What do you think we have in Aoki?

[SenatorShriv]

Early in the season still, but what do folks think we have in Aoki? I don't get to watch nearly as many games as I used to so I've only seen sporadic performances so far.

 

From what I have seen he strikes me as a solid fourth outfielder. I wouldn't want to have him starting but over spring training and his limited playing time he seems to be holding his own at the plate and has been a solid addition to the roster. He's facing most of these pitchers for the first time so I'm hoping that he continues to improve over the course of the year.

 

I'm curious about what folks who have observed a bit more of his playing time have to say about his baserunning and defense. Is he fast enough that we can use him as a pinch runner / late inning defensive replacement? I haven't watched a game where he had to make a hard throw, how is his arm?

[Invader3K]

I wouldn't mind him getting some more starts so we can really see what he can do, but it's tough with the outfield we have right now.

[chadomac]

I like him and I think he's probably about as good as Morgan - and very similar in many ways. I hope that if Morgan gets hot we can trade him at the deadline this year or let him go after this year... there's really no point in having both Morgan AND Aoki AND Schafer. Schafer would probably be starting if not for our plethora of centerfielders right now.

[umphrey]

He is Nyjer Morgan except he can take a walk and read fly balls. I also love players that see a lot of pitches, which he always does. 3 man platoon please. Split the RHP 50/50 between Aoki and Morgan and give Gomez RHP. Maybe even line up 1 day a week of rest for Hart against RHP and start both lefties. Not too often though, need Hart to hit 5th pretty much every day.

[monty57]

The guy's a multi-year batting champ and multi-year gold glove winner in Japan. I said when we signed him that he looked to me to be a Nyjer Morgan-type player who could hit lefties as well as righties, and thought that we should have traded Morgan as soon as Braun was cleared and put Aoki in his role. I think Aoki will be a good MLB CF if given the chance, but with Morgan and Gomez on the team this year and Schafer the likely CF of the future, I don't know if Aoki will get that chance in Milwaukee.

[reillymcshane]

I love how Aoki has been working counts. No one takes more pitches on the team than him (5.0 per plate appearance). Morgan is the worst - 3.37 per plate appearance.

 

I have to say that Plush was great last year - so I don't think we should be yanking him. Gotta give him time to come around.

 

I would be interesting to see how Aoki does as a full timer. I think he can be good. Numbers right now are so small.

[JohnBriggs12]

The OF situation is very interesting. The highest ceiling guy is Gomez and he's been on fire. It's tempting to see what he can do playing a little more. Aoki and Morgan are very serviceable players and pretty interchangeable with Aoki's ability to also hit LH pitching perhaps giving him an edge. Hart's hitting like an All Star. We knew the OF was stacked but it's been even better than anticipated.

 

That's good news with a pitching staff that's been less than advertised. They may need to come up with a pitcher somehow and they can deal from strength with the OF.

[chickinbrickin]

From what I have seen he strikes me as a solid fourth outfielder.

 

I believe he is much better than a fourth outfielder. As many have already said he is Nyjer with better defense. He can read fly balls, run and has a much better arm.

 

I personally would like to see him get more starts against RHP and bat leadoff. He would be a great hitter to lead off a game because he sees a ton of pitches and is a pretty hard out. I could see him irritating an opposing pitcher and getting him out of his grove.

[JohnBriggs12]

Aoki has the ability to foul off one tough pitch after another. Against the better pitchers in the league, that's a nice asset to have.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I really like what Aoki brings to the table. When you compare the quality at-bats he has to the at-bats Morgan has, it's not even close. Aoki looks outstanding, working deep into counts and being tough on the pitcher. Whereas, Morgan is a free swinger who hasn't drawn a single walk and has 10 K's in 48 AB's. Aoki also looks better in the OF. He take far better routes to ball, has a far better arm, and just seems to have better awareness out there. It's pretty obvious to me already that he's a better player than Morgan. He should at least be splitting time against RHP right now. I do think he'll eventually take that spot and Morgan will get traded. Just seems inevitable that Morgan is the odd man out. Gomez has also looked outstanding so far. I'm not sure I'd mess with him and start throwing him out there against RHP, mainly because he's doing so well in his role right now. I wouldn't be opposed to giving him more playing time though, because he seems to finally be turning a corner. Either way, Morgan is on the outside looking in. He's getting out-played by both of the other CFs.

[umphrey]

If Aoki and Morgan are playing the same day who plays CF? Has that happened yet?

[3and2Fastball]

Still not completely sold on him but the samples are way too small to really get a handle on what he can or cannot do. He might be as good as Morgan. I'd be surprised if Aoki could hit .300 in a platoon split, of course it'd be a pleasant surprise though, but Morgan only gets on base at a .350 clip vs RHP and I think Aoki could achieve that.

