He doesn’t strike out, and he doesn’t hit for power. Does Cardinals Double-A outfielder Mike O’Neill have a major league future?
Can Giancarlo Stanton succeed without a good cleanup hitting behind him?
How does the plate discipline of Dominican players compare to the league as a whole?
Are Dominican hitters hurting themselves by focusing on raw skills at the expense of a patient approach? And can anything be done about it?
Does the Pirates’ Josh Harrison have a historically troubled relationship to the strike zone?
Did the Angels sign the player they thought they were signing?
Alvarez is 1-for-19 to start the season, but are the images as ugly as the numbers?
Last year, I started messing around with something I call the Walk Gap, which is just the difference between a team’s walks drawn and walks allowed. Because we’ve spent so much time hammering home the importance of plate discipline and throwing strikes, I thought this might be a good indicator of team success.
It just goes to prove anybody with a bat in his hand at this level is dangerous, even Hideo Nomo.