Link Report for Tuesday 8/18

[TheCrew07]

I probably wasn't clear enough on Clint.

 

Yes he's still getting XBHs and yes I understand where he ranks in the league. I won't get into league comparisons simply because I don't have the time, nor did I last night. I don't think he's a comparable hitter to Roache either. Roache chased a ton of breaking stuff out of the zone, Clint swings through hittable FBs.

 

My point is that while all batters are mistake hitters to a certain extent, that's pretty much all Clint is at this point... almost half of his hits each month are for XBH, the problem is he's not able to get hits, and this is a repeatable pattern. His strike out rate isn't alarming, nor was it last year, once pitchers stop challenging him then his production tails off significantly. Space Coast Stadium is not the root cause of his AVE sitting below .240 for much of the season, something else is going on.... the stadium does turn HRs into outs and 2Bs which is why I chose to focus on his XBH trend to make my point.

 

He's a wonderful power prospect but this is the 2nd straight year he's been unable to make adjustments after a hot start. Last year he finished very strong, this year not so much. I said before he needed to make significant adjustments to be better than a .240 hitter at MLB but that may have been far too optimistic because most of our legitimate prospects have started ascending by the time they reach A+. I realize that every prospect has his own unique path but if you're trending Coulter's career how does it look?

 

I've been cautiously optimistic for a long time but now I'm becoming just cautious. Of course I understand he's just 21, and that he can repeat the level again, but I don't think just bumping him to AA is going to solve anything. His HRs might bounce back but I don't see his hit tool holding up better in AA than it did in A+ if nothing changes.

[zzzmanwitz]

Fair point TheCrew. Would it be ideal that he hits for average as well as power? Absolutely. But I think he can still be solid contributor at the major league level if he hits .245-.260 with a strong walk rate and hits for power.