Ben Revere

[darin617]

It's nice to see Ben Revere playing really good when given the chance again. But, only 4 walks on the season? I thought he was supposed to work on that when he was sent down. I know he has been a solid player hitting the ball but needs to get the OBP in the .400's.

[Nick Nelson]

Revere is a swinger. He's not going to take a lot of walks, that's never been his M.O. Best you can hope for is a high average and a subsequently strong OBP, like what we're seeing right now. Expecting a .400-plus OBP is a little ridiculous -- there are only a handful of players in baseball who can do that.

[jokin]

Revere is a swinger. He's not going to take a lot of walks, that's never been his M.O. Best you can hope for is a high average and a subsequently strong OBP, like what we're seeing right now. Expecting a .400-plus OBP is a little ridiculous -- there are only a handful of players in baseball who can do that.

There are 4 MLB OFers with more than 120 PAs with an OBP over .400. The chances of Revere ever getting there are remote- for example, as hot as Revere is in June (probably never been hotter), his OBP for this month is .398. That being said, Revere has to keep improving on his bunting (he's definitely better than last year, though that's not saying much)- one attempt/game or even showing bunt a time or two per game will further maximize his OBP and BA as he can keep the applied pressure on the opposing IF and pitcher.

[twinzgrl]

I think Ben is an exciting player. He'll get better. Seems to have a great attitude.

[greengoblinrulz]

According to fangraphs defensive ratings.....Ben is the 4th best OF so far, & his arm rates out as a positive (hits cutoff guys???).

Is gonna need to draw more walks eventually. Cant have 4 this far into the yr.

Nitpicking so far.....he's been better than hoped for on the power...just hitting the ball harder.

[snepp]

Partial season defensive figures shouldn't be used, it would be like looking at two weeks worth of at bats.

[ashbury]

Is gonna need to draw more walks eventually. Cant have 4 this far into the yr.

With some guys you could hope for a better batting eye, but Revere seems like a guy who a pitcher always wants to be in the strike zone with. Good stuff on your pitches of course, but even if you make a mistake down the middle he can't hurt you with an extra-base hit. Can't really manufacture many walks out of that.

[chopper0080]

I see Ben as the reason the Twins end up pulling the trigger and trading Span. I'm not implying Revere is anywhere as good of a player as Span is, but his defense in CF is close enough to Span's to make Terry Ryan ok pulling the trigger if a solid offer comes across the table.

[greengoblinrulz]

Partial season defensive figures shouldn't be used, it would be like looking at two weeks worth of at bats.

dont disagree but 185 innings (whats he's played in RF) can be evaluated for what it is. He is #1 in RF for UZR/150gms

[greengoblinrulz]

With some guys you could hope for a better batting eye, but Revere seems like a guy who a pitcher always wants to be in the strike zone with. Good stuff on your pitches of course, but even if you make a mistake down the middle he can't hurt you with an extra-base hit. Can't really manufacture many walks out of that.

Didnt explain my quote well in that most players with very poor walk rates increase them fairly well as they get older. Very few players can survive with that few of walks. Not saying its coming anytime soon, but maybe gets up to 35/40 for a full season.

[Riverbrian]

Revere is a swinger. He's not going to take a lot of walks, that's never been his M.O. Best you can hope for is a high average and a subsequently strong OBP, like what we're seeing right now. Expecting a .400-plus OBP is a little ridiculous -- there are only a handful of players in baseball who can do that.

 

With some guys you could hope for a better batting eye, but Revere seems like a guy who a pitcher always wants to be in the strike zone with. Good stuff on your pitches of course, but even if you make a mistake down the middle he can't hurt you with an extra-base hit. Can't really manufacture many walks out of that.

 

Both Nick and John are on the money. Opposing Pitchers do not fear Ben jacking one. Add to that... Opposing pitchers do fear Ben causing havoc on the base paths. The combination of those two quality's will cut down significantly on the nibbling. Add to that Ben's high contact rate... When he does swing he doesn't miss much and that cuts down on the walks cuz he doesn't need to use all 3 of his strikes to put it in play and will obviously get less 3 ball counts. I'm watching Ben and he has great discipline. He swings but he's not chasing.

 

Didnt explain my quote well in that most players with very poor walk rates increase them fairly well as they get older. Very few players can survive with that few of walks. Not saying its coming anytime soon, but maybe gets up to 35/40 for a full season.

 

It'll be a struggle but I think he can increase his walk totals in the future a little. I have no personal inside knowledge but Ben looks coachable. I base this on his high percentage of ground outs. Every coach in the world will tell a guy with his speed and lack of power to beat that ball into the ground and use his legs. Ben does that and that tells me he is coachable. In the future he can work on fouling off some tough pitches and extending his at bats and that will lead to some increased walks. That will be a nice addition to the misplays caused by having to rush throws and his ability to make contact and put balls in play.

 

Revere is a player who can help us win games and those who can't see past his power and arm strength are missing something special.

 

Ben can play for my team any day. Unless I have Ryan Braun, Mike Trout and Stanton. Although I could try move Ben to 2B with that lineup.

[Riverbrian]

I see Ben as the reason the Twins end up pulling the trigger and trading Span. I'm not implying Revere is anywhere as good of a player as Span is, but his defense in CF is close enough to Span's to make Terry Ryan ok pulling the trigger if a solid offer comes across the table.

I think that TR wants to hang onto Span with both hands. That contract that makes him attractive to other squads also makes him attractive to the Twins...

 

In my Opinion... One thing and one thing only will be the catalyst for trading Span. That would be the overwhelming need for Pitching.

[ashbury]

Very few players can survive with that few of walks.

It's a bit of chicken-and-egg. If somebody's drawing few walks due to not having power, then it's the lack of power that probably does him in, although the lack of walks correlates. Revere's the rare case, with a batting average at the moment high enough to keep him in the majors all by itself. We'll see if the walks increase as time goes along. I'm not sure what the mechanism for that would be though, if (say) he sees 20% more pitches in the strike zone than an average hitter. Is any such statistic available?

[John Bonnes]

What encourages me about Revers is he's still just 24. I'm starting to agree with Aaron - Revere just needs to add a little more power. The key is the word "little." Everyone wants to bring up the Kirby comparison for him, but that's not the transformation they need, and that isn't going to happen. He doesn't even need to get as far as Rod Carew power. But with a couple of steps in that direction, just showing that he can hit some deep line drives into some gaps. If he can do tha occasionally, he'll be racking up the extra-base hits in no time. That's what is happening this year, I believe. It remains to be seen if he can continue to do so or not. I sure hope so.

[Brock Beauchamp]

With some guys you could hope for a better batting eye, but Revere seems like a guy who a pitcher always wants to be in the strike zone with. Good stuff on your pitches of course, but even if you make a mistake down the middle he can't hurt you with an extra-base hit. Can't really manufacture many walks out of that.

It's certainly more difficult to draw walks if a pitcher isn't afraid of the ball leaving the park or hitting the wall but it's not impossible. The Twins have a good example of a player just like that on the roster: Eddie Munster.

 

I mean, Jamey Carroll.

[stringer bell]

I think everybody has figured out what Revere is and will be. He has a great burst of speed and really covers ground in the outfield. He'll cost the team bases (runners taking extra bases) but will add outs. Offensively, his speed is an asset on the bases, his lack of power is a large liability. Overall, I don't think he is that much more or less than Span. I think Revere's range would be maximized in center and it makes it much easier to move Span.