Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share my thoughts on a potential bench infielder who would be a great fit for the rockies in 2024, and Bill Schmidt should consider saying “Hello Newman!” (please do not stone me and then burn my dead body) Reality is the rockies got terrible production from a few guys who logged significant playing time. In terms of bwar we had profar at -1.9, castro at -1.5, toglia at -1.5, bryant at -1, daza at -.4. If you had replacement level guys in castro and profar’s places you probably don’t lose 100 games. (not that it matters) the common denominators between these 2 (as well as daza and bryant) were lack of pop. [Park factors suggest that getting the ball in the gap is a good thing at Coors.](https://imgur.com/a/FTzrLSG)
Now to compare him to Castro, Newman, when he’s right, [hits a lot of these.](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=b95424e3-67bc-4ef3-9d3f-086260ca5a8a) Getting a guy like this who can [run a little](https://imgur.com/a/uYkHbrD) and have him squeeze out a few more bases could be a great rally starter. When compared to castro he has a similar batted ball profile (EV, HardHit, GB%) but [pulls a lot of liners for extra bases](https://imgur.com/a/XRnbB1C). This profile plays at coors, guys like arenado made their living here by pulling a ton of line drives. **PULLED FLY BALLS AND LINERS ARE THE BEST BATTED BALLS** and Newman has a penchant for it. Other things of note is Newman struck out almost half as much as Castro last year and walked twice as often in 20 less PA. He is also a fantastic shortstop, although has had issues defensively since switching to a utility role. However that takes nothing away from the fact that he nearly won the gold glove in ’21.
To summarize Newman does a lot of things well on the diamond to make up for his lack of raw pop. A probable 50th percentile outcome is a wrc+ around 85, worst case close to 60, best case around 105-110 range. He is a contact bat who profiles as a sort of Nolan lite, meaning lower EVs and more grounders but lots of balls in play and liners to the pull side, something we’ve seen play at coors for years. He plays a great middle infield and with time could adjust better to a bench role and if either Tovar or BRod misses significant time I have a lot more confidence in him filling in than anyone currently in the organization. Thanks for reading!!
