July 12, 2006
Madam, I'm Adam
U.S.S. Mariner looks at Adam Jones, the new centerfielder for Seattle. They note his great stats at AAA but this word of caution:
From everyone I've talked to, Adam Jones has been killing fastballs in Triple-A, but still struggles mightily with anything offspeed. He's done much better at no longer chasing that pitch, because he's learning he can wait for something better, but he has not yet learned how to actually hit the pitch with any regularity. If he starts seeing a steady diet of breaking balls in the strike zone, he could be in trouble, because his current approach of crush-fastballs-and-lay-off-breaking-balls is rendered moot.
There's also the matter of defense. He's been playing center field for less than a year. While he has all kinds of physical skills, he's still a raw defender. He still makes poor reads at times, gets bad jumps on balls, and runs inefficient routes to the ball. His athleticism will help him become a good defender in time, but he's not there yet.
He's only 20. If he can handle the job in the majors this year, he'll likely be a star. At worse, he turns out to be Melky Cabrera, up one year too early.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:02 PM
|
Rookies
|
TrackBack (0)