April 26, 20214 yr 6 hours ago, Greg Hibbard said: I hope he does continue to prove my skeptical ass wrong. Being wrong is way better than the White Sox having a bad second baseman! 100% agree. Although I always cover my hot takes by saying, "if he changes his approach he can be great". Madrigal is the type of guy that'll get a cult following. He shows little leaguers that they can make it even if they aren't 6'4 205 like Eloy. Im very happy to eat crow with this
April 26, 20214 yr 4 hours ago, FriendlyNorthsider said: 100% agree. Although I always cover my hot takes by saying, "if he changes his approach he can be great". Madrigal is the type of guy that'll get a cult following. He shows little leaguers that they can make it even if they aren't 6'4 205 like Eloy. Im very happy to eat crow with this Thats why I love him as a player and person. You just know he was shit on throughout his whole baseball life for being short. I bet he has had to prove doubters wrong since little league.
April 26, 20214 yr 5 hours ago, FriendlyNorthsider said: 100% agree. Although I always cover my hot takes by saying, "if he changes his approach he can be great". Madrigal is the type of guy that'll get a cult following. He shows little leaguers that they can make it even if they aren't 6'4 205 like Eloy. Im very happy to eat crow with this Agree but don’t think Eloy has been 205 since 8th grade. 205+1 Madrigal is closer to the truth.
April 26, 20214 yr 6 hours ago, hi8is said: People who are saying positive things about Madrigal... how dare you. Next slump or error, they will return to normal.
April 26, 20214 yr 10 hours ago, joesaiditstrue said: you misspelled leadoff I suppose you could make an argument but ultimately I think 9 hole is his wheelhouse spot.
April 26, 20214 yr My guess is Madrigal will spend time at leadoff, 2nd and 9th as time progresses. Nellie Fox was the prototype of a Madrigal batting 2nd and that is where I believe we will eventually settle.
April 26, 20214 yr 14 minutes ago, poppysox said: My guess is Madrigal will spend time at leadoff, 2nd and 9th as time progresses. Nellie Fox was the prototype of a Madrigal batting 2nd and that is where I believe we will eventually settle. If the Sox didn't already have a guy with great speed who can hit for average and power, Madrigal would be a good guy for the leadoff spot, but that spot belongs to TA as long as he's with the Sox. I wouldn't mind Madrigal batting 2nd vs LHP but Eaton is doing great in that spot vs RHP right now. There's nothing wrong with having a really good hitter batting 9th. Helps get the lineup turned over more often.
April 26, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, WhiteSoxFan1993 said: If the Sox didn't already have a guy with great speed who can hit for average and power, Madrigal would be a good guy for the leadoff spot, but that spot belongs to TA as long as he's with the Sox. I wouldn't mind Madrigal batting 2nd vs LHP but Eaton is doing great in that spot vs RHP right now. There's nothing wrong with having a really good hitter batting 9th. Helps get the lineup turned over more often. I think Robert is the future leadoff guy. The good news is that we have a lot of guys who if they get anywhere close to their ceilings will be so good that figuring out where the ideal spot in the lineup to put them will be challenging. And that's a really good problem to have. Imagine Robert, Moncada, Anderson, Madrigal, Eloy all hitting at their peaks and then think about what Cespedes and Colas can eventually bring to the table. Good Lord.
April 26, 20214 yr 34 minutes ago, RagahRagah said: I think Robert is the future leadoff guy. The good news is that we have a lot of guys who if they get anywhere close to their ceilings will be so good that figuring out where the ideal spot in the lineup to put them will be challenging. And that's a really good problem to have. Imagine Robert, Moncada, Anderson, Madrigal, Eloy all hitting at their peaks and then think about what Cespedes and Colas can eventually bring to the table. Good Lord. Now you’re talking.
April 26, 20214 yr Nice article from Fangraphs https://blogs.fangraphs.com/nick-madrigal-is-good-can-he-be-great/
April 26, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, RagahRagah said: I think Robert is the future leadoff guy. The good news is that we have a lot of guys who if they get anywhere close to their ceilings will be so good that figuring out where the ideal spot in the lineup to put them will be challenging. And that's a really good problem to have. Imagine Robert, Moncada, Anderson, Madrigal, Eloy all hitting at their peaks and then think about what Cespedes and Colas can eventually bring to the table. Good Lord. Welcome to the light ?
