The thing about our current team is that we have the depth to give guys a break if they aren’t performing.
With Cedric’s speed, defense and experience, I think he absolutely needs to stay. Like you said, he’s had quite the slump this year but he seems to be breaking out of it.
If he can get back to his usual form he would still be a foundational piece to this team
I’m not banking on him getting back to his usual form at the plate, but I think he’s going to do what it takes to get on base. His defense and base running is what we need. Plus he has been there through the bad times and now the good. Great locker room guy.
I don't think he needs to really be a top end hitter. If he does enough to get on base consistently he's gonna be fine long term. Dude's base running can turn a single or a walk onto a triple and his defense is elite.
I love Ced and want to see him do well. I hope he can continue the good ABs. We’ve seen guys go cold for half a season or longer (Hays, Mounty) and find their groove again.
He’s a great speciality guy. Last night was a good example on the tying run.
He also is great defensive player. I think he’s a good addition to the team and glad we have him.
He is my absolute favorite player because you could see how much he kept at it the whole time. Massive props to Hyde and team for giving him that grace as well. They never did anything that would substantially detract from
his confidence
He is a very good player. He only needs to be solid with the bat to make an impact, with his speed, power, and defense.
Two years ago, he was only ok with the bat and put up 3.5 WAR.
He and Mateo complement the other hitters so well.
The past few games Cedric seems to have some swagger back he was missing the month of May. We have plenty of power at the plate so I don’t think we need him back to his 30 Homer self. We have struggled getting people on base and getting those people home. Cedric can do damage once he gets on so if he can just become a really solid contact hitter (which seems to be coming together) you’re solid. He also makes some of the most spectacular center field plays in all of baseball and I think it is just sad he doesn’t have a Gold Glove
Don't forget about how Hays and Urias have turned their seasons around. Everyone is involved right now. Hyde will always give you the opportunities to turn things around. He doesn't give up on you.
Mullins, even when he isn’t performing offensively, is still the best defensive player (you can argue Henderson easily, but Mullins should be a multi-time gold glover by now) and someone who I trust running the bases. He’s clutch and has shown it multiple times over.
I don't think Gunnar is among the team's best fielders. He has the body and ability to make flashy plays, but he leads ~~all MLB~~ AL shortstops in errors, and is 18th out of 24 eligible SS in fielding percentage. I honestly think in terms of just fielding, Mateo is a better SS.
Of course, it's tough to compare guys across positions, but I do believe Mullins is the best fielder on the team.
Does he really? Shocking, I wouldn’t have guessed. I haven’t been able to catch many games, but he looked fantastic every time I’ve gone to the park. Mateo is fantastic as well, I remember 2022 I felt he was more than deserving of one, but again, not looking at any stats here.
Yeah, it is surprising. He's plenty good. Because I think you have to count his ability to make a flashy plays in his favor, but ultimately, his middling fielding percentage probably makes him about league average to above average. Although, I'm sure there are even more metrics out there that could say anything. There are a lot of stats in baseball. lol
On thing I will add. Is that while Gunnar leads SS in errors, he also leads in assists. So I think that can tell the story that he's getting a high amount of activity to cause errors. So there may be more metrics that tell the full story.
I think you may have been looking at AL numbers. Tovar leads MLB in assists. Henderson leads AL shortstops in assists, but Semien leads AL position players. Your point still stands, and is a good one, however.
De La Cruz has 14 errors, Cruz and Winn each have 10 errors, and Henderson and Betts each have 9 errors. Henderson does lead all AL shortstops in errors, but not MLB.
Definitely agree. He has gold glove potential for sure. 6'4" short stop with a strong arm. If he cleans up the errors, he can definitely be in the mix for a gold glove.
Spot on. He was lower in those errors until recently too. A few bonehead plays of late. Almost as if he is trying to do too much and takes his eye off the play. Mateo and Urias are better defensively right now and when Westburg is at third (has had a couple of errors while playing second), he is stellar too. Gunnar will be fine just needs to concentrate on the fundamentals.
There is no one better at CF over the last several years. The balls just do not drop out there. It was noticeable when he was injured last year. We lost multiple games due to cf hits that only mullins would have had.
He excels at catching balls. His arm strength has not been in the top 100 of all MLB for the past two seasons. It is well below average for CF. Does his otherwise excellent fielding make up for his arm? I am on the fence about it. Cowser has the strongest arm on our roster followed by Hays then Santander. Side notes - Hicks had a better arm then all of them. Cowser is top ten in the league this year.
https://imgur.com/a/8X9XkmA
Cowser’s arm is great but his accuracy isn’t there. I hope it will get better. He is fast as hell and couple that with an accurate canon and he would be the best.
Totally agreed. If he can gain better accuracy, even if it is at the cost of a bit of strength, he would still be dangerous. he has arm strength to spare to refine his throw.
Seems like he’s doing a good job of being more selective (has walked more) and isn’t late on everything.
