Oh sure, he’s still young too. There’s plenty of college kids that have gotten from around that level to MLB velocity

I take it you haven’t played baseball at a high level then. It is always easier to hit off of pitchers when you know their tendencies. It’s no accident that the game is completely stat-driven.

[removed]

Also mclung is not doing anything in the NBA -being a dunker is not the same as contributing and being able to hang in the NBA. this guy will be an impact player in the game of baseball.

Are we seeing more sticky substances in WBC? They don’t check right?

He coached me in the summers at Bowdoin college for years with his Nike track camp. What a great mentor and intelligent man.

[deleted]

As a kid, I participated in the high jump in junior high and high school. Our track team went to the Drake relays in Des Moines Iowa and made a beeline to the high jump area to watch him compete. 50+ years later and I can still remember in vivid detail watching him jump live. It was an amazing experience.

24 games more to not watch than last World Cup

True but I still think he’s overrated. Just wait it out

Some MLB teams have been able to coax a few mph more out of the guys they draft or sign to the minors. The Cardinals are well-known for doing this in recent years, for example. This guy is pretty tiny for an MLB prospect, but he looks like he can add some muscle. Pitch speed is more about mechanics, anyway. We'll see!

WRC+ is literally the most accurate metric we have to measure a hitter’s production. He’s a generational talent in how well he controls the strike zone and gets in base, and he’s 24 years old. Just go to his baseball savant page and look at his percentile ratings. Other players have had better years since he joined the mlb, but few have been on the same level as him consistently.

[deleted]

He's been well above-average in all five of his seasons. In his worst offensive season, he was 43% better than the average hitter. I think he's slightly overrated -- I'll take Alvarez over him -- but he's a monster. Not sure how anyone could think he's average, to be honest.

My pops worked for him at for a few years and man he was such a kind soul. If you worked up in the valley everyone loved him and how much e cares for this area.

Stroman fuming

HDMH

Sure you can. On-base rate and slugging are so much more important to hitting, based on expected runs scored, and Soto is an on-base juggernaut. Players are purposefully swinging harder and putting up lower averages to increase their SLG, and there's a reason the whole league is doing this now. I have no doubt Soto could hit for a super high average if he wanted -- he was third in average in MLB in 2021, which is proof he has that ability.

I think Alvarez is a better hitter, but Soto is also young as hell. I think Soto has one peak season ahead of him that will blow us all away.

[removed]

Batting average is an incredibly flawed metric for evaluating the productiveness of a hitter. Soto’s has a career .424 OBP which allows him to have a career 153 wrc+, meaning he’s worth 53% more than the average hitter.

Yes he has a good WRC+ stat but he still doesn’t wow me at all. I respect him but there are way better players than him

His worst year, last year, he had a 145 wrc+. That means he was 45% better than an average hitter in his worst year production wise. He still had 99th or 100th percentile ratings in xWOBA, bb%, k%, and zone control metrics. His down year was mostly due to a crippling low batting average on balls in play, which should increase significantly with the shift ban this year.

Soto’s game isn’t aesthetically pleasing to many fans because walking is his main skill, but it leads to him being an incredibly productive hitter based on advanced stats.

That USvCanada game was hard to watch :/

Buster Douglas

I think we have more people that are a fan of the sport itself than a team in particular.

I think the point is that these guys aren't going 50%. You don't get to the majors without a crazy work ethic. This is occurring during Spring Training, where the players are getting ready for the season (so they are doing their best to get into playing shape -- dogging it doesn't help their long-term outlook). And nationality-based team sports are always stocked with patriotic players who want to win.