Molitor on modeling Eddie for big shoes

[jokin]

 

 

Mike Berardino @MikeBerardino  · 

Molitor mentioned the overlooked Tony Phillips as a near-everyday player who saw action at 4-6 spots. Will try to get Escobar plenty of ABs

 

 

Tony Phillips was a very versatile, near-great player who completely confounded the typical MLB player aging curve.... who like fine wine, grew (much) better with age.  He ended up being one of the best players, not just utility players, in the early and mid 90s for Detroit, California and the White Sox.  Thus, the comp to Escobar is high praise, indeed, and like Phillips, at least for now, he's a man in search of a position, Oh Wait- check that, many positions.  Consider:

 

Tony Phillips- 5'10 175#

Eduardo Escobar- 5'10 175#

 

Both started their careers at SS and when they hit the majors at a young age began playing multiple positions.

 

Stat Line through Age 25

 

Phillips- GP 342 PA 1081 BB% 9.4 K% 16.8 Slash .253/.326/.336/(.662) ISO .083 wRC+ 91 fWAR 2.9 bWAR 3.8

 

Escobar- GP 258 PA  797 BB% 5.8 K% 19.9 Slash .255/.300/.365/(.665) ISO .110 wRC+ 85 fWAR 2.0 bWAR 1.6 

 

 

FYI, despite nearly 400 fewer PAs, Escobar has 58 XBH and 9 HR vs. Phillips who had 54 XBH and 8 HR.

 

It gets more encouraging, as Escobar gets his first regular playing time in 2014...here's a comp from their age 25 year:

 

Phillips- GP 154 PA 505 BB% 8.3 K% 17 Slash .266/.325/.359/(.685) ISO .093  wRC+ 96 fWAR 1.7 bWAR 1.9

 

Escobar- GP 133 PA 465 BB% 5.2  K% 20 Slash .275/.315/.406/(.721) ISO .132 wRC+ 102 fWAR 2.5 bWAR 1.1

 

 

Phillips was a gradually improving, better-than-decent utility guy in his 20s, but his career catapulted forward when he was traded by the A's to Detroit at the age of 31 after 8 seasons in Oakland.  Playing 5 years for the Tigers, he led the Tiger position players in fWAR with 23.3 (better than Whitaker,Trammel and Fielder), playing lots of 2nd, 3rd and LF, but 6 field positions plus DH, in all.  I wonder how many "super"-utility players have put up numbers like that over a 5-year period (Zobrist from 09-13 basically matches Phillips)?   What happened from his time with the A's?  It appears that he learned from Ricky Henderson how to take a pitch and from the Bash Brothers on how to elevate his swing and finally put it all together.  Talk about a "utility" player consistently overperforming at an advanced age...

 

In those 5 Tiger years, from ages 31-35 Phillips saw these combined stats-

 

- GP 722 PS 3320 BB% 15.6 K% 14.5 Slash .281/.395/.405/( .800) ISO .124 wRC+ 124 fWAR 23.3 bWAR 25.2 

 

To be the Twins best player in the first half of the 2020s is not a likely scenario for Eddie, in point of fact, it would be crazy to suggest that Escobar is destined to a Phillips' type of career after he hits age 30, but the increases in mini-Toy Cannon-like power and OBP from Escobar, as he is finally getting regular playing time is encouraging.  Perhaps he can short-circuit the 8 year matriculation that Phillips had in his 20s and over The Next Five Years average, say .750 OPS/115 wRC+ with some natural maturation plus incremental, achievable adjustment upgrades in his approach at the plate.   Clearly, to take it to the next level for Eddie, he's going to need to enroll in Plate Discipline 101 class with whomever the Twins version of Ricky Henderson is and get that BB% up to more respectable levels.  Of course, that's after he takes supplemental courses on LF and RF defense- in order to meet his "5 Position Starter Certification" badge.  

 

In looking at the contact-rate information for 2014, it's apparent that Esco needs to both sit down, and hit the batting cage, with Kurt Suzuki-->  He's got to think this out, as well as work this out. Eddie was actually 2nd (89.3%) to Suzuki (93.7%) on the team of regulars in Contact% within the Zone.  Unfortunately, he and Santana were way, way down at the bottom of the Twins lineup in swinging at pitches out of the zone (40.3%). Whereas, Suzuki was second to Mauer in this category, only swinging at pitches out of the zone at 25.3%.  Interestingly, in addition to Suzuki's good pitch discrimination, he also had by far the best Out of Zone Contact rate, @ 81.3%, Esco was middle of the pack @ 70.4%.  Work on your plate discipline with Suzuki, he's your guy Eddie, not Santana Vargas and Arcia.

 

 

 

[nicksaviking]

Excellent analysis from a pretty small quote. I don't hold quite the optimism for Escobar, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. Phillips would be a more appreciated player in today's game, probably along the lines of Ben Zobrist or Martin Prado. I'd be more than happy if Escobar ran into that group.

[Paul Pleiss]

Eddie Escobar deserves respect!