Comments on: Greene-r Pastures

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:56:48 +0000

“They all had great steal percentages.”

That’s the kicker obviously. I’m just saying that there are few players out there who are truly net positives on the basepaths year in year out. Not that they don’t exist but rather that they are rarer than a lot of people think.

By: Gruntosaurus

Gruntosaurus — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:52:06 +0000

Cj. the stolen base only increases run production if it succeeds. There are two components to that. The teams of the 80s, which were enormous fun to watch, succeeded with the running game not just because they were a “track team disguised as a baseball team,” but because they got on base. If TG can’t get on base with a high OBP, his speed won’t help the team.

Second, speed does not necessarily translate to success in stealing bases. The other thing about that track team was that the SB/CS ratios for all of the jackrabbits were high. On this count there is more reason to be optimistic about TG, I’d agree. However, he still has to get on, and there remains uncertainty about his ability to do that vs. major-league pitching.

By: jjray

jjray — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:48:01 +0000

@azruavatar. “I’m generally very skeptical of the stolen base.”

The redbirds with Ozzie, Willie, and Vince Coleman defied skepticism. But that was a track team disguised as a baseball team. Fun to watch but perhaps overboard. They all had great steal percentages. For teams that mash homeruns at a high clip in the upper ecelons of baseball, SBs might not be as important. But the Cardinals are not one of those teams. Rasmus is afraid to run. Boog is a fair but not great base stealer. He’s not in the same class as T. Greene. TG has freakishly fast acceleration. If a player is successful 80-90% of the time he steals, it’s hard to argue that skill does NOT add value. It remains to be seen if T. Greene will post SB percentages in that range at the MLB level.

By: RobertoRydeWagner

RobertoRydeWagner — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:58:07 +0000

Greene vs. Descalso:
is it a useful question? Not really. Both could become ML players, at different positions.
Descalso needs 1+ years at Memphis.
Descalso benefits from matchups vz. RHPs and could grow into an Adam Kennedy or Skip Schumaker hitter.
Tyler Greene has much more speed.
Greene can play SS.
For a SS, Greene can drive the ball. One of his HRs in St Louis was to right field. Renteria did that a few times.

By: cariocacardinal

cariocacardinal — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:26:59 +0000

I still like Greene as a prospect better than Descalso. More speed, more power, better range, stronger arm. Only if Descalso shows the power he did in Springfield on a more consistent basis would my opinion change.

By: Easy

Easy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:28:41 +0000

I like the fact that Greene improved in his deficit areas at Memphis but I would resist any attempt to supplant Ryan at shortstop. In fact TLR seems to be open to any opportunity to play anyone else there rather than the Gold Glove caliber Ryan and I’m afraid he’ll do it if given the chance. Ryan was his umpteenth choice this last year behind the two Greenes, Barden and the ghosts of Luis Ordaz amd Cesar Izturis but I think that Ryan is the best looking shortstop we’ve had since Tony benched Ozzie. The Cardinal had a lot of things go right this last year but I believe the best one was that Ryan solidified the defense behind a ground ball pitch to contact staff. I thought he looked great when he first came up but Tony hated him because he wore his belt wrong or something and only gave him a chance when he couldn’t justify anything else.
If Greene proves his improvements are real then let’s bring him up as a utility guy. Ryan’s the guy I want to see at shortstop for the next few years.

By: Memphis25

Memphis25 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:23:33 +0000

Greene was hurt by getting forced into regular PT on his 2nd promotion from Memphis, He was just starting to draw more walks but all that was lost after getting overexposed in St Louis.

Greene drew 8 BB the last 13 games in Memphis in 2008, and did decent job in AFL but got HR happy and K’s mounted, went to ST and did good with 5 BB and 9 SO and was good up till 2nd call up hitting .316 with 18 BB and 25 SO.

Then he came back to St Louis and goes 2-for-2 with 2 BB in his first game back then this happened .169/.194/.200/.394 with 1 BB and 21 SO over the next month and then goes back down to Memphis and walks just 20 time over the next 57 games while striking out 61 times.

By: Cj

Cj — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:31:08 +0000

It woul be nice to try and increase the offense production by running more with Greene rasmus and twitch

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:19:21 +0000

I’m generally very skeptical of the stolen base. There are very few basestealers who are consistently a positive for their team on a year to year basis. That said, I wish Ryan and Rasmus were running more often. I feel like they’re ideal candidates to run.

By: jjray

jjray — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:08:33 +0000

Let’s not forget that Boog goes on the DL almost every season. None of us want to see Lugo playing SS every day so I view Tyler as an important insurance policy on the 40 man. TG should see time in majors this season and, if he impresses, Skip will need a platoon partner in 2011. I think Tyler is the best base stealer on the 40 man roster.