Yuniesky Betancourt: What value does he bring to the team? (part 2)

[rluzinski]

The behind-the back-flip is nice but other SS do that as well. What made the play so spectacular was the flip in conjunction with the high barehand catch, which allowed for the very quick throw from Weeks. The transition from Betancourt to Weeks to Fielder was so uniquely quick.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The behind-the back-flip is nice but other SS do that as well. What made the play so spectacular was the flip in conjunction with the high barehand catch, which allowed for the very quick throw from Weeks. The transition from Betancourt to Weeks to Fielder was so uniquely quick.

Oh, I definitely agree, it was fun to see. Definitely some nice fielding 'eye candy'. I guess Bowa's (and other people's) point is that a good shortstop makes that play without the flash, because he's square to the ball when he fields it. There was an almost identical play in the Rangers game the same night, and they did a side by side. Andrus ranged just as far as Escobar did, but he was square to the ball when he fielded it, therefore the glove-behind-the-back flip wasn't necessary, and the play wasn't nearly as exciting, but actually a great display of how much better Andrus' range is, compared to Escobars.

[logan82]

Andrus ranged just as far as Escobar did, but he was square to the ball

when he fielded it, therefore the glove-behind-the-back flip wasn't

necessary, and the play wasn't nearly as exciting, but actually a great

display of how much better Andrus' range is, compared to Escobars.

Escobar?

[DuWayne Steurer]

Andrus ranged just as far as Escobar did, but he was square to the ball

when he fielded it, therefore the glove-behind-the-back flip wasn't

necessary, and the play wasn't nearly as exciting, but actually a great

display of how much better Andrus' range is, compared to Escobars.

Escobar?

Betancourt. Whoops.

[Thurston Fluff]

I haven't seen anything to say that Betancourt's range isn't as bad as everyone has said. His arm has been better than advertised so far, though.

 

He moves the ball from the glove to the throwing hand pretty nicely as well. Really his only issues are footwork and range. I guess "only" isn't the right choice of words but you get what I mean.

[strawbossisevil]

Yuni is clearly slumping at the plate. I just wish there was/were a better option at SS. (Unfortunately there simply hasn't been a solid upgrade available...yet). Hopefully the small sample of ABs will regress toward his career norms going forward.

 

Silver lining...at least we don't have Escobar and his .519 (last I checked) OPS. That guy for all of the hupe sure seems to be failing to live up to his potential.

[danzig6767]

Yuni is clearly slumping at the plate. I just wish there was/were a better option at SS. (Unfortunately there simply hasn't been a solid upgrade available...yet). Hopefully the small sample of ABs will regress toward his career norms going forward.

I don't know if i'd say Yuni is slumping at the plate as much as his normal brutal approach at the plate looks to be reaching an epically bad approach level, thus he's not squaring up much on balls he hits. Sliders off the plate are his addiction.

 

The guy just flat out refuses to make pitchers throw him pitches that he can hope to hit square. It's amazing how stupid of a hitter he is, especially since his swing isn't awful and he has some pop for a shortstop. If Betancourt wasn't such a moron up there, i think he could be an above average hitting shortstop.

 

Pitchers aren't as stupid as Yuni is though. There are in depth scouting reports today and tons of video for each hitter. Thus, pitchers know that they can simply throw him a steady diet of balls, particularly on the first pitch and Betancourt will constantly respond in kind by swinging anyways.

 

You'd think after a guy has over 3000 at bats that he'd figure out what even a complete baseball novice could see that pitchers rarely throw Yuni really hittable strikes because he rarely ever forces them to. Yet, there he steps into the batters box over and over swinging at first or second pitch at most pitch garbage. Just incredible stupidity.

[Ennder]

Betancourt is clearly a terrible hitter, lets not beat around the bush here. Luckily Tejada is back playing SS which will save Betancourt from being the worst full time SS in baseball this year. Though it won't surprise me if we somehow manage to downgraded at SS by trading for Tejada.

 

I can only hope we at least trade for a LH SS at some point to steal more AB from Betancourt. Even if it is another utility type like Counsell, every game we can sit Betancourt improves the team.

[DuWayne Steurer]

*** SMALL SAMPLE ALERT ***

 

Just thought it would be funny to point out at this stage of the season, the guy that's been brought up so much in this thread, Nick Punto, has a higher OPS than Albert Pujols.

 

Punto .751 OPS, 110 OPS +

Pujols .739 OPS 105 OPS +

 

*** SMALL SAMPLE ALERT ***

[joepepsi]

I wonder what it would take to get a half season of Hardy back from Baltimore? MacPhail is notorious for asking too much and the organization as a whole is slow to pull the trigger on anything, since every move needs to be approved by Angelos. So they have trouble closing deadline deals.

 

Robert Andino played well at ss while Hardy was on the DL. Perhaps he'll be available, or perhaps his small sample of good play is enough to convince the Orioles he's their ss of the future. In that case, they should be shopping Cesar Izturis. He's probably a worse hitter than YuniB, but at least he's always been a good glove.

