As much as folks have been ragging on the front office / organization for various things, how about a little credit for identifying and sticking with Palka?

His September line is now .289/,373/.756/1.128 with 7 HR in 14 games.

The other scary thing about his stats is this:

Before July 3: 7 HR in 177AB

July 3 to now: 19 HR in 205 AB

Those seem like absolutely unreal numbers.

I never thought anything of this guy until about August, other than freakish power and negative defense.

With the recent surge, it's clear to me that the HR numbers are just too good not to give this guy a shot as an everyday DH in 2019,

 

 

Edited September 20, 20187 yr by Greg Hibbard

I see no reason that as of today, he is not the leader in the clubhouse for a job in 2019 for the White Sox.  Again, just personal guesses here, but I think Avi is gone, and Leury is probably gone too.  Obviously one spot is in a holding patter, and soon going to go to Jimenez, and Engel is the leader for CF.  I think Palka will be on the roster opening day 2019 as a starter either in RF or DH.

27 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

As much as folks have been ragging on the front office / organization for various things, how about a little credit for identifying and sticking with Palka?

His September line is now .289/,373/.756/1.128 with 7 HR in 14 games.

The other scary thing about his stats is this:

Before July 3: 7 HR in 177AB

July 3 to now: 19 HR in 205 AB

Those seem like absolutely unreal numbers.

I never thought anything of this guy until about August, other than freakish power and negative defense.

With the recent surge, it's clear to me that the HR numbers are just too good not to give this guy a shot as an everyday DH in 2019,

 

 

That's impressive. Normally, pitchers catch up on tendencies and make it even more challenging on hitters, but instead Palka continues to crush the ball. Nice to see.

He has insane power.

Even as a serviceable LF and the story is he is putting in a lot of work with Daryl Boston he is part of any rebuild.   

Wonder if there is any 1B talent there. 

Palka, like Anderson, has an OBP that is too low for my liking. Not to say he isn't valuable in other ways, but it just isn't how I'd build a team. OBP and OPS are the two most important stats from my point of view as a hitter. How often do you get on base and do you hit for anything other than singles. Just FYI, OPS isn't all about HRs. If someone gets a lot of 2B and 3B and still hits 10 HRs a year and steals bases at a decent clip, that is still  valuable. (looking at you Nick Madrigal) 

13 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Palka, like Anderson, has an OBP that is too low for my liking. Not to say he isn't valuable in other ways, but it just isn't how I'd build a team. OBP and OPS are the two most important stats from my point of view as a hitter. How often do you get on base and do you hit for anything other than singles. Just FYI, OPS isn't all about HRs. If someone gets a lot of 2B and 3B and still hits 10 HRs a year and steals bases at a decent clip, that is still  valuable. (looking at you Nick Madrigal) 

He has a 795 OPS. Maybe not elite but still above average for a DH. I think his walk rate will increase if he continues to slug at a 500+ rate. His walk rate in the minors was around 10% on average.

3 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

He has a 795 OPS. Maybe not elite but still above average for a DH. I think his walk rate will increase if he continues to slug at a 500+ rate. His walk rate in the minors was around 10% on average.

Yeah, I looked into it a little and I think he has something like a .373 OBP over the last month so I think he earned an opportunity to DH in 2019. I hope he shows he can get on base at a decent clip. 

Agree, his september gives him an edge to DH. I think he does hit higher OBP, and slugging you think would go down but he hits the absolute snot out of the ball. I swear to god that guy changes weather patterns when he plays.

6 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

He has a 795 OPS. Maybe not elite but still above average for a DH. I think his walk rate will increase if he continues to slug at a 500+ rate. His walk rate in the minors was around 10% on average.

Not to mention it's his first year in the big leagues. He'll improve. Hell, Davidson had a pitiful walk rate last year for example. 

2 minutes ago, bmags said:

Agree, his september gives him an edge to DH. I think he does hit higher OBP, and slugging you think would go down but he hits the absolute snot out of the ball. I swear to god that guy changes weather patterns when he plays.

I went to a ST game at Camelback and Palka hit a 472 ft moon shot. I think that one is still in orbit. 

