Bill James and Joe Posnanski discuss hype and reality with Matt Wieters. I’m very high on Wieters, but I find myself being a bit contrarian because the hype is so out of hand compared to what even the all-time greats can do as rookies. Should the Orioles be happy if Wieters gives them a .294/.349/.472 season with 15 HR, 57 Runs, and 65 RBI? That’s the average of the rookie seasons of Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Gabby Hartnett, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, and Mike Piazza, the greatest hitting catchers the game has seen (average age: 23, same as Wieters).
5 thoughts on “Hype”
Comments are closed.
Alot of hype for Wieters but I wish my Pirates had drafted him instead of Moskos.
It will be interesting to see how he is doing 3 years from now. If he can have a rookie season like the the ones mentioned, it would be great BUT I am afraid it would not be considered good enough.
Actually if he had a rookie season like Brian McCann (.278 /345 /400/.745 in 59 games) but with more HRs; that would be fine. Comparisons to the old timers is tought because the BA tended to be lower.
You know, Ted Simmons has more RBIs than Bench, more runs and a higher OPS than Carter and more hits than Berra or Fisk.
When will people start including Simba amongst the greatest hitting catchers?
Good point! Ted Simmons was Mike Piazza before Mike Piazza was Mike Piazza. However I think Ted was a better catcher than Piazza. Plus Ted was a switch hitter with power from both sides. I think they both had trouble throwing guys out.
I have previously given Simmons his due. Frankly, I just didn’t bother including him because I was looking for the names that would immediately catch the eye.
If the Orioles get that kind of ‘average’ production (15 HRs, 57 Rs, & 65RBIs) out of Wieters as a rookie, they should be thankful (a third of the season has already elapsed, and I’m not holding my breath). If they get better than that, well good for them! Rookie catchers are always dodgy, no matter the hype. He seems to be a force to be reckoned with, though he’ll probably be a Yankee within 5 years.
Simmons was not nearly as bad a defensive player as people seem to think. Bill James talked about this in an article I read years ago. If you look at his stolen base percentages, etc., I think you’ll find this be self-evident.