Concerns about Brett Lawrie

[Tbadder]

First let me say, or reiterate, I know nothing about minor leaguers. What I'm really looking for is reassurance by asking others for their expertise. So here it goes. When I see Lawrie, I see Bill Hall--same build, same weird stance, powerful, compact, capable in field of making tough plays, but botches the easy ones sometimes. Lawrie looks to be a better base runner, but he doesn't appear to be any faster than Hall. Thanks in advance for any responses.

[DHonks]

Hall's pretty fast, just awful at stealing bases. We'll see with Lawrie as he moves up.

[TooLiveBrew]

Doesn't every defender '[botch] the easy ones sometimes'?

 

I guess I'd ask why you're comparing the two players, Tbadder. Have you seen Lawrie play? Is it just based on his height & weight?

 

(I, too, am a minors novice at best... and probably can't help you much. Just curious)

[uwisfan]

i think lawrie makes better contact and has a better eye

[splitterpfj]

Lawrie is a very young player, and don't forget, at this time last year he was going to be a catcher. He's settling into a defensive position now, and is still a teenager, playing in low A ball...I think there's nothing to worry about.

[trwi7]

i think lawrie makes better contact and has a better eye

 

Definitely.

 

As for the O.P. if this doesn't ease your concerns, I don't know what will.

 

As a 20 year old in the Midwest League, Bill Hall hit .262/.287/.370/.657 with 18 walks, 127 strikeouts and 10 steals in 21 attempts in 470 at bats.

 

As a 19 year old in the Midwest League, Brett Lawrie is hitting .282/.352/.486/.838 with 15 walks, 26 strikeouts and 11 steals in 17 attempts in 142 at bats.

[Tbadder]

Doesn't every defender '[botch] the easy ones sometimes'?

 

I guess I'd ask why you're comparing the two players, Tbadder. Have you seen Lawrie play? Is it just based on his height & weight?

 

(I, too, am a minors novice at best... and probably can't help you much. Just curious)

 

Yeah, I've seen him twice, once in person. And the comparison just screamed out. I immediately got a lump in my throat, but of course this is a most definite first impression. The stats Trwi7 provided are some comfort, but I also know that organizations can unwittingly lean toward types of players. He does look like a confident young man (in the best sense of the phrase) but you could tell that he's still inexperienced (which is only to be expected) when compared to Taylor Green, who just exudes professionalism (again in the best sense of the word). But Lawrie's stance just drives me nuts. Why all the needless complication? Chris Dennis on the other hand looks so quiet and prepared when he bats--and then boom, the guy just explodes on the ball (again just first impression) but boy oh boy I like the look of that guy.

[Never Outhustled]

Taylor Green has almost the exact same stance as Lawrie, he's just not as open. He has the same exaggerated crouch.

[trwi7]

Why all the needless complication?

 

Maybe that stance is comfortable to him. I don't know how the hell Youkilis can hit the ball with his batting stance, but it works, so why change it?

[RyDogg66]

If he changes his stance to something along the lines of Albert Pujols or David Wright would that ease your concerns? Luckily players ability to hit and field similar to other players arent related to height, weight and batting stance. I dont see anything in Lawrie that reminds me of Bill Hall. I believe Lawrie will be much better than Hall has been.

[TooLiveBrew]

Honestly, pro ballplayers (even 'just' at the minor league level) are so gifted in terms of hitting I just can't bring myself to get too worked up about batting stances. It really is still funny to me to see how hitters wind up looking almost identical once they've loaded up their swings.

[JohnBriggs12]

Hall is an extremely gifted athlete but he's never been a pure hitter. Athleticism like Hall possessed stood out in the low minor leagues. Eventually he developed into a dangerous bat, but his struggles over the past couple seasons just show how hard he has had to work at hitting. Lawrie strikes me as more the pure hitter.

[Tbadder]

If he changes his stance to something along the lines of Albert Pujols or David Wright would that ease your concerns? Luckily players ability to hit and field similar to other players arent related to height, weight and batting stance. I dont see anything in Lawrie that reminds me of Bill Hall. I believe Lawrie will be much better than Hall has been.

 

Okay, but I hear scouts talk all the time about "lithe" body, or optimum height, etc. That's a good question about Albert or Wright. It's simply not enough to imitate another player,

[CheezWizHed]

Having seen him play once in person makes me an expert so...

His batting stance tended to remind me of JJ more than Hall, because he started open, but strides toward the pitcher as if from a normal neutral stance (right now I'm not remembering if Hall does that too, but I know JJ does). The ball does jump off his bat. Everything he hit was hard and line drives, even the outs. So if its Hall, its '05 version of Hall.

 

He is definitely not a natural 2B. He made three routine grounders (although he didn't charge a slow grounder and almost gave up an infield hit). One cutoff from RF he gave a really poor effort (Ole') and allowed a runner to score from 3B. But I'm sure he will improve with age and defense.

 

My only real concern (and its only a gut feeling at this point) is that he thinks A-ball is beneath him or that the Brewers are slowing him down. With mentioning that he expected to reach the majors in a year (or something like that) and seeing some body language at the game, I worry that he might feel that he is better than he really is. Again, this is ONLY a gut feeling at this point and something I'm watching when I read/see him. I'm not convinced that its true.

[twobrewers]

Did Lawrie use performance enhancers to earn a long-term contract too?

 

 

 

(Pure speculation - but come on, it was pretty funny?)