 

Which brings to mind the thought that Morgan would really have a tremendous amount of more value if he walked more... and could steal more bases... and could field better... etc etc

[RobDeer 45]

Man this really has me thinking a lot and I don't know if I can fully answer this yet. All these posts have me thinking a lot more about the whole outfield as well.

 

I like Aoki a lot so far. I think he offers a lot for this team, whether off the bench or starting. A guy like that is one you want to keep around. How old is he and how long do we have him under contract?

 

I have been a big Gomez supporter forever and really really want to see him on this team for more years. If he gets in the starting lineup, great, but if not, what a great weapon to have off the bench. He's still got a long way to go at the plate but his defense is something special.

 

Morgan was great for this team last year but right now he seems like he could be left out. I totally agree that if we can get his average up that he'd be a good trade chip.

 

So I guess what I'm coming up with here is that I'd love to see more Aoki and Gomez battling it out.

[3and2Fastball]

Aoki is 30 years old and we have him signed for this year and 2013 with a team option for 2014

 

He is a fun player to watch and root for....

[Raw Biz]

Like others have said, Aoki and Morgan are basically the same player except Aoki can hit lefties and is probably a little better on defense (judging fly balls). Because of that (and Gomez and Schafer), I think we should trade Morgan. That would give Aoki more PT and allow us to solve the Izturis problem by bringing up either Green or Conrad. Personally, I'd bring them both up and send down Ishikawa but that won't happen with the way Ishikawa has played. It would be nice to have a RH off the bench but I think Green is the better player. Regardless, Green/Conrad + Aoki is better than Izturis + Morgan. Perhaps we could also get a solid bullpen arm for Morgan to replace Dillard/McClendon/Parra as well.

[brettac1]

A good baseball player. He's probably become my favorite guy on the team to watch take an AB.

[DHonks]

A bit quick for a lot of people to comment on here. Here's what we know:

-Morgan ranks as among the best defensive CF's, although struggles sometimes coming in on balls and has a weak arm

-Morgan should never face a lefty.

-Gomez should rarely face a righty (don't be fooled by small samples so far. a few good at bats don't chance the 2,000 or so of his career)

-Gomez ranks among the top 2 or 3 defensive CF's, although struggles with some routes going back on balls, but has a very strong arm

-Gomez has power, but allergic to working count and drawing walks

-Aoki has good at bats and slaps the ball all over the field.

-Aoki historically bats better off lefties than righties.

-Aoki has adequate range for CF, but we also have 2 of the top 5 CF's in baseball ahead of him

 

As of now, I like the idea of letting Gomez face lefties, Morgan face 2/3rd of righties, and Aoki face 1/3, while also trying to get Hart a few days off a month (and perhaps Braun given intercoastal injuries in past).

[1992casey]

Aoki is 30 years old and we have him signed for this year and 2013 with a team option for 2014

 

Because he's a rookie with no previous Major League service time, he's under team control through the 2017 season.

[logan82]

Gomez should rarely face a righty (don't be fooled by small samples so far. a few good at bats don't chance the 2,000 or so of his career)

I would say that Gomez shouldn't face pitching unless the other CF is almost as bad at hitting as Gomez or below average in CF.

[Ennder]

Gomez is a positive value player so he would be fine starting every day on some teams. It is just nice that we have other options. The key with Gomez is he should never be playing RF, all of his value goes down the drain when you aren't highlighting the defense. Morgan should never face a LHP I agree with that. I don't have clue what Aoki is, I like that he makes contact, he has only shown warning track power so far, haven't been impressed by his fielding or depressed by it either.

[RockCoCougars]

He has definitely held his own in limited duty. Better than I expected for sure. However, I wouldn't trade Mogan back to Washington for Cutter Dykstra just yet.

[GormanHarvey]

I would like to see if he has the ability to make solid contact more consistently if he did get more playing time. Has only hit a few balls hard so far. Definitely works the count. Haven't seen enough of him defensively to form a full opinion yet.

[DHonks]

Ender, has he even hit a ball to the warning track? He may have warning track power, but I haven't seen anything to even normal outfield depth. As of now he's a lot like Tony Gwynn JR only with less speed and greater bat control. I trust his Japanese stats, but by no means am I proclaiming him a starter yet

[brettac1]

He hit one there on Tuesday night, IIRC. It was a pretty well-hit ball.

[Oldcity]

He homered off Kershaw in Spring Training, for whatever that's worth.

 

I'd like to see him more, that's for sure.