Matt Clark: first baseman of the future?

[3and2Fastball]

Not a bad start at all for Matt Clark (3 HR's in his first 16 at-bats, and an .813 SLG %)

 

Is this guy our 1B of the future? He's 27 years old this year meaning he'll be in his prime years from 2015-2017 or so....

 

Is there any way to have him on our playoff roster?

 

And finally, what took the Brewers front office so long to get him to MLB?

[Bombers]

Well that's funny - I just made a post at the same time

 

Here is what I said

 

I have no idea why it took any organization so long to give the kid a shot but I am sure glad he is here. I don't think he is a perennial all star but the guy looks like he belongs. I am most certainly glad we don't have to see the .200 hitting Reynolds anymore. Or will we?

 

So what say you BF - should Clark get all starts through the end of the season? (And Reynolds isn't better vs lefties than he is vs righties. So don't even say the word platoon to me)

 

I for one am hoping we see a lot of Clark. And hope we find a way to get him on the playoff roster.

[superfly]

I know one thing...Clark has a pretty swing.

[brewmann04]

I agree be saying that since his call up no reason not to play this guy full time gives us some needed power. Love his numbers in limetef time at nashville

[Outlander]

There will be no issue putting him on the playoff roster. I would say he has a decent shot at the first base job in 2015 but he has been producing his entire minor league career so who knows.

[adambr2]

How would they get him on the playoff roster? DL someone from whatever the 25 man roster was on August 31st and use him as an injury replacement?

[Outlander]

Because of the injuries to Thornburg and Henderson anybody in the organization at August 31 is eligible.

[JohnBriggs12]

Well that's funny - I just made a post at the same time

 

Here is what I said

 

I have no idea why it took any organization so long to give the kid a shot but I am sure glad he is here. I don't think he is a perennial all star but the guy looks like he belongs. I am most certainly glad we don't have to see the .200 hitting Reynolds anymore. Or will we?

 

So what say you BF - should Clark get all starts through the end of the season? (And Reynolds isn't better vs lefties than he is vs righties. So don't even say the word platoon to me)

 

I for one am hoping we see a lot of Clark. And hope we find a way to get him on the playoff roster.

 

It's tough breaking into the big leagues at 1B for anything but top prospects. Teams want sure fire offensive production there. Clark was blocked first by Adrian Gonzalez then for a while Anthony Rizzo and finally Yonder Alonso, the latter two being guys the Padres traded for. Ironically, Hunter Morris has experienced the same thing. Look how the Brewers opted to bring in Reynolds and Overbay this year instead of going with untested Morris and Halton. They took the known, even flawed as it appeared over the unknown.

 

I really like that for a power guy Clark's not a strikeout machine and still seems to be getting better. A year in Japan can't help but make a guy better against breaking stuff too. He'll have to show it over an extended period to ever become a cornerstone player, but who knows, maybe he's another Raul Ibanez. Even if he's a Casey McGehee as far as giving them a couple solid years at low cost, that's fine too.

[Invader3K]

It's too early to get excited about him, but he is at least showing promise. I don't see any reason he can't be in the mix during Spring Training 2015.

 

Reynolds has at least delivered in the power category and played some very good defense at times. Overbay has been what we all pretty much expected...a basically washed up hitter who can play semi-competent defense. I wouldn't be shocked to see Reynolds back next season, but hopefully Overbay calls it a career or goes elsewhere.

[adambr2]

Because of the injuries to Thornburg and Henderson anybody in the organization at August 31 is eligible.

 

He wasn't on the 40 on August 31st, was he? Doesn't matter?

[WV Brew]

Minor league numbers:

Mark Reynolds: .279/.360/.522

Matt Clark: .286/.362/.503

Jason Rogers: .287/.367/.457

Hunter M.: .272/.321/.478

 

Reynolds clearly has the most power but he's also past his prime. Clark was older when producing his numbers for the most part. Hunter Morris is the worst in getting on base. I could see a platoon of Rogers and Clark or even Rogers and Morris. If they have Ramirez next year, Rogers could back him up as well.

[3and2Fastball]

Matt Lepay was on the radio this morning in Madison talking about how difficult it is for MLB front offices to judge AAA talent like Clark. It is tough to know whether they are merely AAAA talent who go up & down from the majors to minors and back, or legit players who can give MLB teams solid seasons....

 

Given how fleetingly small the samples are for these types of players as managers go with the "hot hands", I recognize that the difference between a guy sticking in MLB or going 0 for 7 and never being back again can be extremely small.....

