I just want to say that this has been a good discussion so far, so let's try and keep snark and venom out of the discussion. This one can get a bit heated at times, just want to make sure we all keep level head.

 

Brian Anderson had 10X the number of defenders that Gordon has remaining at the moment, fwiw.

Why? I have no idea. All I know is that it's what both my eyes and the numbers see. He has been living off his reputation as a solid defensive 2b since 2011 and getting worse every single year. Injury? Out of shape? Lack of practice? poor positioning? no clue, but that's what has happened.

Just wondering out loud...he is only 27...

Just wondering out loud...he is only 27...

 

He hasn't had any major knee/ankle or leg problems, right?

 

 

Using the same criteria, Gordon Beckham has been extremely unlucky, yet all anyone says is he sucks. You mentioned his walk/k ration. Last year he had more walks than strikeouts, yet that translated to 16 walks and a league leading at the time 57 strikeouts when he was sent back to AAA. He still fans more than he walks in AAA. I don't see how that translates to instant success. We are about 3 weeks away from roster expansion. That would be a good time to call him up. There is no reason to rush. No decision on his future is going to be decided if he got called up and was awesome or horrible the next 15 games anyway.

 

I think many of us are just sick of watching his ridiculous batting stance and way he hitches back, trying to be a power hitter. Speaking for myself, I'm just sick of him more than the backup quarterback syndrome regarding Semien. Beckham has no clue at the plate and it gets annoying seeing him swing the way he does. He ought to have the approach of the new Gillaspie, as somebody else pointed out.

In conclusion ... I'm personally sick of his approach and the results. Semien may suck, but it's time to see.

I wonder if Beckham just naturally sucks or if he's uncoachable. You never hear any rumors about Beckham. So is it a matter of lack of hitting ability, the fact he just can't see a baseball and drive a baseball, or is it that he won't listen to hitting coaches? A lot of first round picks flop, but you have to wonder about Beckham. Personally I've never liked his batting stance and the way he cocks his bat when going for a pitch.

It's really sad but without the hype, he's really no better than Chris Getz.

 

Early in his career, he would overthink everything. No idea what's going on with him now. I actually saw a chat a few weeks ago where a scout said he wasn't high on Beckham coming into the draft because they thought his batting approach would really be hurt having to use wood bats (more than most college players)

Early in his career, he would overthink everything. No idea what's going on with him now. I actually saw a chat a few weeks ago where a scout said he wasn't high on Beckham coming into the draft because they thought his batting approach would really be hurt having to use wood bats (more than most college players)

 

His Cape Cod performance seemed to put everyone at ease re: wood bats. Could be a deal where the people who doubted his wood bat prowess were correct, it just took a while for sample sizes to bear that out

His Cape Cod performance seemed to put everyone at ease re: wood bats. Could be a deal where the people who doubted his wood bat prowess were correct, it just took a while for sample sizes to bear that out

 

Beckham has the same issue that Morel had in my opinion. Both can hit the ball well to the opposite field, but they lack the power to consistently get it over the right fielder's head or over the fence. Morel was the king of that...so many deep fly outs to right that just needed another 10-15 feet.

You know...when you hit the ball weakly, you are going to have a bad BAPIP. Simple as that. He's a bad hitter and a bad player.

 

You talking Beckham or Semien right now?

Gordon has been a well below average BABIP player throughout his time in the majors. His current BABIP mirrors his 2012 BABIP. The reason Gordon always has a low BABIP is because he has an astronomically high IFBB% - that is, a really high rate of popping up.

 

He used to, but he's been much better the past 2 years. Alexei is actually worst in baseball this year and Conor is 4th worst.

Beckham has a little of the Konerko/Quentin disease, overthinking things...being too analytical and changing things around (mentally and physically) too much when things aren't going well.

 

We all know he has a hitch in his swing, and it's never been successfully addressed at any level of the Sox system.

 

It has caused him to struggle his entire career with dominant fastball pitchers, with a few exceptions when he quickened up his stroke or was able to forget about pulling the ball so much (getting in-between like Alexei many times before this year) and being able to consistently drive the ball up the RCF gap. Then, when opposing pitchers would make adjustments and take that alley/approach away, he'd struggle to readjust or simply fall apart again like this year when things started out so encouragingly (more or less a repeat of his high batting average/low power...then poof! offensive disappearing act in 2013).

 

Viciedo has more troubles with pitch selection, and knowing when to shorten it up and go to the opposite field, but at least, as we all know...he has the raw power to get it over the fence in any part of the park, in any stadium.

 

And, he has shown the ability to hit fastballs and RH pitching at different points in this season.

 

 

This is not to mention that the disappointing version of Semien this year still outperformed what we've gotten from Gordon this year.

 

Thats not true.

 

Beckham - .223/.269/.350 17.1% K Rate and a BABIP of .252

Semien - .218/.287/.327 31.5% K rate and a BABIP of .314

 

The only way that Semien outperformed Beckham this season was drawing a walk and getting luckier with balls in play.

Thats not true.

 

Beckham - .223/.269/.350 17.1% K Rate and a BABIP of .252

Semien - .218/.287/.327 31.5% K rate and a BABIP of .314

 

The only way that Semien outperformed Beckham this season was drawing a walk and getting luckier with balls in play.

Well that and apparently taking walks/getting onb ase.

You talking Beckham or Semien right now?

Beckham.

Well that and apparently taking walks/getting onb ase.

 

Thats why I said, drawing walks. He will be a useful player, I just think he had a really hard time recognizing pitches which contributed to his high walk and K totals. He really had limited exposure to AAA pitching before his time in the majors so seeing some of those pitchers will pay off for the Sox down the road. I don't see the benefit at this point of replacing Beckham with anyone in AAA, if this were a team in striking distance of the playoffs the move would make sense, but no reason to bring Semien up again until he starts dominating AAA. His numbers have come up to a level of competency in Charlotte, but he is not putting up the type of numbers that make you think that he is going to come up and thrive.