No stats back it up, but I still believe in Rutherford. He just looks the part and I'm sucker for a beautiful swing. 

8 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

No. The huge issue is that the lineup needs a couple LH bats. None of those guys will be ready until 2021 at the earliest. 

Collins and Sheets are the closest LH sticks to MLB ready in the upper minors. Sheets is probably pushing it a bit and they don't have a ton oc internal options. 

They say if you type "Left Handed Hitter" three times in a row, Lillian will magically appear in your thread and respond to your post

7 hours ago, ron883 said:

They say if you type "Left Handed Hitter" three times in a row, Lillian will magically appear in your thread and respond to your post

Hahahaha 

Frankly I have no interest in ranking one above the other. My hope is they all do well and become assets  which is why I will stick up for Rutherford and most prospects because it's a long and winding road to the majors filled with plot twists and booby traps.

 

1 hour ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Frankly I have no interest in ranking one above the other. My hope is they all do well and become assets  which is why I will stick up for Rutherford and most prospects because it's a long and winding road to the majors filled with plot twists and booby traps.

 

This is a good approach. 

Rutherford 2018 WS .345/.436. age 21 years 3 months.

Walker 2019 WS .358/.447. age 23 years.

Similar numbers. In baseball age, huge advantage for Rutherford.

One other thing. Rutherford is 4" taller 20 lbs. heavier and about the same speed.

 

9 hours ago, zisk said:

Rutherford 2018 WS .345/.436. age 21 years 3 months.

Walker 2019 WS .358/.447. age 23 years.

Similar numbers. In baseball age, huge advantage for Rutherford.

One other thing. Rutherford is 4" taller 20 lbs. heavier and about the same speed.

 

In a vacuum their numbers look similar but Walker has been a good bit better.

Walker wRC+ is 132 while Rutherfords was 120. Walker has had a really nice season. 

I have yet to see a  single college position player drafted by this FO do anything in the majors.  Accordingly, I voted Rutherford.

16 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

I have yet to see a  single college position player drafted by this FO do anything in the majors.  Accordingly, I voted Rutherford.

Anderson is pretty good.

20 minutes ago, ptatc said:

Anderson is pretty good.

I thought he was a JC.  My mistake.

19 hours ago, GreenSox said:

I thought he was a JC.  My mistake.

Is JC not college?

21 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

In a vacuum their numbers look similar but Walker has been a good bit better.

Walker wRC+ is 132 while Rutherfords was 120. Walker has had a really nice season. 

What kind of year would BR have next year if he were sent back to WS. Probably a triple crown kind of year. Being 2 years younger in a baseball  career is the equivalent of a player taking HGH, versus the same player not taking them. Think Duke Snyder vs. Hank Aaron.

Edited August 7, 20196 yr by zisk
grammar

1 hour ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Is JC not college?

This was my thought. He was from a JC.

6 minutes ago, zisk said:

What kind of year would BR have next year if he were sent back to WS. Probably a triple crown kind of year. Being 2 years younger in a baseball  career is the equivalent of a player taking HGH, versus the same player not taking them. Think Wally Moon vs. Hank Aaron.

I don't think Rutherford would lead the AZL in home runs, let alone the high A level.  Going back to that level wouldn't suddenly make him superman.

2 hours ago, Perfect Vision said:

I don't think Rutherford would lead the AZL in home runs, let alone the high A level.  Going back to that level wouldn't suddenly make him superman.

The weird thing about Rutherford is the supposed gap between his raw power and game power. I've seen him rated with 55 raw but 35 or 40 game power. It's there, but it just doesn't show up in games. He seems like a guy who would benefit from a swing change to add more loft. 

3 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Is JC not college?

Not traditional college.  But fine, 1 in 7 years.  Top-shelf work.

Edited August 7, 20196 yr by GreenSox

Anderson was a lot closer to that raw high school basketball player than he was a polished SEC/ACC/PAC 12 junior or senior.

2 hours ago, GreenSox said:

Not traditional college.  But fine, 1 in 7 years.  Top-shelf work.

Marcus Semien is pretty damn good.

9 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Marcus Semien is pretty damn good.

Yet he was treated on the message boards and White Sox like he was Micah Johnson...or Omar Narvaez.

Proof positive that defensive performance can be improved.

Edited August 7, 20196 yr by caulfield12

6 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Yet he was treated on the message boards and White Sox like he was Micah Johnson...or Omar Narvaez.

Proof positive that defensive performance can be improved.

I absolutely loved Semien (and so did many others) and have never been a big Narvaez fan.

44 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Marcus Semien is pretty damn good.

He is excellent.  However, Marcus Semien was not drafted when Rick Hahn was GM.  Rick Hahn did trade him away,  along with 3 other prospects, 2 of whom are contributors to the Oakland As, for 1 year of Jeff Samardzija, whom Hahn turned in to Zach Burdi.   

 

 

Edited August 8, 20196 yr by GreenSox

Marcus Semirn did leave us with Buckets Of Semien, the greatest nickname the Internet may ever see. 

23 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Marcus Semien is pretty damn good.

The Sox drafted him twice, too. 

It was odd they moved him. He was an underrated prospect. The highest he got ranked was 91st despite dominating AA and being POY while walking more than he k'ed as a 22 year old. 

Regarding Rutherford’s power concerns, this was a quote from last year. Does anyone know if Rutherford still trains with Yelich in the offseason? If so, I’m willing to be patient and let him continue learning his swing. 

"He's always been known as a line-drive hitter, gap to gap. Hits the ball hard," Rutherford said of Yelich. "He said it's always easier to be a good hitter and be able to hit the ball hard to both fields.
"As I get stronger and I learn my swing and approach better, those line drives will take off and become homers. He tells me to work on being a gap-to-gap hitter and being an all-around hitter, and then let the power come when it comes."

6 hours ago, SEALgep said:

Regarding Rutherford’s power concerns, this was a quote from last year. Does anyone know if Rutherford still trains with Yelich in the offseason? If so, I’m willing to be patient and let him continue learning his swing. 

"He's always been known as a line-drive hitter, gap to gap. Hits the ball hard," Rutherford said of Yelich. "He said it's always easier to be a good hitter and be able to hit the ball hard to both fields.
"As I get stronger and I learn my swing and approach better, those line drives will take off and become homers. He tells me to work on being a gap-to-gap hitter and being an all-around hitter, and then let the power come when it comes."

I think this mentoring kind of things often times works out better than coaching.