[TURBO]

The way things turned out last year, there was still no excuse in not trying Morris and Halton at 1B for an extended period of time, especially when it was obvious we were not going to be anywhere near the playoffs. That was the perfect time to see what a guy like Morris might do, but we continued to trot out garbage day after day all season long. That was failure in my opinion.

[reillymcshane]

I have no problem giving the guy a fair shake next season at the 1B job. But honestly, I won't expect a lot. Older guys like this should pound AAA pitching. It makes me think of Bryan LaHair, who went from 29 year old rookie all-star to minor leaguer (with a stop in Japan) in less than two years.

 

Older guys in AAA don't often become quality major leaguers. Go back to 2010. There were 26 players with a .900+ OPS (minimum of 143 plate appearances). Only five of those players were under 25 (and most have become productive major leaguers - Buster Posey, Logan Morrison, Arencibia, Trumbo and Chris Davis). The rest of the players were 25 and older. Only 3 of the remaining 21 guys have become decent big leaguers (Allen Craig, Chris Johnson and Alex Gordan).

 

But like people have noted, Clark doesn't appear to have ever really given a square shake at the big leagues despite some solid AA and AAA numbers. In fact, it's foolish NOT to consider the guy in some capacity. Teams like Milwaukee need to take a few chances on guys like this. If the club likes his skillset, mechanics, etc., why not try him out. I'd rather take a risk with a guy like Clark or Rogers than another season of Overbay.

[igor67]

There are plenty of reasons to be cautious, but given how unspectacular 1st base has been for us, we have the benefit of very little risk with a guy like Clark. Barring a trade Clark/ Rogers replacing Overbay and Reynolds looks pretty reasonable with a little more positional flexibility to have them be a 5th OF as well. As a platoon I think they have a shot to post a combined .800 OPS, individually I'd say .750 for each, but again there is some upside in those numbers, and either set of numbers is comfortably better than our current situation.

[reillymcshane]

Matt Clark notes (AKA, things I thought were interesting about the guy).

 

Note 1: Splits

 

Outside of 2014, he has had more trouble against left handed pitchers than right handers (as a lot of left handed hitters do):

 

2010 (AA): .772 OPS vs lefties; .852 vs righties

2011 (AAA): .754 OPS vs lefties; .891 vs righties

2012 (AAA): .808 OPS vs lefties; .897 vs righties

2013 - Played in Japan

2014 (AA/AAA/NL): .953 OPS vs lefties; .920 vs righties

 

The splits are not massive, but an occasional platoon partner might be wise.

 

Note 2: Japan

 

Matt spent 2013 in Japan, producing a pedestrian .785 OPS. The power was there (25 HR), but the average was not (.238 BA).

 

Note 3: Family

 

Matt Clark's father. Terry Clark, was a major league pitcher for parts of six seasons. He had finished his career with a 5.54 ERA over 232.1 innings. Interestingly, Terry reached the majors at age 27, but within two years was back in the minors. He spent five seasons in the minors (highlighted by several knee surgeries) before making it back to the big leagues at age 34.

 

Note 4: Rule Five miss

 

Matt was available in the Rule Five draft after the 2011 campaign (when he produced an .861 OPS in AAA), but no one selected him. It should be noted that 100 players hit .298 or better (minimum 143 ABs) in the PCL that season. Caleb Gindl had an .862 OPS and Taylor Green has a .997 OPS. 15 players had an OPS over 1.000 (only 3 of those 15 are major league regulars).

 

Note 5: Minor league rankings

 

Clark was ranked the 29th Padres prospect following the 2009 season. He never appeared in a BA Top 30 list after that season. John Sickels twice (2010 and 2011) listed Clark in the 'other guys considered' (along with 10-20 others) in his Top 20 prospect listings.

[reillymcshane]

There are plenty of reasons to be cautious, but given how unspectacular 1st base has been for us, we have the benefit of very little risk with a guy like Clark. Barring a trade Clark/ Rogers replacing Overbay and Reynolds looks pretty reasonable with a little more positional flexibility to have them be a 5th OF as well. As a platoon I think they have a shot to post a combined .800 OPS, individually I'd say .750 for each, but again there is some upside in those numbers, and either set of numbers is comfortably better than our current situation.

Major league 1B have an average OPS of .757 this year. Milwaukee has a .660 OPS. If the guys could get a .750 OPS out of a platoon it would be great.

