Love seeing Arcia come alive. However...

[kydoty]

I noticed tonight that he has a grand total of one walk in 61 plate appearances. His OBP and his batting average are nearly identical.

[Highabove]

Arcia is bringing some attitude and swagger to this Team. It seems to be rubbing off on many of the Players. Saying it's much needed is an under statement.

[jokin]

I noticed tonight that he has a grand total of one walk in 61 plate appearances. His OBP and his batting average are nearly identical.

 

Yup. A 1.5% BB rate will tend to do that to you. If he keeps up this rate and starts hitting a few sac flies, he has a good chance of inverting his BA over his OBP.

 

 

I'll take the power stick for now- tonight he was huge, but clearly he'll have to address the plate discipline issue at some point- or he'll start repeating the bad habits of last season. It looks like he's just happy to get back with the big league club and assert himself. To his credit, he has cut the K% by 5 points from 2013, even though his Swing % has gone up by 8 points since last year (59%-51%). If Arcia qualified, he would have the highest Swing rate in baseball, 2 points better than AJ. Interesting that the Twins have the most aggressive and the most passive (Hicks) swingers (35%) on the same roster.

[kdrupp09]

I love the swagger, I particularly enjoyed his comment about his home run, where he said he was sure it was foul so he stood and watched. Then Nunez says, yeah he knew it was a home run. Some much needed fire for the Twins.

[gunnarthor]

It's SSS - he'll take a few more walks but right now pitchers are throwing him stuff he can drive so he's driving.

[Linus]

Let's all just settle in as its going to be a while with Arcia. I love the aggressiveness and potential but make no mistake, there will be adjustments made by the pitchers and he is going to struggle at times until he figures it out, which might take several years. It will be worth it, however as he could be the best hitter of all the prospects we are excited about.

[jokin]

It's SSS - he'll take a few more walks but right now pitchers are throwing him stuff he can drive so he's driving.

 

Oswaldo is only receiving about 43% of his pitches in the zone, with a league average around 48%.

 

AJ Pierzynski leads MLB for swinging out of the zone (48.8%). Arcia is second, just ahead of the wild and crazy bad-ball hitter, Pablo Sandoval (45.2% vs. 45.1%). Unfortunately, whereas Sandoval's O-contact rate is 78%, Oswaldo's O-contact rate is well below 50%.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

The single was more impressive than the home run. Despite being out front, he was able to keep his hands back and make solid contact. It also appears like he is recognizing the breaking ball better and laying off it. I will take the sacrifice flies, scorching doubles, homers and the strikeouts.

 

I think they need to move Mauer back to the three hole and have Willingham and Arcia protect him. Plouffe has been great, but he does not protect Mauer like the other two could.

 

Seems to me it should be Santana, Dozier, Mauer, Willingham, Arcia, Plouffe.

[jokin]

The single was more impressive than the home run. Despite being out front, he was able to keep his hands back and make solid contact. It also appears like he is recognizing the breaking ball better and laying off it. I will take the sacrifice flies, scorching doubles, homers and the strikeouts.

 

I think they need to move Mauer back to the three hole and have Willingham and Arcia protect him. Plouffe has been great, but he does not protect Mauer like the other two could.

 

Seems to me it should be Santana, Dozier, Mauer, Willingham, Arcia, Plouffe.

 

How about Dozier protecting Mauer?

[TheLeviathan]

Here is a bit of news that correlates with this thread.

 

The question I ask is.....do you mind Arcia watching the homerun? Was he showing up the other team or watching it?

 

Maybe most importantly.....do you draw a line on swagger and how do you feel about it in the context of this team?

[DaveW]

Here is a bit of news that correlates with this thread.

 

The question I ask is.....do you mind Arcia watching the homerun? Was he showing up the other team or watching it?

 

Maybe most importantly.....do you draw a line on swagger and how do you feel about it in the context of this team?

 

No, I don't think he was showing up the other team at all. It was literally feet away from going foul instead of fair. I have seen other players watch it in these situations as well. It would be different if it was hit to CF. I don't view it as him showing up the other team at all.

[Taildragger8791]

No, I don't think he was showing up the other team at all. It was literally feet away from going foul instead of fair.

