looking at a guy with these kinds of ratings:

7 contact
75 power
75 R/L splits
65 eye

95 speed and 95 bunt w/ 60 base running

what are thoughts on his possible results/stats? is he a serviceable leadoff guy?

never had a low contact guy like this before and having hard time finding similar players to look at with history

Do you want your leadoff guy striking out 100+ times?

To be fair, from a leadoff standpoint... does it matter if he Ks, pops out, or grounds out?

Least likely to have guys on base, so an out is an out.

That said, I'd probably never hit him 2nd.

thank you both - can you give a rough estimate on what you expect his stat line for a season to look like?

No, not really. I have no idea how to do that. All I know is that he's probably a useful MLer.

Think: A poor man's Adam Dunn (less power, fewer walks, but probably a better batting average), with speed.

He'd be good if he has an up-the-middle glove, but I might not be sold on using him in a corner spot.

He's probably a 7, 8, or 9 hitter.

i'll give it a shot (neutral park) .250/.315/.420

Limit him to 200-300 at bats, and play him when he is not, sit him when he is not.

I have it about the same, 260/320/430 with lots of K's. Not a bad bottom of the order guy if he can play some defense.

Quote: Originally Posted By iain on 1/22/2010
To be fair, from a leadoff standpoint... does it matter if he Ks, pops out, or grounds out?
Least likely to have guys on base, so an out is an out.

Of course it matters at every slot in the batting order. It may matter a little more at a few of the other slots than it does at #1.

Striking out is a stat that is given far too much importance. How you get out or how you get on base does not matter, especially for a leadoff hitter. If he is a good bunter and has loads of speed that is the guy you want setting the table for the run producers.

This particular guy however will probably not hit for a high enough average and will not walk enough to be a leadoff hitter. Because he has such poor contact, his speed will only be of minimal importance in getting extra infield hits. If he were a big power guy he would play better than he will as a speedster because his low hit total would still result in alot of rbi's in the 5-6 slot in the order. You would have to hit this guy at the bottom of the order, but if he has good defence he could play.

One other thing, although he has very high speed, he is not a great base runner so his speed is going to be wasted and he will not have a high stolen base success rate. Basically, the few times he gets on base, he will run himself into outs a high number of times.

Strikeouts are a non-productive out. I'd rather see my guys putting the ball in play. Runners can advance on a ground out or a fly out. Errors or negative plays can allow a batter to reach base on a ball in play that would have otherwise been an out. None of those things happen with strikeouts.

And if we're talking about a leadoff hitter, keep this in mind . . . there's only one plate-appearance per game in which he's guaranteed to be batting with the bases empty. All other times, putting the ball in play, even for an out, has the potential to result in something more productive than a strikeout.

If it's an NL team especially, the leadoff hitter will get a lot of no-one-on at bats. Far more than any other spot, I would think.