[JohnBriggs12]

There are plenty of reasons to be cautious, but given how unspectacular 1st base has been for us, we have the benefit of very little risk with a guy like Clark. Barring a trade Clark/ Rogers replacing Overbay and Reynolds looks pretty reasonable with a little more positional flexibility to have them be a 5th OF as well. As a platoon I think they have a shot to post a combined .800 OPS, individually I'd say .750 for each, but again there is some upside in those numbers, and either set of numbers is comfortably better than our current situation.

 

I'd rather have Rogers playing everyday. They can use Lucroy at 1B vs. many lefties. My guess is they'll add another RH bat with some versatility to play OF and 1B occasionally too. It'll probably be a veteran though as his booster on here, I believe Halton would be adequate in that role too. Big Sean put up impressive platoon splits at AAA this year, bashing lefties at a rate of .342/.387/.509.

[reillymcshane]

There are plenty of reasons to be cautious, but given how unspectacular 1st base has been for us, we have the benefit of very little risk with a guy like Clark. Barring a trade Clark/ Rogers replacing Overbay and Reynolds looks pretty reasonable with a little more positional flexibility to have them be a 5th OF as well. As a platoon I think they have a shot to post a combined .800 OPS, individually I'd say .750 for each, but again there is some upside in those numbers, and either set of numbers is comfortably better than our current situation.

 

I'd rather have Rogers playing everyday. They can use Lucroy at 1B vs. many lefties. My guess is they'll add another RH bat with some versatility to play OF and 1B occasionally too. It'll probably be a veteran though as his booster on here, I believe Halton would be adequate in that role too. Big Sean put up impressive platoon splits at AAA this year, bashing lefties at a rate of .342/.387/.509.

Rogers is right handed. Halton and him are essentially the same players - 1B who dabble at 3B and OF. But Rogers looks like the better hitter.

[logan82]

2010 (AA): .772 OPS vs lefties; .852 vs righties

2011 (AAA): .754 OPS vs lefties; .891 vs righties

2012 (AAA): .808 OPS vs lefties; .897 vs righties

2013 - Played in Japan

2014 (AA/AAA/NL): .953 OPS vs lefties; .920 vs righties

 

The splits are massive, but an occasional platoon partner might be wise.

Those splits are not massive. Ryan Braun for example has a .160 split in OPS for his career. Aramis Ramirez .100

Lucroy .135

Andrew McCutchen .139

Jose Abreu .146

Gincarlo Stanton .095

Mike Trout .054 reverse split

 

If I had to guess a .100 split is typical of most hitters. If a guy isn't all that great to begin with then you can platoon him to gain whatever advantage you can from a platoon. On the other hand, 1B seems like a really bad place to have a platoon unless one of the guys is more than just a 1B.

 

Edit: You want massive look at Scooter and his .575 career split.

[reillymcshane]

2010 (AA): .772 OPS vs lefties; .852 vs righties

2011 (AAA): .754 OPS vs lefties; .891 vs righties

2012 (AAA): .808 OPS vs lefties; .897 vs righties

2013 - Played in Japan

2014 (AA/AAA/NL): .953 OPS vs lefties; .920 vs righties

 

The splits are massive, but an occasional platoon partner might be wise.

Those splits are not massive. Ryan Braun for example has a .160 split in OPS for his career. Aramis Ramirez .100

Lucroy .135

Andrew McCutchen .139

Jose Abreu .146

Gincarlo Stanton .095

Mike Trout .054 reverse split

 

If I had to guess a .100 split is typical of most hitters. If a guy isn't all that great to begin with then you can platoon him to gain whatever advantage you can from a platoon. On the other hand, 1B seems like a really bad place to have a platoon unless one of the guys is more than just a 1B.

 

Edit: You want massive look at Scooter and his .575 career split.

 

Egad, I meant to type are NOT massive. Thanks for that. I'll fix.

[brewcrewdue80]

I really like his swing from the 3 ABs I've seen 1HR. He actually reminds me of Christian Yelich in the box who's having a very solid year at the plate. Really just appears to be a bigger stronger Scooter. Since I like Gennett, I like this guy. Feel like he can grind out some abs and at least put the ball in play in any direction. Looks far better than Overbay at the Plate.

[DHonks]

I'd expect 2015 to have Clark/Rogers platooning at 1b, Ramirez at 3b, and Rogers filling in 1-2 days a week at 3b.

[JohnBriggs12]

Count me skeptical that Ramirez will be back unless he accepts something less than mutual option amount of $14 million. While he can still hit, $14 million is a lot for a guy with diminishing power who can't run and needs 1-2 days of rest per week.

[jerichoholicninja]

Clark will be on the 2015 opening day roster. By the All Star break it will be obvious he needs to be replaced, but he won't.