 

I'm pretty sure it hooked hard and hit the foul pole, didn't it? Doesn't get any tighter than that.

[RIP BYTO]

I guess I'd rather see a guy stand there admiring his HR for a few seconds than what we are used to seeing with the Twins and that is a guy standing there in disbelief that he hit a homerun.

[John Bonnes]

I noticed tonight that he has a grand total of one walk in 61 plate appearances. His OBP and his batting average are nearly identical.

 

That walk rate is worrisome. I love watching the guy, but it's going to be interesting to see if he can adjust when pitchers quit throwing the ball over the plate. He sure didn't last year.

[kab21]

Arcia is all about raw ability right now. He'll survive on that alone but he must mature as a hitter over the next couple of seasons to become a real middle of the order threat. I see a lot of similarities to Delmon Young. He also had tons of raw ability. He just never matured as a hitter.

[jorgenswest]

It's SSS - he'll take a few more walks but right now pitchers are throwing him stuff he can drive so he's driving.

 

That's true. However, strikeout and walk rates will be the first to pass the small sample size threshold. His career rate is 5.5%. That is Puckett territory. It worked for Kirby.

[cmathewson]

Just hate those grand slams and three-run homers.

 

Seriously? Do you guys know what you're even talking about here? He's homered in two consecutive games and has eight RBIs in those games. Have we run out of problems to talk about? How about Correia?

 

And he's been back from injury, what? 10 days. What are rate stats in 40 PAs? It's ridiculous. Give him a year or more before you start worrying about K/BB. And realize the K/BB is high for guys who swing violently enough to hit 40 HRs in a year, which he would do if you projected his current pace out over a full season.

 

OK. I get it now. Silly me. You'll are joking. Cause he's the last person to worry about. Am I right? Even after he gets picked off of second after breaking lights on the scoreboard.

[drock2190]

He isnt walking very well at all

[JB_Iowa]

He isnt walking very well at all

 

Literally .... let's just hope whatever the injury is to his leg isn't serious.

[jokin]

Just hate those grand slams and three-run homers.

 

Seriously? Do you guys know what you're even talking about here? He's homered in two consecutive games and has eight RBIs in those games. Have we run out of problems to talk about? How about Correia?

 

And he's been back from injury, what? 10 days. What are rate stats in 40 PAs? It's ridiculous. Give him a year or more before you start worrying about K/BB. And realize the K/BB is high for guys who swing violently enough to hit 40 HRs in a year, which he would do if you projected his current pace out over a full season.

 

OK. I get it now. Silly me. You'll are joking. Cause he's the last person to worry about. Am I right? Even after he gets picked off of second after breaking lights on the scoreboard.

 

Is there one person that has expressed one shred of dismay at Arcia returning with a resounding bang, apparently fully healthy, projecting his energy and enthusiasm for the game.... and simply just getting out there and doing his thing? I think whatever caution being expressed by most is "cautionary" in the sense that it's not sustainable without Arcia continuing to mature as a hitter.

 

There are 4 qualified players since 2010 with K% rates over 30%:

 

Chris Carter

Adam Dunn

Mark Reynolds

Jerrod Saltalamachia

 

All but Salty have BB% rates of 12-14% (Salty is just under 9%).

 

Arcia in 400+ PAs is at just under a 31% K-rate and a 5.5% BB-rate- so he's not even yet matching these 4 obviously very-flawed players. These numbers will have to improve and I'm confident he will do so- Arcia is a guy that clearly has "it", like Kirby did back in the day- I can see him being a Top-Five MVP voted guy in a year or two or three- even his defense looks improved since March/April. Nothing wrong in pointing out areas for improvement, even when he's taking the Twins by storm.

[TheLeviathan]

Just hate those grand slams and three-run homers.

 

Seriously? Do you guys know what you're even talking about here? He's homered in two consecutive games and has eight RBIs in those games. Have we run out of problems to talk about? How about Correia?

 

And he's been back from injury, what? 10 days. What are rate stats in 40 PAs? It's ridiculous. Give him a year or more before you start worrying about K/BB. And realize the K/BB is high for guys who swing violently enough to hit 40 HRs in a year, which he would do if you projected his current pace out over a full season.

