a lefty to save his life at the moment. Gonna be bard for him to overtake Granderson given that fact.
I’ve said this previously, and I’m sticking to it. Despite what so many of you New Yorkers think, Conforto hopes to become Alex Gordon. Deal with it.
Curtis Granderson looking to do something rare, not in a good way. Imagine if C.J. Cron played a full season? Welington Castillo is rocking and rolling. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO.
HOW GOOD IS ODOR?
Just how good is Rougned Odor? I know that sounds like a really lame question given how “good” he is, but hear me out. First the positive. Odor is third at the position with 25 homers. Odor is 9th at the position with 67 RBI. Odor is 10th in runs scored. Odor has 11 steals this season, tied for 10th at the position. That’s all impressive stuff. BUT… Odor is batting .272 which is lower than Jonathan Schoop (.279). He has a .294 OBP with is lower than Starlin Castro (.299). Context here. The league average for on-base percentage is .321. Odor isn’t close. In fact, his number is pathetic. He’s walked 13 times this season which is completely pathetic. He has 111 strikeouts leading to a 0.12 BB/K ratio, one third the league average. He has a .302 BABIP. League average. He has an 18.8 percent line drive rate. Below league average. He has a 0.97 GB/FB ratio. Below league average.
Odor is a compiler of counting stats and we love that in fantasy. Don’t mistake that for him being a superstar though, he’s not.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 11 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).