Where is Domingo's Power?

[djoctagone]

he hasn't started a game yet since roster expansion (the presence of curtis granderson probably blocks him), but santana did double last night as a pinch hitter.

[TooLiveBrew]

He's done well pinch-hitting so far. If he can get comfortable with that role, he might come up with some big hits down the stretch here. All the really good postseason teams seem to have a guy or two that (at least that season) thrives in the PH role. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Domingo finds his stroke again, & can be that extra weapon off the bench?

[Humans Need Water]

dWAR over a 11 game span....come on man. You think he is really worth about -16+ WAR per year defensively? He doesn't even have a single error in his 80 or so innings. That's just impossible to believe he is that bad.

 

Of course maybe things have changed not playing the OF much these days. With us he actually ran good routes and got good jumps (severely underrated and under noticed by novice fans). Was his arm weak? Yah, but that is incredibly overrated by fans constantly. Yelich has a trash arm and no one really bats an eye.

 

With us he was about a -1.0 WAR guy defensively (I would agree there), but that surely was not bad at all with the offense he provided...especially in his last year. Stearns likely thought it was a fluke and sold high. Too bad for us it wasn't and our light trade package turned to junk if Nottingham doesn't provide anything.

 

There is no way Eric Thames is better than Davis in the OF. Eric Thames shuffles and side steps to fly balls in the gap, he can't get grounders without looking like a tumble weed, and looks so uncomfortable you wonder if he thinks he has no clothes on. It is brutal. Nothing is easy for him out there.

1 - Yelich has an average arm, just like Cain. Average is significantly better than whatever you want to call Davis' arm. Yelich recently, on a competitive throw, hit 88mph according to Statcast. 2yrs ago Statcast had Davis ranked last in MLB at 78mph.

That's a *significant* difference.

 

2 - WAR/UZR are flawed and anybody who's researched how they're calculated knows this. Davis has played what amounts to 9.5 full games in LF this year and has a -4 DRS. And your defense for him is, well, he hasn't committed an error so he can't be that bad, right? My 10.5 month old daughter could sit in LF picking grass and not commit an error in 9.5 games - that tells you next to nothing about the quality of defender they are or how valuable they are to the team. Davis is -20 total DRS the previous 3yrs while averaging 97 full games per year so if he actually played an entire season it would be minimum -30 total. Thames is 2 DRS in RF this year. Him in RF also allows Yelich to shift to LF, his best position, making the unit much better. We can't do that with Davis.

 

3 - Thames clearly has a better arm but he's also faster than Davis as well. Statcast has Davis at 26.2 ft/sec sprint speed - making him slower than every Brewer except Moose, Pina, Kratz, Aguilar, Bandy. He's *slower* than Shaw - let that sink in. Thames is faster than Braun, Granderson, Arcia, Santana. Additionally, Thames' running and throwing aren't fluid because he's a monster. No, he doesn't side step to get balls in the gap because that doesn't even make sense to begin with. He side steps when there's a routine fly ball within several strides of him because that's just how he moves 10' when he has all day to get under the ball. But he gets the job done and that's all that matters. You're right on one point though, Davis was pretty decent at jumps and routes. Except that doesn't matter when your sprint speed is slower than Shaw's. It doesn't matter when you throw 78mph. He's not a full time DH because he gets good jumps and takes good routes. He's a DH because he's significant liability.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/khris-davis-has-four-assists/

 

*side note: the author starting his final paragraph saying it doesn't matter very much, regarding his arm strength, is a comically brutal take and literally undermines his *entire* piece as he did nothing but prove it actually does matter as runs were guaranteed to score (and pay attention to the players he didn't come close to throwing out).

 

4 - Stats

250/315/809 with Brewers

247/323/828 final year with Brewers

*if given 560AB like he's had with As he'd have hit 45, 25, 39HR with the Brewers

 

248/324/855 with As hitting 42-43HR (directly between his first/last years with Brewers)

 

He's drawn a few more walks and hit a few more HR - he's basically the same player. Stearns wasn't hoping his last season with us was a fluke thus trying to sell high on him. Stearns traded him because he was a massive defensive liability (arm included) that absolutely couldn't be used in shifts, we don't have the DH, he provides zero impact on the bases and we had other players that needed an opportunity.