 

OK. I get it now. Silly me. You'll are joking. Cause he's the last person to worry about. Am I right? Even after he gets picked off of second after breaking lights on the scoreboard.

 

Strawman = dead.

[cmathewson]

Is there one person that has expressed one shred of dismay at Arcia returning with a resounding bang, apparently fully healthy, projecting his energy and enthusiasm for the game.... and simply just getting out there and doing his thing? I think whatever caution being expressed by most is "cautionary" in the sense that it's not sustainable without Arcia continuing to mature as a hitter.

 

There are 4 qualified players since 2010 with K% rates over 30%:

 

Chris Carter

Adam Dunn

Mark Reynolds

Jerrod Saltalamachia

 

All but Salty have BB% rates of 12-14% (Salty is just under 9%).

 

Arcia in 400+ PAs is at just under a 31% K-rate and a 5.5% BB-rate- so he's not even yet matching these 4 obviously very-flawed players. These numbers will have to improve and I'm confident he will do so- Arcia is a guy that clearly has "it", like Kirby did back in the day- I can see him being a Top-Five MVP voted guy in a year or two or three- even his defense looks improved since March/April. Nothing wrong in pointing out areas for improvement, even when he's taking the Twins by storm.

 

This is the gist of my point. It's early. He reminds me of a young Tony O. Tony never walked much, but he got more disciplined over time.

[Major League Ready]

Just hate those grand slams and three-run homers.

 

Seriously? Do you guys know what you're even talking about here? He's homered in two consecutive games and has eight RBIs in those games. Have we run out of problems to talk about? How about Correia?

 

And he's been back from injury, what? 10 days. What are rate stats in 40 PAs? It's ridiculous. Give him a year or more before you start worrying about K/BB. And realize the K/BB is high for guys who swing violently enough to hit 40 HRs in a year, which he would do if you projected his current pace out over a full season.

 

OK. I get it now. Silly me. You'll are joking. Cause he's the last person to worry about. Am I right? Even after he gets picked off of second after breaking lights on the scoreboard.

 

Apparently you have forgotten what happened last year. We all love seeing this level of productivity. That is why there is some concern that Arcia is still demonstrating very little discipline. Other teams take notice of this type of ability too and they are going to adjust. Arcia is not going to see many pitches in the strike zone if he keeps this up. Any fastball in the strike zone is going to be up where he has shown he can't hit.

[drivlikejehu]

There's no way around the fact that plate discipline has been an issue for him in the Majors so far. I've long been a big Arcia fan and think he will figure it out, but objectively it is a red flag.

[cmathewson]

Red flag or no, it's hard to walk much when you are hitting the ball so often and so hard. I'm sure they will start pitching around him, and he'll need to adjust. But he shouldn't adjust until he needs to. As to the Ks, he's always struck out a lot. Comes with the territory.

[cmathewson]

One other thing: Lots of people complain that Hicks is walking too much and is too passive. The same people complain that Arcia is is not walking enough and is too aggressive. You know who you are (and you are not straw men).

[TheLeviathan]

I haven't heard a single complaint about Hicks walking too much. His inability to make solid contact? Sure...those two things are not even remotely the same.

[UCLA_YANKEE_COLA]

This is the gist of my point. It's early. He reminds me of a young Tony O. Tony never walked much, but he got more disciplined over time.

 

Neither of them walk much but other than that I don't see much Oliva in his game. I love Arcia but there are some real concerns. He's very hot right now but the all or nothing approach doesn't work for most players. Unless he starts hitting .300-.320 he needs to find some patience. Yeeeeahhh. Just a little patience.

[kdrupp09]

I will take a low walk rate if we get to see the massive homeruns he is hitting. The one Wednesday night was huge, but the grand slam last night was one of the longest home runs I have seen at Target Field. To borrow from Bremer, it was Thome territory last night.

[JB_Iowa]

He's 23 years old and came up pretty quickly. Give him a little more time to work on recognizing pitches outside the zone and to developing plate discipline. It isn't something I would expect to come all at once.