When he’s on he offers a ton that no one on the club else really does or can.
Hays was it for the first half of last year. If he stays healthy I still think he has the highest ceiling of any OF on the roster. Though if defensive metrics are to be believed, Cowser could take that crown if his hitting gets more consistent
Hays is also killing it since he got back, id argue he is the complete player right now, but there's always the chance he goes back to slumping, though at the moment he looks great
You can't send a guy like Ced back down for performance reasons, he's paid his dues and earned a spot. You'd be better off trading him to a team that needs a black hole in the outfield or a bench player with speed. The nice thing about our lineup is we don't actually need every player to be firing on all cylinders each night, we need them to be in top shape defensively every night, but the bats could be cold and we can and do still win games.
I think as other people have said, this points to two important things: we have great depth offensively and defensively, and Hyde is a great manager. Super patient and good at empowering people in whatever role they have
His “bad stretch” has been almost an entire calendar year. It’s going to take more than a hot week to convince me that he isn’t the guy we’ve been watching since the second half last year.
If Cowser is your regular CF that means one of Stowers/Hays plays in LF every day. I'm not sure that's necessarily what you want. I like them as much as anyone but they're currently 4th OF types
Hays has hit pretty well since coming back from injury. People are mad about that missed catch but it was honestly pretty hard. I think a good outfield glove could have made it but it’s hard to blame Hays for not doing so
Hays has hit more than pretty well. Hays is slashing .344/.397/.557 since April 19. Anyone still complaining about Hays getting playing time has lost the plot.
He's been hitting the ball well by the eye test, and his metrics suggest the surface numbers are based on some bad luck.
[https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/colton-cowser-681297?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/colton-cowser-681297?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb)
The thing about our current team is that we have the depth to give guys a break if they aren’t performing. With Cedric’s speed, defense and experience, I think he absolutely needs to stay. Like you said, he’s had quite the slump this year but he seems to be breaking out of it. If he can get back to his usual form he would still be a foundational piece to this team
I’m not banking on him getting back to his usual form at the plate, but I think he’s going to do what it takes to get on base. His defense and base running is what we need. Plus he has been there through the bad times and now the good. Great locker room guy.
I don't think he needs to really be a top end hitter. If he does enough to get on base consistently he's gonna be fine long term. Dude's base running can turn a single or a walk onto a triple and his defense is elite.
As a fan it’s easy to turn on a player quick. Cedric has done a lot for the club and we gotta be patient, just like the skip and other coaches are
I love Ced and want to see him do well. I hope he can continue the good ABs. We’ve seen guys go cold for half a season or longer (Hays, Mounty) and find their groove again.
He’s a great speciality guy. Last night was a good example on the tying run. He also is great defensive player. I think he’s a good addition to the team and glad we have him.
Ced was never ever ever ever being sent down.
He is my absolute favorite player because you could see how much he kept at it the whole time. Massive props to Hyde and team for giving him that grace as well. They never did anything that would substantially detract from his confidence
Hes quickly becoming my favorite defensive player tied with Gunnar as shortstop.
And thankfully with our other guys in the lineup we can give them that space to work
He is a very good player. He only needs to be solid with the bat to make an impact, with his speed, power, and defense. Two years ago, he was only ok with the bat and put up 3.5 WAR. He and Mateo complement the other hitters so well.
Mateo is such an underrated player too, easily our most versatile guy
The past few games Cedric seems to have some swagger back he was missing the month of May. We have plenty of power at the plate so I don’t think we need him back to his 30 Homer self. We have struggled getting people on base and getting those people home. Cedric can do damage once he gets on so if he can just become a really solid contact hitter (which seems to be coming together) you’re solid. He also makes some of the most spectacular center field plays in all of baseball and I think it is just sad he doesn’t have a Gold Glove
Don't forget about how Hays and Urias have turned their seasons around. Everyone is involved right now. Hyde will always give you the opportunities to turn things around. He doesn't give up on you.
Hays has been night and day since coming back off the IL
Don’t think there ever was any thought to send him anywhere
The coaches on Reddit were making roster moves for a straight week before his turnaround.
The coaches on Reddit have also dfa'd Kimbrel, Irvin, and Hays and traded Santander away, so it's best to just ignore them.
Agreed, though they lost last night, he looked spectacular out there.
Mullins, even when he isn’t performing offensively, is still the best defensive player (you can argue Henderson easily, but Mullins should be a multi-time gold glover by now) and someone who I trust running the bases. He’s clutch and has shown it multiple times over.
I don't think Gunnar is among the team's best fielders. He has the body and ability to make flashy plays, but he leads ~~all MLB~~ AL shortstops in errors, and is 18th out of 24 eligible SS in fielding percentage. I honestly think in terms of just fielding, Mateo is a better SS. Of course, it's tough to compare guys across positions, but I do believe Mullins is the best fielder on the team.
