One Giant Sophomore Slump Following 2010′s Rookie Tsunami

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• alex68 August 25, 2011 at 11:14 am

  mike stanton survived the “tsunami” of sophomore slumps.. that’s it.. is different to say davis and posey slump because they were injure, but a big time bust is that guy from atlanta, but he’s young, he’ll mature and will be a superstar.. (roll eyes)
• Metsie August 25, 2011 at 11:35 am

  Good Article Clayton…
  I note that a few names there were being used as examples to trash our MiL system but you don’t hear about them anymore….

  It proves one thing, Kids are UNPREDICTABLE! They can look amazing when they come up but once the league gets a good scouting report on them it can quickly fall apart!

  Quick starts are notoriously followed by Quick Ends. Time will tell if those kids will make a counter adjustment and regain their success…

  And on a minor Quibbling note I am not so sure Posey, Davis and Strausbourg should be included here. Strausbourg MIGHT, But Posey and Davis were not slumping at the time they got hurt in fact Davis was as hot as a branding Iron when he went down and I think Posey was doing quite well too.

  I would not count injury as a slump, as dissappointing yes, but not really the fault of the player…Especially in Posey’s case.
  • Clayton Collier August 25, 2011 at 11:46 am

    Thanks Mestie!

    Posey was holding his own, Davis was raking, Strasburg without a doubt would be in Cy Young contention this year if not for the TJ surgery. I included these three because injuries hampered their sophomore campaign. Not taking anything away from the small amount of time they had before the injury, but I think the devastating injuries contribute to the sophomore slump.
    • Metsie August 25, 2011 at 12:02 pm

      Well Cy Young on Strass is debateable. Part of throwing 100MPH is tearing up your arm! LOL

      If I was running a MiL development I would fine any kid who tried to throw 100MPH because there is no need to throw that hard. Certainly not every pitch! You make that pitch when the timing is right not as if it’s just another slider or split finger.

      Unfortunatly (and Darling has mentioned this numberous times on the air) they look for the Radar and not how the kid actually pitches.
      It’s why Tommy John and rotator cuff surgery is as common as a cold in the MLB.
      a 96 MPH fastball is just as effective as a 100MPH fastball and MORE effective if you can throw that 100MPH fastball as a strike on an x-2 count!

      As for the slump I guess I define it differently…
      to me a slump is all the fault of the player not performing, Not based on his ability to to get in games but being in them and failing, but like I said it’s a minor distinction.
      From a GM perspective in both cases the player isn’t giving him what he thought he was going to get. So while I disagree it is a minor difference of opinion…
      • Clayton Collier August 25, 2011 at 12:41 pm

        Yes 100mph is a bit unessecary but when you have a guy like Strasburg who can throw it with such command. I think having the 100mph is somewhat needed for him specifically because of how fast he throws his breaking pitches… His changeup tops out at 90 mph! I think he needs his 100mph to keep his changeup as effective.

        As for Posey & Davis. I don’t blame Davis/Posey for their injury obviously, just I see the Sophomore slump as basically bad things happening to them. like a curse or something. But yes well agree to disagree Lol.
        • Metsie August 25, 2011 at 12:56 pm

          Well how much more effective would his changeup be if he threw it 85 instead and saved the wear and tear on his arm? LOL

          The body can take only so much abuse and apprently he reached his limit! LOL

          For his sake I hope the speed isn’t all he has because he is probably going to lose some after he gets back due to the surgery.

          What makes him good is he has control at those velocities which is great. But I would have coached him to use that extra level as another surpise not the norm.

          Throwing a fastball 100 MPH is hard to catch up to but if you see it enough you can still time the swing to hit it.
          Changing speeds is as good as having another pitch if you ask me.
    • darth minaya August 25, 2011 at 12:59 pm

      http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/Baseball/Pitching/ProfessionalPitcherAnalyses/StephenStrasburg.html

      This is an interesting article which would seem to lend credence to the fact that Mets shy away from pitchers with inverted-W style mechanics.

