Encouraging signs from Moose?

by cmkeller on Jul 17, 2011 12:56 AM EDT

As Mike Moustakas's batting average approaches the Mendoza line, I am not panicking. I am well familiar with his history of needing time to adjust to each new level as he's promoted, but then, after a certain period, he figures it out and works great on his new level. What I'd like to know from any of you who have more hands-on knowledge of our prospects' development than I do: when he's been in the adjustment phase in previous years, is there anything particular that he does that indicates that he's learning? Any adjustments of his stance, or a change in GB/FB ratio, or something like that? Or maybe once he's been around the league and sees pitchers a second time, he's figured out how to read them properly? Basically, beyond simply getting off to a bad start, does his time in the majors show any similarities to his minor league "adjustment periods" that should give us the hope that a "figuring it out" will eventually follow?

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His strikeout numbers are nothing out of the ordinary. But his contact is just piss poor. He hits so many pop ups. Per TexasLeaguers, 15.32% of his outs have been pop-ups. Small sample, sure, but it confirms he’s been making bad contact often.

by hawkinscm87 on Jul 17, 2011 1:54 AM EDT reply actions

If it's nearly inevitable that he'll take awhile to adjust, would it be better to allow the process to start this August?

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by KeepItCopacetic on Jul 17, 2011 3:40 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

He looks lost at the plate to me

Any time we see Moose at the plate with a runner on base, both my gf and I call a soft pop-up. I don’t think we’ve been wrong yet.

Give him some more time if you think he can bring it around, but I’m beginning to think he needs some time in Omaha to boost his confidence.

by kcdc1 on Jul 17, 2011 10:00 AM EDT reply actions

Agree with this

I’m leaning towards a demotion at this point. I’d hate to see him lose confidence and get buried like Alex in 2006. Get your head on straight in AAA, learn how to hit again, and come back in September.

But I think that only applies to Kila and Aviles. Moose is here to stay!

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by RoyalsRetro on Jul 17, 2011 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions

2 points

he swings at the first pitch an absurd amount of the time (and his BA seems to be about in line on that first pitch, which means it isn’t a strategy that’s working for him at .220ish)… secondly, he seems to be jamming himself a lot, missing the good part of the bat consistently. there could be many reasons for this (standing too close to the plate, misreading pitches, or simply that major league pitches are moving more than he’s accustomed to, to where he’s just missing by an inch or two)… in any event, two more weeks of this will have him back in omaha trying to figure it out

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by kcisbetterthanstlateverything on Jul 17, 2011 9:28 PM EDT reply actions

on the bright side

he seems to be walking plenty, at least for him (small sample size, duh) at 7.8% compared to 6.9% for his minor league career

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by kcisbetterthanstlateverything on Jul 17, 2011 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions

After the first week or so, it's been steadily coming down

Giving that he’s swinging at more than 50% of the pitches he sees, it will probably keep dropping for a little while.

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by Matt Klaassen on Jul 18, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Needs to pick up hitting tips from Chris Getz

According to Lee Judge, “if he got jammed every time up he’d hit .300.”

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by RoyalsRetro on Jul 17, 2011 10:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I believe it was .400

by hawkinscm87 on Jul 18, 2011 1:12 AM EDT up reply actions

A quick look at fangraphs shows:

LD% of 18%. That should translate into an avg BABIP – but his BABIP is under 250.

Walk and K rates are not all that bad (in my opinion) for a 22 yr old rookie.

As others have mentioned – IFFB rate is ridiculously high. (27.9%). Overall, he is hitting FBs on 48.3% and GB on 33.7%, but HR/FB is very low at 2.3% (primarily due to absurdly high IFFB rate).

That’s the stats – as for a “scouting” type observation:

All those infield pop ups might indicate he is simply getting beat on the FB. This could be the result of him trying to pull the steady diet of high/outside pitches they are feeding him, or perhaps something else? I’ve noticed a lot of recent body language that says “damn, I just missed that” – evidently on pitches he thinks he should have driven a long way.

Pretty weird; he simply does not LOOK overmatched (he’s really not striking out that much at all for a power type player)- yet not much to show in the power department yet. Sorta hard to understand how he could be getting beat by FBs, considering he has a short, quick swing.

I don’t think I’m ready to send him down yet. Give him another 100 or 150 ABs, or if he begins chasing and striking out a lot, then consider it. Look at the situation again in 3 or 4 weeks.

If strikeouts are indeed fascist - then find me some starters that believe in fascism

by loyal2sdad on Jul 18, 2011 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed.

He looks kind of like Alcides looked a while back. He’s fouling off good pitches and missing bad pitches. Of course, he’s also popping out on good pitches. Not sure what to say.

He’s got the bat speed, that’s for sure. His timing is just off I guess.

by hawkinscm87 on Jul 19, 2011 2:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Mellinger

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/18/3022039/royals-are-feeling-moustakas-growing.html

The easy thing would be to send Moustakas back to Omaha. Not as a punishment or a sign that he’s no good, but as a chance to remember what it’s like to succeed. As a bonus, the Royals could then play Wilson Betemit every day and better present him for trade possibilities.

The Royals aren’t doing that, and internally say they aren’t even considering it, an obvious symbol about what their bigger purpose is.

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by RoyalsRetro on Jul 19, 2011 10:25 AM EDT reply actions

I'm missing the obvious signal.

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by Warden11 on Jul 19, 2011 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions

never admit that anything has gone wrong

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by Matt Klaassen on Jul 19, 2011 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Or

They might disagree with you.

by hawkinscm87 on Jul 21, 2011 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions

only one workable solution

stop telling Moustakas what to do and let him play the game his way.

That means no more Seitzer and “spray the ball”. Seitzer is NOT doing Moustakas any favors but the people saying that Moustakas isn’t hitting the ball hard are either missing the Seitzer factor or ignoring it.

Ned Yost gave Alcides Escobar more of a vote of confidence than Moustakas, which has got to make you question their priorities.

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by BHWick on Jul 19, 2011 12:04 PM EDT reply actions