waiting for marte
Firstly, small sample size noted. But since this is the interweb, it's time to take out your jump-to-conclusions mats.
My initial concern with Marte was that two (usually savvy) teams trading him in one offseason. This is not to rehash all those old arguments; I understood why Atlanta and Boston needed/wanted to move him. Ostensibly, it made sense, but personally it was still a point of concern. I wouldn't say I was railing against the trade; I was willing to trust Shapiro to make the right move.
Having seen Marte, I can't say my concerns have been mollified. I know he's only had a handful (or two) of at-bats, but his pitch selection seems really poor to me, especially on the breaking ball - not so much that he doesn't make solid contact, but that he can't differentiate between a strike and a ball. And it looks like he has a pretty sizeable hole in his swing (Admittedly I'm no professional scout, just a watcher of baseball games). Couple that with the Indians seeming reluctance to bring him up and the fact they're kind of "kid-glovey" with him (sitting him against certain pitchers and playing Boone instead - yikes) and I find myself increasingly worried.
Maybe that is my lot in life, worrying about the Indians or maybe I'm onto something. So, I leave it to you, let's go tribe friends: Is this bit of Marte's career a meaningless slump in an all-star-laden career or is it a portend of very bad things to come (or somewhere in the middle, even though that's usually right, doesn't it feel like a copout?)
(Also, I'm wondering what his current projection is after factoring in this year's numbers.)
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Re: waiting for marte
by exileincincy on Aug 4, 2006 12:04 PM EDT reply actions
Re: waiting for marte
My thoughts on Marte!
roger - You make good points about Marte and I have a few mild concerns myself, but I agree with exileincincy and Jay in that it is too early to say that Marte is a failure.
What I would like to see from Marte is better strike zone recognition and the ability to use the whole field more consistently - it seems every ball he hits is to the left side of the diamond. Supposedly, that was one of the things he was supposed to work on in Buffalo - hitting the ball to all fields better - I think once he is more conscious of using the whole field up here, I think he'll hit better.
As some have said, he's probably pressing and trying to do too much - once he relaxes, he'll probably do better. Plus, as someone over at MinorLeagueBall.com mentioned, Marte usually starts out slowly at a new level, so he probably still is making adjustments at the ML level, so he needs more time before we get a better read on whether he will be as good as projected or not.
Re: waiting for marte
by apatton on Aug 4, 2006 7:17 PM EDT reply actions
Re: waiting for marte
http://thebaseballcube.com/players/T/Jim-Thome.shtml
Check out that 1992 season, when he was the same age as Marte is now. I think the comparison is particularly apt in that they're similar types of hitters, albeit from different sides of the plate. Great knowledge of the strike zone, power, strikeouts, tendency to develop holes in the swing sometimes.

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