Frelick working on second and third base with Dustin Pedroia

[Playing Catch]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

I’m not sure what “(tier 1) prospect” is supposed to mean, but by my definition the only tier 1 prospect in the Padres system would be Salas.

I’d say Merrill is a clear tier below Salas and easily a tier above everyone else. If one wanted to put De Vries in this tier too I could see it on upside, but he’s still so far away.

Third tier for me would be the pitchers - Snelling, Lesko, Iriarte and Thorpe. This would be the most aggressive placement I could see giving to Zavala but considering the hit tool and corner OF risk, I’d have him as a tier four prospect at best, or not nearly enough to get Frelick by himself.

Ha! I too, thought the "tier 1" thing was ridiculous.

[MVP2110]

 

 

[HarryDoyle]

Just wanted to let you know that I didn't post that seriously.

[jerichoholicninja]

I'm of the opinion that the vast majority of major leaguers could play any position adequately in a pinch outside of catcher. These guys are professional athletes who've been playing the game their whole lives. Of course there are exceptions like your non-athletes like Rowdy Telez and most lefthand throwers would struggle on the infield outside of 1B. It really bugs me when late in the game a manager refuses to pinch hit a superior hitter because OMG someone might have to play an unusual position for an inning or two. That particular at bat is almost certainly more important than the one defensive play that guy might have to make.

[Brewcrew82]

Honestly, the fact that they're having him test out 3B and 2B speaks a lot about their confidence in him to hit and rebound in the power department after his thumb injury. 

It's good to see. 

[tmwiese55]

Better this than having to roster a backup IF who is a complete waste of an AB when needed, like we seem to do almost every year.  And of course that guy has to get 1-2 starts a week to stay fresh.

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, tmwiese55 said:

Better this than having to roster a backup IF who is a complete waste of an AB when needed, like we seem to do almost every year.  And of course that guy has to get 1-2 starts a week to stay fresh.

I truly hope that Murphy has a different take on line-up composition and a lot of other things having to do with playing time, etc.

I think we truly needed a new view on things.

[Matt]

 

[TURBO]

This feels gimmicky to me.

I don't like the idea of taking anything away from his offensive comfort zone.  Trying to learn two new positions takes away from him concentrating on hitting.  

Just not a fan of this kind of move, when we have a lot of guys who can play 2B and 3B who know the positions.

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but I just don't like this.

[torts]

Fully endorse putting your best players in the lineup, and if it's between frelick and montesario, sals going to get my pick 10 / 10 times

[Jopal78]

21 minutes ago, TURBO said:

This feels gimmicky to me.

I don't like the idea of taking anything away from his offensive comfort zone.  Trying to learn two new positions takes away from him concentrating on hitting.  

Just not a fan of this kind of move, when we have a lot of guys who can play 2B and 3B who know the positions.

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but I just don't like this.

Hitting is what got him to the majors, I don’t think playing a different spot in the field is going to change his approach at the plate or his swing, etc. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

Hitting is what got him to the majors, I don’t think playing a different spot in the field is going to change his approach at the plate or his swing, etc. 

Here's hoping it will, and he develops into an above average hitter at the MLB level - particularly against LHP

[Brewcrew82]

I think some people really underappreciate the extent to which Frelick's thumb injury sapped him of his power last year. He's never going to be a bopper, but he's got more power than he showed. That, combined with his elite BTB skills and his demonstrated ability to get on base will make for a fun player to have at the top of the lineup. Probably settling in around 2-3 annual WAR, maybe a little higher in his peak seasons.

[sveumrules]

22 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

I think some people really underappreciate the extent to which Frelick's thumb injury sapped him of his power last year. He's never going to be a bopper, but he's got more power than he showed. That, combined with his elite BTB skills and his demonstrated ability to get on base will make for a fun player to have at the top of the lineup. Probably settling in around 2-3 annual WAR, maybe a little higher in his peak seasons.

Brewers comp that always pops into my head for Sal is something along the lines of Nori Aoki with better defense.

[Oxy]

3 hours ago, TURBO said:

This feels gimmicky to me.

I don't like the idea of taking anything away from his offensive comfort zone.  Trying to learn two new positions takes away from him concentrating on hitting.  

Just not a fan of this kind of move, when we have a lot of guys who can play 2B and 3B who know the positions.

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but I just don't like this.

How long can you "concentrate" on hitting before it becomes detrimental? Perhaps it doesn't work out, but the risk/reward in trying this out in Spring Training for a few weeks is off the charts in favor of reward...

[Ignitor 4ever]

42 minutes ago, Oxy said:

How long can you "concentrate" on hitting before it becomes detrimental? Perhaps it doesn't work out, but the risk/reward in trying this out in Spring Training for a few weeks is off the charts in favor of reward...

I've never understood how hitting is affected by the position you are playing.  As if a player has it going through his head about defensive options they are learning at a new position while at the plate.  I do not think that is real.  Just an excuse made up by players (or fans) when they happen to go through a slump at the plate while learning a new defensive position.  

[wallus]

If you are going to experiment with this, you do it right away. Spring Training is very long.

[Sixtolezcano]

On 2/17/2024 at 8:21 AM, torts said:

I expect him to be mookie betts

Great! We need an NL MVP level player.

[KeithStone53151]

13 hours ago, TURBO said:

This feels gimmicky to me.

I don't like the idea of taking anything away from his offensive comfort zone.  Trying to learn two new positions takes away from him concentrating on hitting.  

Just not a fan of this kind of move, when we have a lot of guys who can play 2B and 3B who know the positions.

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but I just don't like this.

I was reading through planning to post this exact comment. I like that idea of flexibility in theory, but if he's spending too much time on defense it might impact hitting. That said, maybe frelick has a burnes caliber work ethic and will just do it all in one off season.

[KeithStone53151]

9 hours ago, Ignitor 4ever said:

I've never understood how hitting is affected by the position you are playing.  As if a player has it going through his head about defensive options they are learning at a new position while at the plate.  I do not think that is real.  Just an excuse made up by players (or fans) when they happen to go through a slump at the plate while learning a new defensive position.  

I'm surprised by all the push back on turbo regarding concern about him spending too much time learning a new position and not enough time improving at hitting. It's not like these guys sit on the couch all off season and go grab a bat when they get to spring training. Everyone in baseball is working incredibly hard all off season to improve themselves. If frelick has a heavy focus on developing at a position, that's less work he's doing towards improving his hitting. 

[Matt]

14 hours ago, KeithStone53151 said:

I'm surprised by all the push back on turbo regarding concern about him spending too much time learning a new position and not enough time improving at hitting. It's not like these guys sit on the couch all off season and go grab a bat when they get to spring training. Everyone in baseball is working incredibly hard all off season to improve themselves. If frelick has a heavy focus on developing at a position, that's less work he's doing towards improving his hitting. 

Or he's just putting in additional training time. 

I don't get the idea that any time put in at 3B is automatically time taken away at hitting. You can't spend eight hours in the cage. 

[homer]

i don't think learning a new defensive position takes time away from hitting. If anything it takes time away from the original defensive position. 

[markedman5]

I think fans many times see problems that aren’t there.

 

[Brewcrew82]

If there's one player on this team that I'm not worried about losing his ability to hit a baseball learning a new position, it's Sal Frelick....

[edfunderburk]

On 2/23/2024 at 2:01 PM, sveumrules said:

Brewers comp that always pops into my head for Sal is something along the lines of Nori Aoki with better defense.

Aoki … three syllables in four letters … impressive & hard to do!