Adam Brett Walker RBI #70

[sane]

Adam Brett Walker just got his RBI #70 in Chattanooga's 77th game!

On pace for 147 RBI for 162 games!

[jokin]

 

Adam Brett Walker just got his RBI #70 in Chattanooga's 77th game!

On pace for 147 RBI for 162 games!

 

He actually got the RBI yesterday, as it became a suspended game continued today.  And the Southern League only plays a 140 game schedule.

[Cap'n Piranha]

I would be very interested to see ABWII's RBI conversion percentage; that is, how often does he get an RBI when he has a guy on second and/or third base relative to other players.

[Minniman]

 

Adam Brett Walker just got his RBI #70 in Chattanooga's 77th game!

On pace for 147 RBI for 162 games!

 

What ... is this a kid from "Saved by the Bell"?

 

What is with the three names?

[BoomBoom]

I read Walker's 70 RBI double the amount of the next closest Lookout player. That's pretty impressive considering they still have Kepler, Harrison, Gonzales, and Turner. You would think one of those guys would be closing in on 35 RBI 77 games in, considering they lead the league in runs scored as a team. 20 & 20 club

[GMinTraining]

RBI Count for Walker

 

71 after tonight - Ortiz is second in the twins system with 44 (27 less rbi's) / 61 games left in season

[TNLooky2015]

Kid has more line drive singles off the wall than anyone I know.  Ball jumps off bat

 

Great video about Walkers power and interview with hitting coach Chad Allen (Chatty news)

http://www.wdef.com/content/sports/localsports/story/Lookouts-Adam-Brett-Walker-Compared-to-Baseballs/tkmkIlTKYUqYBRT-WOhZew.cspx

 

Awesome company to be mentioned with in terms of power.

[ExpectMorePayLess]

Are You Willing To Strike Out?

In 1923, Babe Ruth broke the record for most home runs in a season. That same year, he also broke the record for highest batting average.

 

There is a third record he broke that year that most people don't know about. In 1923, Babe Ruth struck out more times than any other player in Major League Baseball.

 

Babe Ruth was not afraid to strike out. And it was this fearlessness that contributed to his remarkable career. He was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season, a record he held for 34 years until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961.  He also held the lifetime total home run record of 714 for 39 years until Hank Aaron broke it in 1974.

 

He held other records too. He had 1,33o career strike outs - a record he held for 29 years until it was broken by none other than the great Mickey Mantle.

 

Most people want to hit home runs, the problem is they are afraid to fail in order to get there. As Babe Ruth proved, you can't have one without the other. It's perfectly fine to be a good, solid player who doesn't go down swinging that often...but it also means you won't hit that many home runs. Those players are needed on a team - they are the consistent and reliable players.

 

However...

If you want to swing for the fences, you have to be willing to strikeout.

 

 

Most of Walkers swings don't even look that hard.  His swing is just so easy, but the ball flies.  Just like the video in above post.

[nicksaviking]

Ruth also walked exactly as many times as he struck out that year. Ruth would go on to lead the league in walks 11 times in his career. That's not surprising considering his unparalleled power caused pitchers to pitch around him.

 

What is surprising is when an unparalleled slugger isn't among the league leaders in walks.

[ExpectMorePayLess]

 

What is surprising is when an unparalleled slugger isn't among the league leaders in walks.

 

That is a surprising characteristic of Walker's game.  I agree.  Most home run hitters walk a lot.  That is why I can not figure out how Walker damn near leads the league in runs scored every year?  How does he get on base so fewer times yet scores at a superior rate every year?  It's not like he only hits home runs?

[nicksaviking]

That is a surprising characteristic of Walker's game.  I agree.  Most home run hitters walk a lot.  That is why I can not figure out how Walker damn near leads the league in runs scored every year?  How does he get on base so fewer times yet scores at a superior rate every year?  It's not like he only hits home runs?

He plays with very good teammates who drive him in on the rare occasion he gets on base.

 

AA pitchers still need to show they can throw strikes and get big boppers out. The superior MLB pitchers will simply throw him breaking balls off the plate knowing he'll chase. With his current approach, he won't score runs at the MLB level because he'll never see a hitable pitch and he'll still get himself out.

[drivlikejehu]

Walker has never even scored runs at the highest rate on his own team. He just never gets promoted early and has stayed healthy, while playing with other good hitters. If you looked league wide, his run scoring rate is nothing special at all. The good players had less games due to promotions.

 

In rookie ball, he scored one less run than Pimentel.

 

In low-A, he was 4th on his own team in runs scored per game, and it wasn't even close. Buxton and Williams scored 50% more often per game, and Polanco scored slightly more often as well.

 

In high-A, he scored fewer runs than Harrison despite playing in more games, and scored much less per game than Polanco.