April 26, 20214 yr https://blogs.fangraphs.com/nick-madrigal-is-good-can-he-be-great/ TLDR: Nick is already a good hitter, but to be a great hitter, he's gotta sprinkle in like 5 homers a year.
April 26, 20214 yr 7 minutes ago, chw42 said: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/nick-madrigal-is-good-can-he-be-great/ TLDR: Nick is already a good hitter, but to be a great hitter, he's gotta sprinkle in like 5 homers a year. He took a home run cut yesterday. That's the evolution, when he gets into favorable counts where he feels good about what's coming, he should feel okay to take a big cut. Nick is playing fantastic ball and I'm glad when he comes up to the plate. Fine if the dude keeps flipping off the haters (me) for his whole career.
April 26, 20214 yr 2 minutes ago, bmags said: He took a home run cut yesterday. That's the evolution, when he gets into favorable counts where he feels good about what's coming, he should feel okay to take a big cut. Nick is playing fantastic ball and I'm glad when he comes up to the plate. Fine if the dude keeps flipping off the haters (me) for his whole career. Yeah I'm happy to eat some crow for sure.
April 26, 20214 yr I'm also very happy with his 6% walk rate. If his continued hitting success gets him to an 8% walk rate he really has give himself a good baseline to be productive even in his power range. Narvaez was always kind of a template for me there. Pre-power narvaez. He never had the contact skills of Nick, but he had no reason for pitchers to be afraid of him yet he maintained a crazy high OBP his first two years despite a paltry iso. Pitchers in MLB are very good but most of em can't hit their spots, so Nick can still take advantage of that.
April 26, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, Jerksticks said: Welcome to the light ? I've already been there. There's just the shakiness of the chance of best case scenario happening for us. It's certainly not something we are used to. Edited April 26, 20214 yr by RagahRagah
April 26, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, bmags said: He took a home run cut yesterday. That's the evolution, when he gets into favorable counts where he feels good about what's coming, he should feel okay to take a big cut. Nick is playing fantastic ball and I'm glad when he comes up to the plate. Fine if the dude keeps flipping off the haters (me) for his whole career. His "home run cuts" might never amount to them but if that means he's confident and perceptive in his ability to hit the ball hard that could lead to a lot of extra base hits and that would be killer.
April 26, 20214 yr 2 hours ago, beautox said: Nice article from Fangraphs https://blogs.fangraphs.com/nick-madrigal-is-good-can-he-be-great/ I feel like this article distills a lot of what we have all been saying on both sides - an acknowledgement of his freak bat control skills but also an acknowledgement that if his walk rate and power do not significantly improve he will be a very reliable, good or very good player, but never great.
April 26, 20214 yr 14 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said: I feel like this article distills a lot of what we have all been saying on both sides - an acknowledgement of his freak bat control skills but also an acknowledgement that if his walk rate and power do not significantly improve he will be a very reliable, good or very good player, but never great. I guess we need to start elaborating in what the established definition of "great" is. Because his ceiling definitely looks great to me.
April 26, 20214 yr That triple is 100 pct what he needs to be able to do to keep the outfield positioning honest. Same with the walkoff hit over Gallo’s head
April 26, 20214 yr 2 hours ago, chw42 said: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/nick-madrigal-is-good-can-he-be-great/ TLDR: Nick is already a good hitter, but to be a great hitter, he's gotta sprinkle in like 5 homers a year. One thing I didn't like about the article and some very good comments is that no one mentioned his shoulder injury last year. It happened in only his 5th game. It kept him out of the lineup for almost 4 weeks. After he returned he hit .349 in his final 24 games but his ISO was very low (.029) and that's a part of his game that his many detractors worry about. Then he had off season shoulder surgery so he was obviously playing in pain or at the very least a weakened shoulder 83% of his total games. He had a choice to play on it after the time off or have surgery right away. He choose to play. Right now his ISO is .108 . Nothing to write home about but still a vast improvement . That's what we are looking for in any young player.
April 26, 20214 yr 10 minutes ago, RagahRagah said: I guess we need to start elaborating in what the established definition of "great" is. Because his ceiling definitely looks great to me. Luke Appling and Nelson Fox are both in the Hall of Fame with Madrigal's skill set. His ceiling will satisfy my definition of "great."
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