I Like Carlos Gomez

[jeffy]

With the exception of Almonte, if anyone other than Berkman is playing right field, that triple is an out, and the 9th inning is a whole different situation.

 

Not really, it would have been a sacrifice fly and still driven in a much needed insurance run.

 

I like having one good defender in the outfield. Whether it is Gomez, Morgan, or Cameron, having a good defender with great range in CF makes up for some the defensive shortcomings of the other outfielders on this team.

[BrewCrewForever]

As someone once put it on twitter, Carlos Gomez is the Brewers version of Jarrett Bush for the Packers. A very polarizing figure who looks great one second and terrible the next. Lots of raw talent and ability but sometimes lacks the smarts. I have been hard on Gomez in the past but you just take the good with the bad I guess. And as long as he bats 8th I am okay with him being an everyday player.

That's actually a very good comparison. Both are very good at something that's undervalued by casual fans (D & ST's), and pretty much suck at the glaring aspects of the game (hitting & coverage).

 

Also, nice job on the podcasts man. I've listened to a few of them and you've got a great voice for radio haha.

Gobias, thanks a lot I appreciate it. I actually do have a degree in broadcasting, lol. Worked par-time at a stations as a DJ for awhile but never found a full-time gig.

 

For me the only think Gomez need to improve on for defense is throwing accuracy. Great arm, but does not have much control on his throws. Otherwise he does everything on defense as good as you can in CF.

[logan82]

It's also important to remember that he's 25 years old. I think that a lot of people truly don't know how young he is. Lorenzo Cain is 25 years old, too. No one here was too quick to run him out of town, yah?

 

Cain didn't have 1000 MLB PA at the start of last season. Gomez has still shown no signs of improvement in all that time. In fact his O-swing% last year was worse than at any other time in his career since his first year and his Z-swing was the lowest. We will see how this year turns out but he has plenty of MLB PA and really has shown little or no improvement in his approach or results. He is what he is, a fantastic defender with no plate discipline.

[bensheeps]

I am and have always been a big Gomez fan, though admittingly I have always over-valued speed (undoubedtly due to my complete lack of it). There have been numerous times that I have said to my wife and/or son while watching a game, "Gomez is the only player on the roster that makes that play." - whether it be running a ball down in the outfield, taking an extra base or beating out a throw (all 3 in the game yesterday).

 

I'll admit he is frustrating at times, but each time I'm about ready to give up on him, he has a game like yesterday or makes a play like beating the Cubs last year on the stolen base, move to third on the Counsell bunt and score on the poor throw all in the same play.

 

I agree with most others that right now he doesn't fit in the 2 spot of the lineup, but I find myself pulling for him more than almost any other Brewer. On a team of "offense-first, poor-defense" players, if he progresses to even an average offensive player, Gomez is the type of player that we need to even out the roster.

[logan82]

bensheeps wrote:

I agree with most others that right now he doesn't fit in the 2 spot of the lineup, but I find myself pulling for him more than almost any other Brewer. On a team of "offense-first, poor-defense" players, if he progresses to even an average offensive player, Gomez is the type of player that we need to even out the roster.

I think if Gomez could hit like an average MLB player we would be seeing threads about signing him to an extension and buying out FA years instead of threads like this.

[1992casey]

I agree with the concerns about the boneheaded stuff, e.g. baserunning gaffes, throwing to the wrong destination, etc. I think those mistakes — especially the over-enthusiasm on the bases — can likely be minimized with time and work.

 

Inaccurate throwing may be something that persists, but I think that's offset by his other defensive skills.

 

My biggest concern is OBP. If Carlos were the only player who reasonably projected to a sub-.300 OBP, I wouldn't have a problem with him playing full time. We have two, however. Something has to give in order to mitigate that.

[hawing]

As a fan of competent defense, I like Carlos. I like him better batting 8th and would like to dream that yesterday's game sent RRR a message.

[PrinceEatMeat]

As a fan of competent defense, I like Carlos. I like him better batting 8th and would like to dream that yesterday's game sent RRR a message.

Me too. Gomez is batting 8th again today, so that's a good sign. I think Ron wants to keep it that way, but Hart has to start hitting so he can take the 2 spot.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Yeah, I have noticed my irritation factor with Gomez goes WAY down when he's batting 8th. I just wish he'd quit making boneheaded outs on the basepaths.

[dadofandrew]

I love him, I too would just like to run that fast for a day. He still might turn into an above average CF, as his defense makes him average now. I've never seen a better CF, and I watched Torii Hunter as a young man in the Dome. Any improvement on offense at all, maybe up to .325/.400, makes him an excellent option.

[alwz4gbp]

Gomez reminds me of a young Favre. Hes exciting to watch. Whether its good or bad, somethings gonna happen.

[The Truth]

I am a very big Carlos Gomez fan but I can still be realistic and recognize that he has a ways to go before he will be a good MLB hitter. I believe in his potential as an all-around player and I do think he's the best defensive CF in baseball

[WV Brew]

A ball: NM: .308/.390/.360/.749

CG: .275/.331/.376/.707

Logan Schafer: .308/.370/.440/.809

 

Folks, there is a better option, assuming he ever has a healthy year again, to either player. Please don't sign either one to a long term deal. There are other candidates who also might be better in our own system. By all accounts, Logan is a fine fielder who doesn't make the blunders these other two do. Most of you haven't seen Morgan at his worst yet. I presume you will though. (I'm not advocating Logan for the Brewers just yet, I know he needs work after all the time he's missed.)