 

In AA, Walker has scored 5 less runs than Sano despite 9 more games, Buxton had a much higher rate per game, and Kepler's per game rate is basically even.

[sane]

 

"And the Southern League only plays a 140 game schedule"

 

I know, and it does not change the fact that ABW is "ON PACE for 147 RBI for 162 games!"

[ExpectMorePayLess]

 

Walker has never even scored runs at the highest rate on his own team. He just never gets promoted early and has stayed healthy, while playing with other good hitters. If you looked league wide, his run scoring rate is nothing special at all. The good players had less games due to promotions.

 

 

To your point regarding runs scored (total / not per game )

He was second to Pimentel (League MVP) in rookie ball.

He was second in the league in Low A

He was fifth in the league in High A behind 2nd place teammate Harrison.

He is second in the league in AA behind teammate Sano.

 

The above works for me.  If being durable and doing your job - to the point of being among the best in the league every year, despite injuries and promotions to others,  I'm OK with that.   

 

We know you hate Walker topics taking up space on TD.  I get it.  So many Trollers as you say.

 

The Southern League player of the month.  somebody voted

 

[drivlikejehu]

 

To your point regarding runs scored (total / not per game )

He was second to Pimentel (League MVP) in rookie ball.

He was second in the league in Low A

He was fifth in the league in High A behind 2nd place teammate Harrison.

He is second in the league in AA behind teammate Sano.

 

The above works for me.  If being durable and doing your job - to the point of being among the best in the league every year, despite injuries and promotions to others,  I'm OK with that.   

 

We know you hate Walker topics taking up space on TD.  I get it.  So many Trollers as you say.

 

The Southern League player of the month.  somebody voted

 

Your numbers are only for players that spent most of the year at that level and thus qualified for the batting leader board.

 

The good prospects were mostly promoted, so they did not technically qualify. However, many of them, including Walker's own teammates, scored at a higher rate, often much higher.

 

So maybe Walker is good at staying healthy, and good at not being promoted, but that doesn't make someone a prospect.

[clutterheart]

 

"And the Southern League only plays a 140 game schedule"

 

I know, and it does not change the fact that ABW is "ON PACE for 147 RBI for 162 games!"

 

He is also on pace for 213 SO and 41 BB! (thats not good)

 

Eerily he is also on pace for 41 Home Runs.   Has there ever been a guy who played a whole season and had more HR's than Walks?

 

What a unique player...

[sane]

 

He is also on pace for 213 SO and 41 BB! (thats not good)

 

Eerily he is also on pace for 41 Home Runs.   Has there ever been a guy who played a whole season and had more HR's than Walks?

 

What a unique player...

If the opposing pitchers were paying attention to his HR/RBI totals, I would think his walks would increase exponentially, and pass his HR's soon. Apparently, the pitchers don't know enough to be afraid of him yet.

[clutterheart]

 

If the opposing pitchers were paying attention to his HR/RBI totals, I would think his walks would increase exponentially, and pass his HR's soon. Apparently, the pitchers don't know enough to be afraid of him yet.

 

Not sure about that.  Percentage wise the pitcher is better off going after him

He strikes out 37% of the time (this is really really bad)

He gets a hit 25% of the time

 

 

[Monkeypaws]

People keep focussing on the strikeouts, but there is much to be impressed about with Walker. He just keeps producing.

[BoomBoom]

MiLB Top Honors - Walker was impressive when you compare with entire group.

 

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20150708&content_id=135515132&fext=.jsp&vkey=pr_l111&sid=l111

 

The Twins gave their Top Hitter of the Month to Kepler, but I tend to agree with the MiLB selection (and Seth's) this time.  Based on the numbers only.

[TNLooky2015]

 

People keep focusing on the strikeouts, but there is much to be impressed about with Walker. He just keeps producing.

 

71 & 23 is crazy productive in 78 games IMO

[GMinTraining]

Good Read - Tomshaw and Walker

 

http://jacksonville.com/sports/baseball/2015-07-07/story/look-out-chattanooga-star-walker-former-ju-standout-puts-big

[Bark's Lounge]

I hope ABW does well and has a chance at being a serviceable MLB player, but this extreme boner for power numbers is alarming. Let's lay off the Viagra for now and let this fella figure some more things out at AA.

 

I must admit I am surprised by the phenomena that has built up around this guy. He will not be called up to the bigs this year unless there is some unforeseen event that is very grim.

 

Like I said, I hope the best for him, but there is a good chance he walks down the boulevard of the likes of Phil Plantier, Adam Hyzdu, and other AAAA power hitters.

 

His high SO rate and low BB rate, to me, make that the likely outcome.

 

Anything is possible, but the Adam Brett Walker boner will lead to blue balls - no need to torture yourselves.

[TNLooky2015]

Viagra is for something that doesn't work.  

 

That leads me to these questions:

 

1) If Walker continues to be Walker (crazy productive), when becomes the right time to bring him up for his cup of coffee (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)?

