Unfortunately though, if he's a step below those guys both with the bat and with the defense...he might be able to hold down the starting 1b job on a club that just needs a cheap 1b, but he's not going to carry a team to the playoffs and he's not going to have a lot of trade value either. It's plausible the Chisox could wind up in the mode of needing a cheap 1b at the end of their lineup in a few years if Abreu moves to DH, but even in that case they'd probably be keeping their eyes open for an upgrade.

If anyone has any sort of scouting reports on his 1B defense, I'd love to hear them. He's new there so I certainly don't expect him to be especially good, at least not yet. But if he had the athleticism to handle 3B for even a little while, that bodes fairly well for him at becoming a decent 1B.

 

Mark Grace hit a ton of doubles, not many homers. not much speed. Great career. If RR hits over .300 again this year with a bunch of two baggers, he should pass a lot of players on the White Sox prospect list.

 

 

Grace also played great defense and had a 2B for most of his career that put up #'s of a typical 1B.

Grace also played great defense and had a 2B for most of his career that put up #'s of a typical 1B.

 

Mark Grace also hit like a typical, average 1B of that period. He just didn't hit for power.

Mark Grace also hit like a typical, average 1B of that period. He just didn't hit for power.

Is there any way to see average league-wide splits from the early 90's by position? Grace's overall numbers are pretty solid and I'm curious what the average 1b was putting up then.

Is there any way to see average league-wide splits from the early 90's by position? Grace's overall numbers are pretty solid and I'm curious what the average 1b was putting up then.

 

baseball-reference.com can do it for any given year. In 1999, the MLB average OPS for 1B was .853, and Grace's OPS was .870.

baseball-reference.com can do it for any given year. In 1999, the MLB average OPS for 1B was .853, and Grace's OPS was .870.

Can you give me a link or description of where in in their website to go? I got to seasonal totals but couldn't figure out how to do it by position.

Can you give me a link or description of where in in their website to go? I got to seasonal totals but couldn't figure out how to do it by position.

 

1999 MLB batting splits: http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/...1999&lg=MLB

 

1999 Mark Grace batting splits: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/...ar=1999&t=b

 

Should be easy to get to the other years from there.

Can you give me a link or description of where in in their website to go? I got to seasonal totals but couldn't figure out how to do it by position.

 

If you prefer sortable rather than seeing them all at once: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=1990&ind=0

Where does he start this year?

 

Birmingham?

Where does he start this year?

 

Birmingham?

That's my guess, yes. No one is ahead of him really, at that level, unless they are having Black repeat AA. Marrero is on B-Ham but he'll be a bench guy. Ravelo should be the 1B in B-Ham.