Rasmus is really, really good

And count me in the group that is glad he didn’t. Rasmus is scary good as a rookie. He covers a lot of ground in the outfield. He doesn’t need to hit HRs to get runs on the board he does anyway. And we haven’t really seen his running game enter into it. Though we might see a few more steals now that he is hitting behind Albert instead of infront of him.

He is only 22. His defense should get better with more time. His power should increase as his body feels out..

4 WAR is just sick for a rookie…absolutely filthy…what are some of the best rookie WAR numbers?

i do wish colby would steal a few more bags…he doesn’t seem to be in position to do it a lot, and when he is, tony doesnt seem to want to send him

He’s our best OFer.

Love watching him play.

can’t let the kid think his poo don’t stink

He hasn’t taken one in a while, but really has no reason not to swing the bat right now with the way he’s driving the ball.

but other than that, I love the kid and he should start every game.

His O-Swing this year is just 22.6%, which is better than league average, and it shows that he has a good eye. The reason he hasn’t walked that much is that he is swinging at way more strikes than most players as his Z-Swing is over 8% above average. He is also seeing slightly more strikes than the average player. With his recent hot streak I wouldn’t be surprised to see pitchers stay away from him a little more. Since he has shown a propensity not to swing at balls, his walk totals should rise.

22 years old and hitting cleanup for albert pujols? that’s pretty impressive. he doesn’t afraid of anything

is some kind of OF chart that shows a league average defender, and how much more ground Rasmus covers. such a chart wouldn’t be accurate until deep into next season, but it could be a fun visual aid

but I’m not sure I agree with ZIPS – to the eye, at least, he’s seemed pretty unlucky so far. He seems to make a LOT of hard contact with the ball – may just be ascertainment bias, but a lot of the GB and FB i’ve seen him give up this year have been tattooed (similar to Ludwick, really). I can see his BA going up over the course of the year, and I think the power’s real (I’d probably set the over/under at about 20HR).

I’m guessing ZIPS is perhaps lower than his “real” skills because it’s taking into account his low BB% (as you said, that will hopefully climb a bit once pitchers start to challenge him less), although I suppose it’s possible that as (if?) his BB% climbs, he’ll be getting fewer long hits…

to me, has been very impressive both as a hitter and a fielder, probably next to Pujols on the team right now. I think he should play every day in CF, at least for now to see if he can maintain his current offensive output (or close to it). I like him hitting cleanup for now to see if he can maintain his hitting in that position.
Now that his bat has come to life somewhat I would like to see Ankiel in right with Ludwick moving to left. Duncan should be the odd man out.
The only thing I disagree with is the amount of negative comments about Ankiel’s defense that appear on this blog. I personally, have not decided that Rasmus is a better CF than Ankiel, although I do say he should be playing there and in the long run I think will be a better hitter.

After last night’s game, Colby has an OPS+ of 110. In all of MLB history, only 29 age-22 or younger rookies have put up an OPS+ of 110 or higher. 12 of them are in the HOF, and of the ones that aren’t, one is albert pujols, one is colby rasmus, and one is evan longoria. Only 7 players have done this since 1950.

And his numbers seem lower, to me, than they should be based on watching him hit; he’s never seemed overmatched this year, imho, and has hit into some bad luck. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t climb the list a bit before the season ends.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joel_sherman/06/11/2009.rookies/index.html?eref=T1

The guy somehow writes an article about the NL ROY race without mentioning Jordan Zimmermann at all, or Rasmus until the second to last line.

Somehow it’s now a race between Andrew McCutcheon and Tommy Hanson. McCutcheon has played seven games and Hanson has started one. Is either of these guys going to pull a Ryan Howard? And is Rasmus or Zimmermann going manage to produce more than Taveras, who finished second behind Howard with a sub-700 ops?

everyone jumps back on the dick-wagon (word play is fun). I dont think anyone was tearing his D down (I certainly wasn’t), but his offensive output before the Marlins series was AL pitcher-esque. So listen, Rasmus is a better CF than Ank. But Ank is a + OF, has good speed, good judgment (most of the time).

And again, Rick and Ras have to share the same OF as players like Dunc and Stav. Any OFer that has the ability to command CF with those two lumberjacks running around deserve some credit.

Almost all of his 11.6 UZR runs have come from his range of 9.8 runs so far. Most of it in CF but still a decent amount in RF for his short stint. Now the thing about range it is limited by the fact that you have other players around you competing for similar range. It is not like you can cover entire field by yourself. His and Ankiel both have a RF/9 of 2.9 at CF which is very high and would tie them both for league highs in the stat.

Now if they have that high of range it must mean either LF, RF, or both have limited range.

Now Chris Duncan who has the majority of the time at LF is posting only a RF/9 of 1.4 which is good for last in the majors among qualified players.

Than Ludwick who has the majority of the time in RF is posting a 1.9 RF/9 which would put him in the lower 25% of baseball in terms of range.

Nothing against Colby but if we were playing straight up he would be a golden god of defense with this range. My guess though is that we are not playing straight up but we are doing quality OF shifts for each hitter to take advantage of where they are most likely to hit the ball the OF.

This is also the reason why Duncan UZR data is not as bad as you would think. He doesn’t have to cover as much range and is effective in the small range he has to cover.

This is something I have talked about before but this is my problem UZR in general. Most people don’t fully understand and that includes me. There is to many variables that are not accounted for such as shifts and the players around you. ie Chris Duncan has a better UZR than expected because he has Colby and Ankiel to cover him.

Is anyone else baffled that Duncan is still part of the outfield “rotation?” I just read today that Tony said when Lohse comes back the best five will be the starting rotation and the extra guy goes to the pen. A slight threat to Welley, I think. But why not do the same with our outfield. I guess without seeing whats on the pages of their secret matchup notebook, from my perspective it has to be Ras in CF, Ank in LF, and Lud in RF. If Luddy turns into almost the same guy he was last year and Dunc and Ank are pretty much hitting at the same tick, then shouldn’t it come down to other skills at some point? Speed goes to Ank. Defense goes to Ank. Baserunning goes to Ank. Arm goes to Ank. Daddy is my coach, that one goes to Duncan. If Duncan is not hitting really well then he needs to be prepared to ride the pine until someone needs a break or he can pinch hit for Welley every fifth game in the 3rd inning.

And it seems like as the season rolls on, his play ensures that Ankiel will not be a Cardinal next season.

i love you Tony, but i think it’s time we see other people.

sigh

man