Johnny is not hitting .500

Uh, call me a very tossed-up (confused) fruit salad, but what am I if I'm a "BIRTHER"?

I just don't know whether to be flattered or flamed.

Lil' help yo!

 

hitters can hit

What the BBCOR has done is seperated the hitters from the pretenders. The kid that hit 5 homeruns last year on the 310 left field line 340 center and 315 right field line is now hitting ZERO hrs on the same field. Come to our home field that is 333 down each line 385 in the gaps and 400 straight CF and put up the numbers that we saw last season. Max Shrock is still hitting the #@$^ of the ball on any field. There are several others that are hitting this season. You just don't see the "pop up" homers anymore, averages are down for the pretenders, hitters though, they can still hit!!!

 

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Shrock

Where is Shrock committed to again? South Carolina?

 

Another consideration is "adjustment" When these kids hit the dead spot on the new bats, they think "geez that ball didn't go very far" so what do they do next? Over swing. When they over swing, they miss and avgs go down. Its no different when players get adjusted to wood bats. You saw this adjustment period last year in college ball.

Additionally, knowing pitchers can bust you on the hands now and get the easy ground ball or pop up vs the cheap hit to the outfield, the plate has expanded. Giving pitchers the advantage.

Lastly, Johnny hitting 500 in leagues where the pitching is below SW4A levels is no different than hitting 500 during batting practice. This is why certain kids have "all league / state / player of the year honors and are not going to play at the next level. Scouts know talent regardless of the political positioning or inflated stats.

 

And that "known talent" doesn't ever come home after college fall baseball?
And that "known talent" doesn't get his next level invite in a ten minute bullpen exibition at some showcase event?
And coaches at the next level don't lose their jobs because all their recruited "known talent" wasn't what had been hoped for?

Sorry for the chops-busting, but can't we just let "Johnny", who does get all-league or all-state, just be honored? Do we have to try to justify "Jimmy", who is very talented and may some day have his picture on a trading card, by de-legitimizing the accomplishment of the HS kid who gets honored and may just be carrying books next year? Hey, "Jimmy" may be a stud and have a scholy - but he may not have performed in 12 conference games as well as the all-league nobody, "Johnny", who just got a lot of bloop hits.

And by the way, can you tell me how many dumpers and bloops Williams got hitting .406 in '41? How many for DiMaggio in '41 as he went 56 straight? No. They all counted.

I know, I know - it's not the same thing. Apples to oranges and all that.

 

We started with Johnny and now we have Jimmy too!

The problem is not with Johnny. It's with Johnny's parents and coach and anyone else that believes Johnny is really hitting .500.

Johnny is hitting .212. Jimmy is hitting .439. That's why Jimmy has a college baseball scholarship and Johnny's parents are trying desperately to get any recognition possible. Johnny needs to focus on a school where he can study chemistry or economics. His .212 Batting Average won't cut it. It isn't cutting it in high school.

What makes it worse is that Johnny has a 7.7 60yd dash time, has poor throwing mechanics and has no real position. No tools = No Scholarship. It's that simple.

Frankly, most high schoolers are lucky if they have one tangible tool. The lucky ones may have two tools but few have many more than that. For example, Seager has arm strength, a solid bat and a great glove. He is not yet viewed as a power bat nor is he fast enough to call his "speed" a tool. In my opinion his 3 tools makes him the best overall player in the state of NC this season. Same thing with Richie Shaffer. When he was in HS he had 3 nice tools. The same ones Seager has. Now as a JR at Clemson he's developing a nice power bat to go along with it. This 4th tool and his desire to succeed are why he will play in the big leagues by the time he's 24 years old. If you see him hanging around Providence or anywhere else for that matter, get his autograph on a nice ball!

 

Mantle & Mays = 5 tool players.....Eric Davis of the Reds had it going similarly in the mid 80's but disappeared.

Manny Ramirez is a two-tool player...at the major league level, he can't run, throw or catch, but he was a top shelf hitter for a long time.

 

Tools Assessment

If you want to know where your Johnny stands ask a professional (who doesn't have a vested interest in him and isn't afraid to tell you the truth).

Here are a few gauges.

Speed - 6.3-6.7 60 yd time, If Johnny is slower than about 7.4 it starts to become a negative.

Arm Strength - At least 88-90 mph across the diamond or from the outfield. I little less from behind the plate because its a quicker throw with less momentum. If you really want to stand out you have to throw over 90 from the field.

Power - Get on a regulation field. 330 down the lines and 400 in CF. If Johnny can hit with a wood bat and hit 10-15 homeruns in a round of 40-50 balls he "might" already have enough to count "power" as one of his tools. He has to consistently be able to hit balls 350-425ft. Not very common in HS.

Bat - We've talked about this for two days. Johnny has to be hitting for a high average against the best pitching and he has to have about 1/2 of his hits be for extra bases. Walks are nice and SACs are too and so is "hitting it where they ain't" but these don't make the grade. In college there ain't no ain't.

Glove - Maybe the most subjective of all. Bottom line, can Johnny catch the ball..................all the time. Can he field balls hit hard at him or to his right and left. Can he charge the ball quickly and under control? Can he run good routes on fly balls? Can he really really play his position? Is he a shortstop, centerfielder or catcher? If not beware. Colleges recruit shortstops and fast centerfielders. The best shortstop plays shortstop. The 2nd best shortstop plays 2b. The third best shortstop plays 3b. The 4th best shortstop plays LF and so on. If you are a corner outfielder or corner infielder you really better be able to hit or they'll put a shortstop there instead. This is what Clemson did with Richie Shaffer his Freshman year. He was a shortstop and wound up playing 1B the entire year. Oh by the way, he fielded 1.000!

 

Huh? How did we get to tools with Johnny?
We went from Johnny can't really hit to Johnny can't play college ball.
He might be a HS kid who is choked up on the bat, taking his walks, getting a few dumpers - and he ends up all-state, Good for him. BTW, check last year's all-state, and you won't see any Johnnys. He may be all-conference though.

Further, Johnny's mom and dad have nothing to do with all-conference or all-state. And as stated by a few, Johnny could be hitting .500 - though of course not in the SW4A - even if it's a cheap, ugly .500.
And I just don't see anyone desperately trying to get Johnny anything over Jimmy, just so he can have that certificate 30 years from now.

In the end, it sounds to me like Jimmy's dad may be a little jealous of old Johnny cause scholy Jimmy didn't get the certificate. If your scholy and tools are really the key, then act like they're good enough for you to have them. Let the "skewed and meaningless all-whatever honors" go.

JUST LEAVE JOHNNY AND HIS LITTLE ALL-____ CERTIFICATE ALONE!




Either way, hopefully Jimmy and Johnny both have good marriages, healthy, well-adjusted children, and are respectable men of character in 20 years when they come back out to the park to catch a game. The tools and certificates won't matter then. And you guys will be pot-bellied old grandpas!