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Starling Marte - not so great in May. I guess it depends on what you expect from him. He's young yet, and if you're judging his performance as a premium defender at CF then the bat is less of a problem. I think the problem is that many of us expected (or hoped for) more. I'm not tearing my hair out but it is a bit of a letdown.
Jeff Clement - the OPS is good and the OBP is particularly promising but we've been down this road before.
Jordy Mercer - I haven't had anything to say before because I've never expected anything out of him. There are two things I've realized that make me feel a little bit better.
1. d'Arnaud. I've never paid attention to Mercer because the organization put d'Arnaud ahead of him the first year they were drafted and I took it for granted that they were competent to make that decision. (you can see how that could be a mistake)
2. Mercer's OBP. Look at 2008 through 2012:
2008: .250 BA and .297 OBP for a spread of .047.
2009: .255 BA and .314 OBP for a spread of .059.
2010: .282 BA and .329 OBP for a spread of .056. (this was the jump to AA)
2011: .255 BA and .317 OBP for a spread of .062.
2012: .303 BA and .379 OBP for a spread of .076.
Now the spread is what I'm looking at. The average spread in the majors is about .070. This is the first year that Mercer has been above average, and you can see a pretty significant improvement from his rookie year.
This suggests to me that he's becoming a better batter. Maybe not a better hitter, not more powerful or anything like that, but it appears that he's been refining his approach into one that results in better walk rates. I'm a big fan of that. As an aside - I usually expect OBP spread to stay pretty consistent as a player goes up levels. Tony Sanchez and Robbie Grossman - for example - are both struggling and yet their OBP spread is about the same as it ever was. This is why I'm so fascinated by the fact that Mercer's spread has been getting better.
So I still don't see Mercer as anything close to a .300 hitter, and I don't think he'll get on base at a great rate or hit for much power (last year in AA was a fluke in my opinion)
But it's not hard to see him as an improvement over Barmes, is it?
Other players who deserve mention:
Presley - will probably get another call-up but the shine is off. Looks like a fourth (or fifth) outfielder again. (much like Tabata)
And in AA
Adelberto Santos - Best OPS but still injured. Interesting guy but he needs to get healthy.
Matt Curry - needs to do better than this to be an option at any of the positions he plays. His 2011 was exciting but now we need to see a step forward. Trending downward.
Tony Sanchez - still not looking all that good but at least his OBP is still nice. His spread is greater than .100 again. His problem is power. If he was hitting for some power then I'd say that he's doing alright.
Robbie Grossman - also has a spread greater than .100. Bad BA and not much power. The good news with Grossman is that his May has been okay. Most of the bad numbers are the result of his first month in AA.
Jarek Cunningham - Terrible.
Others
Alex Dickerson - Big disappointment.
Alen Hanson - May wasn't as good but it was more than good enough for a SS and his overall numbers are still excellent. He's looking like one of our better hitting prospects and the only one who has a chance to play a premium IF position.
Gregory Polanco - deserves some mention. He may be getting overshadowed a bit by Hanson.
Josh Bell - When does he come back? I still think he'll turn out to be the best hitter in the system once he gets settled in.
So all in all I'd say that we can give Mercer a shot right now. Presley, Clement, and eventually Marte are all in a category of players who I wouldn't expect any immediate help from, though Marte should be better than the other two.
For next year I think that Sanchez and Grossman are still the most promising AA position players with an optimistic nod to Santos. That OBP spread.
And longer term there's good reason to follow Hansen, Polanco, and Bell.
Can't sleep on Curry and Dickerson but they need to hit to have value and they've been really disappointing.
Jeff Clement - the OPS is good and the OBP is particularly promising but we've been down this road before.
Jordy Mercer - I haven't had anything to say before because I've never expected anything out of him. There are two things I've realized that make me feel a little bit better.
1. d'Arnaud. I've never paid attention to Mercer because the organization put d'Arnaud ahead of him the first year they were drafted and I took it for granted that they were competent to make that decision. (you can see how that could be a mistake)
2. Mercer's OBP. Look at 2008 through 2012:
2008: .250 BA and .297 OBP for a spread of .047.
2009: .255 BA and .314 OBP for a spread of .059.
2010: .282 BA and .329 OBP for a spread of .056. (this was the jump to AA)
2011: .255 BA and .317 OBP for a spread of .062.
2012: .303 BA and .379 OBP for a spread of .076.
Now the spread is what I'm looking at. The average spread in the majors is about .070. This is the first year that Mercer has been above average, and you can see a pretty significant improvement from his rookie year.
This suggests to me that he's becoming a better batter. Maybe not a better hitter, not more powerful or anything like that, but it appears that he's been refining his approach into one that results in better walk rates. I'm a big fan of that. As an aside - I usually expect OBP spread to stay pretty consistent as a player goes up levels. Tony Sanchez and Robbie Grossman - for example - are both struggling and yet their OBP spread is about the same as it ever was. This is why I'm so fascinated by the fact that Mercer's spread has been getting better.
So I still don't see Mercer as anything close to a .300 hitter, and I don't think he'll get on base at a great rate or hit for much power (last year in AA was a fluke in my opinion)
But it's not hard to see him as an improvement over Barmes, is it?
Other players who deserve mention:
Presley - will probably get another call-up but the shine is off. Looks like a fourth (or fifth) outfielder again. (much like Tabata)
And in AA
Adelberto Santos - Best OPS but still injured. Interesting guy but he needs to get healthy.
Matt Curry - needs to do better than this to be an option at any of the positions he plays. His 2011 was exciting but now we need to see a step forward. Trending downward.
Tony Sanchez - still not looking all that good but at least his OBP is still nice. His spread is greater than .100 again. His problem is power. If he was hitting for some power then I'd say that he's doing alright.
Robbie Grossman - also has a spread greater than .100. Bad BA and not much power. The good news with Grossman is that his May has been okay. Most of the bad numbers are the result of his first month in AA.
Jarek Cunningham - Terrible.
Others
Alex Dickerson - Big disappointment.
Alen Hanson - May wasn't as good but it was more than good enough for a SS and his overall numbers are still excellent. He's looking like one of our better hitting prospects and the only one who has a chance to play a premium IF position.
Gregory Polanco - deserves some mention. He may be getting overshadowed a bit by Hanson.
Josh Bell - When does he come back? I still think he'll turn out to be the best hitter in the system once he gets settled in.
So all in all I'd say that we can give Mercer a shot right now. Presley, Clement, and eventually Marte are all in a category of players who I wouldn't expect any immediate help from, though Marte should be better than the other two.
For next year I think that Sanchez and Grossman are still the most promising AA position players with an optimistic nod to Santos. That OBP spread.
And longer term there's good reason to follow Hansen, Polanco, and Bell.
Can't sleep on Curry and Dickerson but they need to hit to have value and they've been really disappointing.