[BrewCrewForever]

I have heard good things about Schafer, seems that if he can stay healthy for a full season we could see how good he is.

[And That]

Cain didn't have 1000 MLB PA at the start of last season.

Cain also wasn't pushed too fast by his two previous organizations. The fact that he was playing in MLB when he shouldn't have been is not something I'll hold against him.

 

What I'm saying is, he still has a few years before he hits his ceiling. There's still a chance the light bulb will turn on, even if it's on a dimmer.

[logan82]

Cain didn't have 1000 MLB PA at the start of last season.

Cain also wasn't pushed too fast by his two previous organizations. The fact that he was playing in MLB when he shouldn't have been is not something I'll hold against him.

 

What I'm saying is, he still has a few years before he hits his ceiling. There's still a chance the light bulb will turn on, even if it's on a dimmer.

I understand what you are saying and I don't hold his being rushed against him. I just would have expected some improvement at this point. Even marginal improvement. He hasn't shown that yet. He is almost the exact same player he was in 2008. Walking at the same rate, striking out at the same rate, and slash stats in the same small range since then. That is what I am looking at.

[danzig6767]

Others have said the same things about Gomez that i feel. Just an incredibly good defensive CF. The weird thing is he has great instincts on defense when it comes to reading the ball off the bat and generally taking near perfect angles. That mixed with his speed allows him to run down balls that few others can. On the flip side, he runs the bases like Dan Gadzuric played basketball, 100mph with no thinking while he's running around. Carlos can't lay off the slider off the plate regardless how often he flails at it.

 

Speaking of Gomez on the bases. If every player in the bigs was timed running from home plate, around all the bases, and back to home plate, is anyone beating Gomez? Once he gets a head of steam going, man does he cover ground in a blink.

 

It's just a shame that he has no clue how to hit. His failure to approach hitting in a more selective way will be the difference between Gomez getting getting a very moderate contract from someone once he hits free agency instead of becoming a very rich man.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

Is Gomez much different than Rickie Weeks offensively at the same point in their major league careers?

[theavrock]

Is Gomez much different than Rickie Weeks offensively at the same point in their major league careers?

The biggest difference between the two of them is that Rickie always knew how to take walks. His lowest OBP was .333. Gomez has never broken .300 in the bigs although he came close with .296 and .298

If Gomez had a OBP in the .330 range I guarantee the uproar over GoGo would be much quieter.

I really want Gomez to figure it out, but if he can't learn to take more walks his defense will only even out the black hole he can be in the lineup. Whether that's good enough to keep in the lineup or not is up for debate.

[logan82]

Is Gomez much different than Rickie Weeks offensively at the same point in their major league careers?

The only real difference is with Weeks you also see an improvement in his weakness, his defense. Gomez weakness, his offense, is stagnant so far. I am not saying he will not improve, I am just skeptical he will.

 

22 - .296/.360/.657 - .333/.394/.727

23 - .287/.337/.623 - .363/.404/.766

24 - .298/.357/.655 - .374/.433/.807

25 - .281/.339/.620 - .342/.398/.740

[DHonks]

I disagree with those that are saying Gomez has great defensive instincts. On balls where he has to turn his back, he does a terrible job tracking and finding them. On hard hit deep drives in the gap, he does well ONLY when he doesn't have to run towards the CF fence. The moment his back faces infielders we find that he struggles in judging routes. He often takes a shallower route than necessary, although is sometimes able to make up for it and catch the ball.

[TooLiveBrew]

Those are interesting points, DHonks. I know his reputation with the Twins was that his physical abilities made up for less-than-stellar instincts (from some ChiSox fans I know & trust).

[danzig6767]

I disagree with those that are saying Gomez has great defensive instincts. On balls where he has to turn his back, he does a terrible job tracking and finding them. On hard hit deep drives in the gap, he does well ONLY when he doesn't have to run towards the CF fence. The moment his back faces infielders we find that he struggles in judging routes. He often takes a shallower route than necessary, although is sometimes able to make up for it and catch the ball.

The only balls i see him struggle with off the bat are ones hit straight at him. When the ball is hit to the left or right of him, i think he does a fabulous job reading the ball right away and taking good angles.

 

I know playing baseball at that level is vastly vastly different than playing softball, but i played a quasi-CF spot for a couple of years and for whatever reason, i found balls hit straight at me, be it shallow or over my head the hardest to judge immediately off the bat as to whether i should run in or go back. Watch other centerfielders, you'll also see guys struggle more with misjudging balls right off the bat when it's hit pretty much straight in line with them. I don't know why that is.

[ilikewisco]

Its just the way you see the ball carrying. If their's some angle you can judge its trajectory better. Playing infield growing up I had a heck of a time judging balls hit right at me when I started playing outfield in slow pitch.

[rwa12]

I've had the luck of talking to two different major leaguers lately, and actually brought up Gomez both times when told that the Brewers didn't have one decent defensive player. Both said, he takes horrible routes, he's just fast and can usually compensate for instincts.

I was at the game yesterday, the ball he missed from Pujols was directly in the sun, he was on it, just couldn't see it. And, oddly enough, he was about the only Brewer who looked like he knew what he was doing at the plate. In the 9th, during one of CC's 378 foul balls, Gomez caught McGehee. Prompted my non sports fan wife to ask if he was allowed to pass the other guys. I'm not sure he couldn't have caught up with Prince, scoring from third, while he was at first. It's funny I remember watching Pods, but Gomez has speed like I've never seen once he takes off. It is really impressive to watch in person.