A Contact Wizard Is Here to Help the Red Sox and Their Outfield
December 9, 2022
A nice write-up of the Yoshida signing over at [fangraphs.com](https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-contact-wizard-is-here-to-help-the-red-sox-and-their-outfield/). ZiPS puts his 50% projection at 2.8 WAR for 2023; .305/.372/.489 with 20 HR, 131 OPS+ with okay defense in left. I’d take that.
7 comments
That would be awesome. I don’t think a lot of people realize this:
“The Buffaloes belonged to the Pacific League, which has a higher level of pitching talent than its counterpart, the Central League. Yoshida was a good hitter in spite of where he played, not because of it.”
Seiya Suzuki came from the Central League where he had a 1.069 OPS in his last season. That translated to a .777 OPS the next season in MLB.
Shohei Ohtani came from the Pacific League where he had a .942 OPS in his last season (1.004 OPS the year before that). That translated to a .925 OPS the next season in MLB.
Obviously I’m not saying that Yoshida is Ohtani. Ohtani was also 22 so he was still developing and he has a much larger frame that’s capable of generating more power. But you can’t just look at the overall stats and ignore the league differences.
It would be like comparing PCL league stats to IL league stats in the minors. Everyone knows the PCL offensive stats are inflated.
keith law’s write up was severely less optimistic.
I have no idea what to think.
Obviously what happened with Xander soured this signing for a lot of people, but I’m still cautiously optimistic. The fact that he played at the highest level of competition in Japan and put up the numbers he did is encouraging.
From the article:
“Based on everything available on him, he looks like the next Andrew Benintendi: a contact-oriented hitter with doubles power, an excellent feel for the strike zone, and acceptable defense in left field.”
I mean Jesus Fucking Christ. Is this article INTENDED to be a Bloominati troll job?
We could’ve resigned Schwarber for the same money we’re giving a guy that’s never played in a single MLB game – this FO is a complete train wreck.
I want to believe the best case scenario (for the sake of my current baseball related mental health) and he just relentlessly peppers the Monster.
Not a chance in hell he hits to these numbers. Please surprise me tho
7 comments
That would be awesome. I don’t think a lot of people realize this:
“The Buffaloes belonged to the Pacific League, which has a higher level of pitching talent than its counterpart, the Central League. Yoshida was a good hitter in spite of where he played, not because of it.”
Seiya Suzuki came from the Central League where he had a 1.069 OPS in his last season. That translated to a .777 OPS the next season in MLB.
Shohei Ohtani came from the Pacific League where he had a .942 OPS in his last season (1.004 OPS the year before that). That translated to a .925 OPS the next season in MLB.
Obviously I’m not saying that Yoshida is Ohtani. Ohtani was also 22 so he was still developing and he has a much larger frame that’s capable of generating more power. But you can’t just look at the overall stats and ignore the league differences.
It would be like comparing PCL league stats to IL league stats in the minors. Everyone knows the PCL offensive stats are inflated.
keith law’s write up was severely less optimistic.
I have no idea what to think.
Obviously what happened with Xander soured this signing for a lot of people, but I’m still cautiously optimistic. The fact that he played at the highest level of competition in Japan and put up the numbers he did is encouraging.
From the article:
“Based on everything available on him, he looks like the next Andrew Benintendi: a contact-oriented hitter with doubles power, an excellent feel for the strike zone, and acceptable defense in left field.”
I mean Jesus Fucking Christ. Is this article INTENDED to be a Bloominati troll job?
We could’ve resigned Schwarber for the same money we’re giving a guy that’s never played in a single MLB game – this FO is a complete train wreck.
I want to believe the best case scenario (for the sake of my current baseball related mental health) and he just relentlessly peppers the Monster.
Not a chance in hell he hits to these numbers. Please surprise me tho