 

2) Do you chalk him up as a worthless minor leaguer (drivelikejehu) based on prospect history and never bring him up until he cuts down on the strikeouts?

 

3) How long is the leash be when he does arrive (MLB) if he continues to strikeout (league leader rate), yet produces hrs and rbi (league leader rate)?  

 

4) What overrules what if you were GM based on question #3? (strikeouts or production)  

 

4) If he figures it out and cuts his strikeouts down to 28% at the MLB level & walks at a 9% level, what will his legacy become?  4th OF / League Journeyman / Solid Regular / All Star?

 

Those are the real questions that we have to answer moving forward.  Then these threads would probably go away.  And only the Twins know the answers.  Too much intrigue.

[2wins87]

I've been in the camp that he is unlikely to be a good major league player due to his trouble with the K/BB ratio in the minors.  However, he's not a total non-prospect.  My favorite comp is probably Steven Moya of the Tigers, who ranked as their top (or maybe 2nd best) prospect coming into this year.  This speaks mostly to the vast gulf between the two farm systems, but I think Walker would get a lot more scrutiny from prospect rankers if the Twin's system weren't so deep.  I wouldn't be surprised if he got a cup of coffee in September when the rosters expand.

 

On points 3 & 4.  If he manages to produce similarly in the majors of course he stays there, unless his defense is bad enough to offset his offensive value.  The problem is not that a major league player can't be productive while striking out at a high rate, but that Walker probably won't be productive at all against major league pitchers and scouting reports which will consistently exploit his weaknesses.  I would be interested in seeing his production vs highly regarded pitching prospects in AA, this would be a lot of work to compile but might help illuminate if he's got the talent to produce against the best pitching talent.  Even then, once advanced scouting reports start circulating, most players find it much more difficult to continue to produce in the majors.

 

There really aren't a whole lot of players who have had numbers as extreme as Walker's have been in the minors, so he really might be a bit of an anomaly among anomalies.  But history would suggest that players of his type don't tend to produce in the majors.  We'll have to wait and see, I think he'll get his opportunities, though maybe not for very long so he'll probably have to be impressive to stick around. 

[sane]

 

"My favorite comp is probably Steven Moya of the Tigers"

 

Mine would be Jack Cust ex-Oakland A'S.

 

2107AB  311R  510H 105HR  323RBI  444BB  819K  .242BA  .374 OBP  .439SLG  .813 OPS

 

 

ABWALKER

 

1536AB  256R  401H  89HR  319RBI  117BB   467K  .261BA  .314 OBP  .503SLG  .818 OPS

[sane]

Apparently spaces don't transfer to the text.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

He is also on pace for 213 SO and 41 BB! (thats not good)

This. Three True Outcome players can be valuable but only if they have the two good parts of the three outcomes (eg. Adam Dunn, obviously). Dunn had a MiLB isoD of .121 (!) on top of a .304 batting average.

 

Walker needs to be more selective or MLB pitchers will tear him to shreds. If he can't lay off the bad pitches, MLB pitchers will refuse to throw him good pitches and he won't make the kind of contact it requires to rack up those doubles and homers.

[Monkeypaws]

I'd be alarmed more by the strikeouts if he was repeating levels.

 

Every season he faces better pitching - he whiffs a lot, but still wallops the ball as well. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see the strikeouts drop at some point in his career, as he gets established at what I hope will be the major league level.

 

The guy is a good athlete, and while his approach doesn't fall into norms for success, I wouldn't bet against him.

 

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I'd be alarmed more by the strikeouts if he was repeating levels.

 

Every season he faces better pitching - he whiffs a lot, but still wallops the ball as well. 

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see the strikeouts drop at some point in his career, as he gets established at what I hope will be the major league level.

I care far less about the strikeouts (though they're so prevalent it's hard to ignore them entirely) than I do the lack of discipline.

 

If he wants to be a successful MLB player while missing the ball a lot when he swings, he needs to know when not to swing in the first place.

 

It's impossible to become Rob Deer, Ryan Howard, Adam Dunn, or Jim Thome without the walk component. It not only makes them a much more valuable hitter overall through avoiding the out, it's an indication that they knew which pitches to wind up and jack out of the park.

 

If you don't know which pitches to lay off, why would an MLB pitcher throw a pitch you can hit? This isn't AA or A+ where pitchers are constantly missing their spots and giving you something to juice. It's MLB, where pitchers will put the ball where they want and if you're not ready to lay off an unhittable pitch, it's going to lead to disastrous results.

 

It took Carlos Gomez 5+ seasons to become a valuable player and the only reason teams tolerated him for that long was because of his defensive ability and ridiculous speed. A guy like Walker isn't going to 1700 plate appearances to figure it out like Gomez did between the Mets, Twins, and Brewers.