The Hitters:
- Adron Chambers is giving us a reason to follow the fall league. He went 2-for-5 w/ 1 HR, 1 RBI, and 1 R. This game brings his line to .375/.421/.500.
The Pitchers:
- Blake King went 1.1 scoreless innings while striking out 1 and giving up 1 hit.
P.S. My man crush Eric Hosmer, an elite prospect, is putting up a line of .220/.256/.293 in 41 AB’s. They aren’t the same player, but this can put a little perspective on the fall league our own Zack Cox is having.
Entries (RSS)
This is more of a general question rather than one based on the AFL stats: Is Chambers a similar player to Daryl Jones?
Time will tell as he advances but I believe he is a much better hitter.
If you’re looking for a comparison to another Cardinal prospect, I’d call him a toolsier Jon Jay. Daryl Jones has fallen so short of the original expectations that it’s hard to recall how exciting he was to project at the beginning.
Not sure this really works from a physical point of view. Jay has more meat on his bones than either Jones or Chambers, and it shows in his lesser foot speed. Based on very limited observation, I don’t think the Chambers/Jones comparison is a bad one on purely physical grounds. Of course, there is more to player comparisons than physiques.
One point is that Chambers is half a year older than DJ, and Jay is a year older than Chambers. There’s still time for Jones to get it together, although the time is running out. For Chambers, the future is now; if he’s going to amount to anything, he can’t wait any longer to do it. The good news is that this year’s performance suggests that a major-league career is within reach for him.
One difference that may seem minor is that, for outfielders without a lot of power, Chambers is supposed to have the arm to play all three outfield positions whereas Jones doesn’t play right. I think Jones was predominately a left fielder until this season in AA where he played more CF (51 games in left v. 66 games in CF). Other than that, Jones’ OPS has decreased each of the last two seasons and he has no ABs above AA whereas Chambers not only made it to AAA for 37 games in 2010 but also got an MLB cup of coffee. They are competing for a bench utility role or probably the AAAA bench utility slot at Memphis for use when an outfielder in STL goes on the DL. We know TLR is big on the defensive abilities of his AAAA guys. I question whether this roster battle is not already over. DJ might find himself taken off the 40 roster and exposed to the Rule V draft.
Kevin Goldstein at BP is pessimistic about Chambers’ ability to play center, even though he did so quite a bit in the minors. He quotes unnamed scouts as saying he “can’t play center.” That perplexes me; he’s clearly got the speed to cover the ground. At the same time, his RF/9 at Springfield was mediocre at best (not Vlad-bad but no better than average among AA center fielders, as far as I can tell), so maybe Kevin knows something we don’t.
Seems odd. Chambers has speed and a solid arm. Perhaps he hasn’t played enough CF to get the reads off the bat. Jay also didn’t play much CF in the minors and his defensive ability in CF was also questioned prior to 2010. I think we don’t have enough info on Chambers to say whether he can play CF as a utility guy.
What kind of arm does chambers have? Enough to play RF? I wouldn’t mind having a true leadoff man in a couple years(or this year for that matter), and last time I checked, we could use a RF. what I’m really asking, I suppose, is “Can he play 2nd?”
He’s a lefty, therefore promises to be no better at second than, say, Miles … although not necessarily much worse.
I will continue to compare him to Desmond Jennings until proven otherwise :)