      If so, good for Omar or whoever orginally nurtured this concept.
• Original Mets Fan August 25, 2011 at 12:01 pm

  Can I commend you on an absolutely refreshing post. Nice job. As for the players you mentioned I’m sorry that my two favorites Posey and Davis got sacked with injuries when it looked liked they were primed for big sophomore campaigns. Great post!
  • Clayton Collier August 25, 2011 at 12:18 pm

    Thank you Original Mets Fan!

    Davis was a big blow. I was very upset when the injury to Ike occured. Not to mention I had alot invested in the rookies of 2010 this year…My fantasy teams are in ruins between Davis, Posey, Heyward and Alvarez! Lol
• darth minaya August 25, 2011 at 1:01 pm

  Alvarez doesn’t look like a big-time guy to me. Don’t like his body or his actions at 3B. If he has to move to 1B, his bat becomes a whole lot less interesting.

  Heyward is going to be a very good MLB player in the long-run.
• metsguppy August 25, 2011 at 1:41 pm

  I have noticed that throughout baseball a lot of players are “slumping” might have to do with better pitching in the majors.
  • Metstheory22 August 25, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    I wish we had some of that “better pitching”.
• XtreemIcon August 25, 2011 at 1:41 pm

  Nice job, Clayton. I remember all of NY around the All Star break last season ripping Cashman a new one for trading A-Jax for that “bum” Granderson, and I just shook my head. My opinion is that it had a whole lot to do with the Yankee brass stealing the power from Cash re: Soriano, the only big FA splash the Yankees made. Looks like Cashman was right on both counts.
  • Clayton Collier August 25, 2011 at 7:34 pm

    Thanks Xtreemlcon!

    I originally thought Granderson would rake in 2010, but I also thought they gave up too much in prospect value.

    Now that Granderson is raking finally, it looks like a nice pickup, but they also gave up Ian Kennedy in that deal. Do you think another ace-quality starter or a power bat is the Yankees biggest need right now?
    • stu August 25, 2011 at 10:18 pm

      Oh.. yes the poor Yankees.. Only score 22 runs today. I’m sure they could use another big bat ! LOL
    • Bayonne Mets Fan August 25, 2011 at 10:29 pm

      you gotta give to get. You want a team’s good player they’re gonna want your prospects.

      I have a feeling there is a culture developing around here that somehow you can pry away somebody’s star without giving up a prospect and that is wishful thinking. You want to win? Be prepared to give up prospects, it’s always been that way. But hey if you can get a steal by all means i’m sure EVERY GM thinks that way. But if you think you can make moves without giving up prospects the rest of the league will know that in a nannosecond.
      • XtreemIcon August 25, 2011 at 10:39 pm

        That’s very true. That’s why it humored me so when people around here starting ticking off names they’d give up to get King Felix,and they included names like Mike Pelfrey, Nick Evans and Brad Holt. Come on, for Felix?
        • alex68 August 26, 2011 at 7:14 am

          don’t forget to include david wright in that same package with all those 3 players..
    • XtreemIcon August 25, 2011 at 10:37 pm

      Clayton, this is what I think. I think if the Yankees knew that Gardner was going to break out the way he did in 2010 and be one of the best outfielders in the league (and right up there with Gordon as THE best LF in the league this season), they would have thought longer and harder about making the deal. But I still think it was the right move for the following two reasons:

      1) They thought (and I agree) that A-Jax would never amount to what Granderson already was, and Granderson was still young and on a friendly contract.

      2) Kennedy showed absolutely no signs of being even remotely as dominant as he’s been this season. And lest we forget he is pitching in the NL West. I take nothing away from him, but do you think he’d have those numbers in the AL East?

      Obviously the Yankees need another starter desperately, but at the time the deal was made, Kennedy hadn’t shown he could be that starter. Hindsight’s 20/20, but it was the right move at the time.
• sarge August 26, 2011 at 3:39 pm

  nice post, I think writers and announcer spend more time building these kids up to only tear them down later plus many sports people have an agenda when it comes to certain players from certain organizations.