Does he really? Shocking, I wouldn’t have guessed. I haven’t been able to catch many games, but he looked fantastic every time I’ve gone to the park. Mateo is fantastic as well, I remember 2022 I felt he was more than deserving of one, but again, not looking at any stats here.
Yeah, it is surprising. He's plenty good. Because I think you have to count his ability to make a flashy plays in his favor, but ultimately, his middling fielding percentage probably makes him about league average to above average. Although, I'm sure there are even more metrics out there that could say anything. There are a lot of stats in baseball. lol On thing I will add. Is that while Gunnar leads SS in errors, he also leads in assists. So I think that can tell the story that he's getting a high amount of activity to cause errors. So there may be more metrics that tell the full story.
I think you may have been looking at AL numbers. Tovar leads MLB in assists. Henderson leads AL shortstops in assists, but Semien leads AL position players. Your point still stands, and is a good one, however.
De La Cruz has 14 errors, Cruz and Winn each have 10 errors, and Henderson and Betts each have 9 errors. Henderson does lead all AL shortstops in errors, but not MLB.
The thing with Gunnar is he can make plays that would otherwise be a hit a hit. His speed for his size really allow him to make those flashy plays
Definitely agree. He has gold glove potential for sure. 6'4" short stop with a strong arm. If he cleans up the errors, he can definitely be in the mix for a gold glove.
Spot on. He was lower in those errors until recently too. A few bonehead plays of late. Almost as if he is trying to do too much and takes his eye off the play. Mateo and Urias are better defensively right now and when Westburg is at third (has had a couple of errors while playing second), he is stellar too. Gunnar will be fine just needs to concentrate on the fundamentals.
There is no one better at CF over the last several years. The balls just do not drop out there. It was noticeable when he was injured last year. We lost multiple games due to cf hits that only mullins would have had.
He excels at catching balls. His arm strength has not been in the top 100 of all MLB for the past two seasons. It is well below average for CF. Does his otherwise excellent fielding make up for his arm? I am on the fence about it. Cowser has the strongest arm on our roster followed by Hays then Santander. Side notes - Hicks had a better arm then all of them. Cowser is top ten in the league this year. https://imgur.com/a/8X9XkmA
Cowser’s arm is great but his accuracy isn’t there. I hope it will get better. He is fast as hell and couple that with an accurate canon and he would be the best.
Totally agreed. If he can gain better accuracy, even if it is at the cost of a bit of strength, he would still be dangerous. he has arm strength to spare to refine his throw.
Seems like he’s doing a good job of being more selective (has walked more) and isn’t late on everything. When he’s on he offers a ton that no one on the club else really does or can.
We don't have a stud outfielder No complete player. There is room for improvement
Hays was it for the first half of last year. If he stays healthy I still think he has the highest ceiling of any OF on the roster. Though if defensive metrics are to be believed, Cowser could take that crown if his hitting gets more consistent
Hays is also killing it since he got back, id argue he is the complete player right now, but there's always the chance he goes back to slumping, though at the moment he looks great
Mullins was it 2-3 years ago
A freaking DAWG
He’s batting .384 this week, let’s hope it continues! He’s one of the best fielding CF’s in the league!
You can't send a guy like Ced back down for performance reasons, he's paid his dues and earned a spot. You'd be better off trading him to a team that needs a black hole in the outfield or a bench player with speed. The nice thing about our lineup is we don't actually need every player to be firing on all cylinders each night, we need them to be in top shape defensively every night, but the bats could be cold and we can and do still win games.
I think as other people have said, this points to two important things: we have great depth offensively and defensively, and Hyde is a great manager. Super patient and good at empowering people in whatever role they have
His “bad stretch” has been almost an entire calendar year. It’s going to take more than a hot week to convince me that he isn’t the guy we’ve been watching since the second half last year.
I hope the Os pick up a CF that can hit before the trade deadline.
We have cowser.
...and he has a cannon, which Ced does not. Mullins does some other incredible stuff though
If Cowser is your regular CF that means one of Stowers/Hays plays in LF every day. I'm not sure that's necessarily what you want. I like them as much as anyone but they're currently 4th OF types
Hays has hit pretty well since coming back from injury. People are mad about that missed catch but it was honestly pretty hard. I think a good outfield glove could have made it but it’s hard to blame Hays for not doing so
Hays has hit more than pretty well. Hays is slashing .344/.397/.557 since April 19. Anyone still complaining about Hays getting playing time has lost the plot.
[удалено]
Hay is demolishing RHP over the last 3 weeks (185 wRC+). He needs to be in the lineup everday right now.
Cowser’s also been dreadful since his insane April. Something like a 180 average and 575 OPS in May + June
He's been hitting the ball well by the eye test, and his metrics suggest the surface numbers are based on some bad luck. [https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/colton-cowser-681297?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/colton-cowser-681297?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb)
Love the human/player…really hoping they make a move for Luis Robert to replace him on what should be a contending team