Rafi’s gradual descent to replacement level has seemed inevitable for weeks, and now he’s there. He is lowest or close among qualified 3B in OPS and other hitting stats. Whether Nunez or something else, we can find replacement level third base or at least something close. If his value to the big club essentially neutral or close, it’s time to start asking what is best for his long term development?
I suppose playing every day against big league talent under Alex Cora will have advantages, but on the other hand the games are too important to allow Rafi to work on things he might need to work on free from the pressure of having to produce every single at bat.
The thing that stands out most about Devers this year is his patience. After 30 days of epic non-selectivity, we heard of the Chipotle gift card program. And it seemed to pay short term dividends. In eight games, Rafi walked seven times — more than double his walks in the past month. But, the patience didn’t seem to help his hitting. In fact, it made it worse. He was getting walks but he wasn’t any more selective. He only hit .133 during that stretch. The implication, based on a small sample admittedly, is that he’s not really being more selective. He’s just choosing not to swing.
And that seems confirmed by the fact that he seems to have completely abandoned the approach, and he’s back to swinging at everything. He hasn’t come that close to a walk in a week. And frustration is starting to seep through his ordinary happy go lucky way and demeanor. My concern is that he is screwing himself into the ground and getting caught in the switches. Also, there’s the fielding. He’s fighting through it pretty well but he seems like every throw could be the start of a case of the yips.
He hits the ball really hard. So, when he gets a hold of one, it has a chance to lead to good things. And this makes it so that he can be formidable enough from the left side to earn his keep on the big club. But we need this guy to be better long term. Where should he be learning how to tell a ball from a strike and to throw a ball to first base?
Edit: Welp, in the time it took to write that, Pedey goes to the DL likely ending any thought of Rafi going anywhere. So, discussion likely postponed. But I’m not sure we have a proper Rafi thread, so there it is for whatever it’s worth.
I suppose playing every day against big league talent under Alex Cora will have advantages, but on the other hand the games are too important to allow Rafi to work on things he might need to work on free from the pressure of having to produce every single at bat.
The thing that stands out most about Devers this year is his patience. After 30 days of epic non-selectivity, we heard of the Chipotle gift card program. And it seemed to pay short term dividends. In eight games, Rafi walked seven times — more than double his walks in the past month. But, the patience didn’t seem to help his hitting. In fact, it made it worse. He was getting walks but he wasn’t any more selective. He only hit .133 during that stretch. The implication, based on a small sample admittedly, is that he’s not really being more selective. He’s just choosing not to swing.
And that seems confirmed by the fact that he seems to have completely abandoned the approach, and he’s back to swinging at everything. He hasn’t come that close to a walk in a week. And frustration is starting to seep through his ordinary happy go lucky way and demeanor. My concern is that he is screwing himself into the ground and getting caught in the switches. Also, there’s the fielding. He’s fighting through it pretty well but he seems like every throw could be the start of a case of the yips.
He hits the ball really hard. So, when he gets a hold of one, it has a chance to lead to good things. And this makes it so that he can be formidable enough from the left side to earn his keep on the big club. But we need this guy to be better long term. Where should he be learning how to tell a ball from a strike and to throw a ball to first base?
Edit: Welp, in the time it took to write that, Pedey goes to the DL likely ending any thought of Rafi going anywhere. So, discussion likely postponed. But I’m not sure we have a proper Rafi thread, so there it is for whatever it’s worth.