FanPost

Fanpost Friday: Forgotten Prospects - an Uncomfortable Comparison

The Sox have a minor league player is very much the forgotten man. It’s easy to see why – his batting averages tend to be quite low, he’s unathletic, he’s 1b-only (and probably DH). He’s embarrassingly bad hitting against lefties. Zero chance of versatility. So why bother?

Well, there’s the flip side. His batting averages are low, but that’s partly because of his natural splits, and partly off-set because he’s really selective. He takes a lot of walks.

And he also murderlizes right-handed pitching.

Here are some fun comparisons with Player A and Player B

2019 (Pawtucket - AAA)

Player A – vs. LHP (.535 OPS)

Player A – vs. RHP (.898 OPS)

Player B – vs. LHP (.950 OPS) (first taste of AAA pitching)

Player B – vs. RHP (.753 OPS) (first taste of AAA pitching)

2018 (Pawtucket - AAA)

Player A – vs. LHP (.460 OPS) (first taste of AAA pitching)

Player A – vs. RHP (.783 OPS) (first taste of AAA pitching)

Player B – n/a

Player B – n/a

2018 (Portland- AA)

Player A – vs. LHP (.586 OPS)

Player A – vs. RHP (.968 OPS)

Player B – vs. LHP (.701 OPS)

Player B – vs. RHP (.868 OPS)

Judging prospects by slash lines in the minors is generally a very poor practice. Leagues can differ, home parks can differ, quality of opposing defenses will differ, age levels and maturity matter. However, it’s much more useful in these comps because league, park, opposition are all the same…as is age.

Who would you rather have? Who would you consider the more appealing first base prospect?

A few more notes are in order:

- about 70% of MLB plate appearances are against right handed pitchers, so it’s far more prevalent. Player A mashes righties. Player B not so much.

- Player A is 3 months younger than Player B.

So, the big reveal:

Player A – Josh Ockimey

Player B – Bobby Dalbec

Dalbec is penciled in as the starter at first base. Ockimey is penciled in for…obscurity.

And to be sure, scouting reports go far, far beyond mere slash lines, but again, at the same level and the same age and the same league and the same park, Ockimey crushes righties and Dalbec crushes lefties.

Also, Dalbec is competent against righties. Not…great. But competent. Josh Ockimey is pitcher-as-hitter level bad, almost, against lefties. It's kind of comical. But hey, there are a lot more RHPs than LHPs!

It sure sounds like the settings of an MLB-minimum MLB platoon, to me. And Dalbec’s profile always evaluated him as a third baseman. But now that he’s moved to first, is he the same guy? And is there much difference between him and Ockimey?


(all stats courtesy of MILB.com)