I was on the Delmonico > Palka > Davidson train a month or so ago but now I’m definitely leaning towards Palka > Delmonico > Davidson. 

9 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

I was on the Delmonico > Palka > Davidson train a month or so ago but now I’m definitely leaning towards Palka > Delmonico > Davidson. 

Exactly the same, for me. HR are just so so valuable and if you can pile up the numbers Palka can in that few ABs, it's skews things incredibly.

Edited September 20, 20187 yr by Greg Hibbard

36 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

He has a 795 OPS. Maybe not elite but still above average for a DH. I think his walk rate will increase if he continues to slug at a 500+ rate. His walk rate in the minors was around 10% on average.

And an OPS+ of 116.  You can't argue with his bat so far.

Once again, don't believe what you see in September.

Kid should be given the chance as full time DH next year. Just keep him out of the outfield.

For some background - this guy was, going into 2017, the #10 prospect in a Twins system that was pretty deep at that time. He had a rough 2017 in AAA, and the Twins had a 40-man crunch with their own rebuild efforts, so that's how the Sox got him off waivers. Point is, he was a semi-significant prospect, not just a rando guy who's exploding now.

I saw him in Charlotte in April, before anyone was giving him any talk about being in Chicago (more focus on Cordell at that time, and Tilson). You can see what I wrote here - I didn't get much video because when I first arrived he just wasn't high on my to-film list. Clint (another FS contributor) and I watched him in a pair of BP's and games, and the power just jumped off the page with this guy. There is swing and miss there, but also signs of long counts and going oppo to adjust, which makes me think the hit tool will still improve. And as someone else pointed out earlier, he was drawing walks in the minors at a good clip, so that probably comes along too (especially with his power).

If he can hold down a corner OF slot even a little below average in defense, he should be in pole position for a DH/OF role in 2019. His personality is a nice bonus too, fans seem to be connecting with him.

45 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

Once again, don't believe what you see in September.

True. But he still deserves a shot for next year as DH.

Yeah this isn't exactly a high-stakes opinion. Between Davidson, Delmonico and Palka, our trio of all bat yet strangely low obp plus power no defense all stars, palka clearly deserves the biggest shot next year.

7 minutes ago, bmags said:

Yeah this isn't exactly a high-stakes opinion. Between Davidson, Delmonico and Palka, our trio of all bat yet strangely low obp plus power no defense all stars, palka clearly deserves the biggest shot next year.

Out of all of the OFs we are looking at for next year as realistic roster spots, none have done less this year for themselves than Nicky did.  Between the injuries and then a really blah year as a hitter, he is behind the eight ball coming out of 2018.

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

Out of all of the OFs we are looking at for next year as realistic roster spots, none of done less this year for themselves than Nicky did.  Between the injuries and then a really blah year as a hitter, he is behind the eight ball coming out of 2018.

Yeah just an awful year from him.

2 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

Yeah, I looked into it a little and I think he has something like a .373 OBP over the last month so I think he earned an opportunity to DH in 2019. I hope he shows he can get on base at a decent clip. 

You changed your entire tune on this in a matter of minutes

Also Palka seems a little insane and you need at least one of those guys.

11 minutes ago, soxfan49 said:

You changed your entire tune on this in a matter of minutes

It's a big deal. OPS and OBP are are the two stats that have the highest correlation with run scoring. Probably the most important in a general sense. In other contexts, like with Moncada, it is BA because he has contact issues and the rest of the tools are there and very loud, so if he gets hits the rest will take care of itself. 

From my POV, as a hitter the importance is:

OPS 

OBP 

Defensive ability by eye test

everything else, unless the guy has contact issues which then brings BA into the equation. For most players, those two stats are the ones I look at first, then I dive into the rest.

Anderson is weird because he's a really good defender and has power/speed but lacking in the On Base department. 

Edited September 20, 20187 yr by Jack Parkman

I think it's interesting to look at David Ortiz' Minnesota numbers (he was about to turn 27 in his last season as a Twin, same age as Palka now)

(this was done sorta of longhand, but I doublechecked and think it's correct) .266/.347/.461/.808 with 58 homers, 108 doubles, 3 triples

afterwards we all know what he became when he went to Boston. 

 

also Ortiz' numbers are over 1500 ABs.