[endaround]

At this point its hard to be a worse hitter than Betancourt. You think he'll get somewhat better but he could also just be done. This isn't Hanley Ramirez we are waiting on to turn it around after all.

[geddymd73]

The hate for Betancourt is way overblown. The guy hits .309 at home, with an OBP of .329. If he were truly bad, he wouldn't have those kind of numbers at home. If he can replicate just some of that on the road, he will do fine. He just hasn't gotten used to the NL on the road yet. The guy has seen the AL through his whole career, and facing a lot of new stadiums, pitchers, and personnel for the first time.

[Raw Biz]

He just hasn't gotten used to the NL on the road yet. The guy has seen the AL through his whole career, and facing a lot of new stadiums, pitchers, and personnel for the first time.

I don't know how much guys go up to the plate thinking "I haven't played in this stadium before so I don't know what to expect." Sure some guys hit better in certain stadiums but facing a new stadium is kind of a funny excuse for not hitting well. I'm sure Yuni won't be as bad as he's been going forward (kind of hard to be much worse) but even if he hits his career numbers, that won't be very good.

[monty57]

Does someone who follows the minor leagues know anything about Zealous Wheeler's injury status or if Farris has spent any time at SS? It would certainly be nice if one of those two could be called up at some point in the season.

[joepepsi]

Farris has played a handful of games at ss. Wheeler played 93 games at ss for Huntsville last year. Farris doesn't appear to be any better hitter than Yuni.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Farris doesn't take walks, and doesn't hit for power. He's OBP-ing under .300 right now. Don't know much about his glove though.

 

Wheeler's got nice OBP skills, takes a lot of walks and he does have some pop in his bat. He's also maintaining his rate stats consistently as he climbs up the ladder, which is a good thing of course. The thing that concerns me is he's a big dude, not really cut out for shortstop, and the things I've read and seen indicate that SS is not really a position he's going to end up at. 3B seems more his spot eventually.

[rluzinski]

The hate for Betancourt is way overblown. The guy hits .309 at home, with an OBP of .329. If he were truly bad, he wouldn't have those kind of numbers at home.

The guy has 65 AB at home. A very bad hitter could put up those kind of numbers over such a short period of time.

Is he going to finish the season with a .250 OBP? Very doubtful. .280 is probably a reasonable over/under.

 

[TooLiveBrew]

Farris doesn't take walks, and doesn't hit for power. He's OBP-ing under .300 right now. Don't know much about his glove though.

 

Excellent defender with an arm that doesn't play well at SS for more than utility work.

[Ennder]

The hate for Betancourt is way overblown. The guy hits .309 at home, with an OBP of .329. If he were truly bad, he wouldn't have those kind of numbers at home. If he can replicate just some of that on the road, he will do fine. He just hasn't gotten used to the NL on the road yet. The guy has seen the AL through his whole career, and facing a lot of new stadiums, pitchers, and personnel for the first time.

His offensive numbers were some of the worst in baseball the past two years as well, not like this is some new things. When you can't manage a .300 OBP you are going to really struggle to put up value.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Farris doesn't take walks, and doesn't hit for power. He's OBP-ing under .300 right now. Don't know much about his glove though.

 

Excellent defender with an arm that doesn't play well at SS for more than utility work.

Just giving him the once-over, I don't see anything more than a utility guy there really. He doesn't hit much at all. I can't see him sticking at the big league level unless he develops SOMETHING (ability to take a walk, a little power) that gives him a modicum of offensive value.

[RockCoCougars]

A little off tangent, but what is Yuni's 'walk up music'?

[monty57]

A little off tangent, but what is Yuni's 'walk up music'?

I'm guessing it's something like "(I'm just a) Swingin" and certainly not "These boots are made for walkin" or "Walk this way"

 

[BuckyBrewer61]

*Small sample size warning!*

Yuni's past 17 games:

8-56, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 IBB, .143/.153/.232/.385

Yikes. So why does this guy get to start every day? It's not like he has a good track record to warrant sticking with him through thick and thin. I don't think Counsell is necessarily an everyday option either, but why no consideration of a platoon at least?

[FVBrewerFan]

I don't see a platoon happening, that would be way too many starts at SS for Counsell. But I do think he should (and probably will) get more starts if Yuni doesn't pick up the pace real soon. In fact, Counsell will start tonight. He's handled Harang in the past, so if he doesn't start tonight I'll be shocked.

[brewtank34]

*Small sample size warning!*

Yuni's past 17 games:

8-56, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 IBB, .143/.153/.232/.385

Yikes. So why does this guy get to start every day? It's not like he has a good track record to warrant sticking with him through thick and thin. I don't think Counsell is necessarily an everyday option either, but why no consideration of a platoon at least?

Maybe Kotsay can play SS too