February 1, 20188 yr QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 11:47 PM) yea, but he can't hit. It would be really awesome if he was able to turn the corner with the bat.. in any way at all given how terrible he was with it. I look forward to seeing if he can accomplish this this year.
February 1, 20188 yr QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 11:47 PM) yea, but he can't hit. If he can even just be a slightly below average hitter, that's pretty much what Delino DeShields is, and he was worth about 2.5 WAR last year in a full season because of his similarly value defense and baserunning to Engel. I think the #1 factor for Engel is just cutting those strikeouts way down. He was at an amazing 34.8% last year. If he can also bring that down to DeShields' level of 24%, it will cause his average to go up because just making contact will allow for his speed to create a few hits. He can be a perfect average MLB player with every other part of his game remaining unchanged, as long as he makes more contact. Easier said than done, and an issue a LOT of players struggle with, but his defense and speed provide enough value to carry the rest.
February 1, 20188 yr High K with low power doesn't really work. I don't think last years 34% are his real talent level but even his mid 20s from the minors is not low enough for a 120 ISO. Last year in AAA he did show some pop in limited sample size but not sure if that was a real improvement or just the environment. He actually is a fly ball hitter (unfortunately also with an extremely high pop up rate) so that might already be about maxed out.
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