 

5 - At the time of the trade we got a Top 100 catching prospect who split A/A+ and a recent 6th rd pitching prospect in A ball. Both were in AAA this year and one made his MLB debut showing that if he continues to improve he's an every day player. Both will be on MLB rosters at some point next year. Not exactly *light* for a DH with a career 190 BA when not hitting HRs.

[Ennder]

Thames vs Davis (or Granderson) is exactly why you need to use the defensive metrics. The eye test just does not work for defense. You can have a fielder like Pillar who makes amazing plays all over the field but he tends to take bad routes, he is slow for a CF and he a pretty average defensive center fielder outside of his arm at this point in his career. A lot of those amazing plays are balls Cain makes look like an easy catch. His strong arm does keep him above average. The eye test is just completely wrong on why he is above average.

[SRB]

I will never get tired of rooting for Davis given how many doubted him when he was coming up in the minors, but guys who can give you 40 HR and absolutely nothing else are actually not that rare. It's sort of the inverse of why 2018 Arcia is so frustrating - incredible defense is not that hard to find if you have zero obligation to hit.

[bork]

It could come down to Broxton or Santana for the 4th outfielder next year, since both will be out of options. Do you keep the defensive versatility or the better offense (potentially).

[DuWayne Steurer]

I will never get tired of rooting for Davis given how many doubted him when he was coming up in the minors, but guys who can give you 40 HR and absolutely nothing else are actually not that rare. It's sort of the inverse of why 2018 Arcia is so frustrating - incredible defense is not that hard to find if you have zero obligation to hit.

 

There was an article (don't remember where, sorry), before 2017 about how guys like Encarnacion, Joey Bautista, Mark Trumbo, and Chris Carter weren't getting ANY kind of interest in the FA market, and it basically was centered around "guys that hit homeruns, don't play D, and hit for low average have no market value"

 

EVERYONE hits homeruns now. Homers are valuable, but they're not a commodity, because most players are understanding of launch angle and so on.

[jjgott]

Domingo after his two pinch hit HRs

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0Tvx4t-WI0

[shanedog19]

It could come down to Broxton or Santana for the 4th outfielder next year, since both will be out of options. Do you keep the defensive versatility or the better offense (potentially).

 

I feel like Santana has far more upside than Broxton. If he can regain his 2017 form, an outfield of Yelich, Cain and Santana would be unbelievable.

[TURBO]

It could come down to Broxton or Santana for the 4th outfielder next year, since both will be out of options. Do you keep the defensive versatility or the better offense (potentially).

 

I feel like Santana has far more upside than Broxton. If he can regain his 2017 form, an outfield of Yelich, Cain and Santana would be unbelievable.

 

Yes, in theory, that sounds great, but we still have Braun on the roster, and probably always will...

[tmwiese55]

You need 4 guys. I'd rather have Braun than having to play the likes of Perez and Nick Franklin etc.

[shanedog19]

It could come down to Broxton or Santana for the 4th outfielder next year, since both will be out of options. Do you keep the defensive versatility or the better offense (potentially).

 

I feel like Santana has far more upside than Broxton. If he can regain his 2017 form, an outfield of Yelich, Cain and Santana would be unbelievable.

 

Yes, in theory, that sounds great, but we still have Braun on the roster, and probably always will...

 

He's probably an 80 game/year player the rest of his career, he can also spell Yelich/Cain for some games as well.

[MNBrew]

I think Braun still starts over Santana. That said, I think Santana's more likely here & on the 2019 roster than not.

 

I've always believed your 4th OF is someone you want to be comfortable with if he has to start 100 games. To that end, I love Broxton's defense but his offense is often pretty putrid other than the occasional HR. We spent the first half of 2918 with too many offensive black holes in the lineup (namely Pina, the revolving door at 2B, & Arcia) for me to want to risk that possibility again in 2019 in the OF -- which is what Broxton would represent to me.

 

Santana's offense has come back around some, albeit much slower than was hoped when he was sent down to AAA, and I'd feel much better about him starting 100 games than Broxton. I feel like Santana has a better MLB track record and he's also younger. I'd love to find a way to keep Keon, but he seems more like trade bait & a non-tender candidate, all his cool positives notwithstanding.