Article: Is Eduardo Escobar For Real?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Hey John, I always like your writing which has cut back recently. Good article, I wonder the same thing

[woolywoolhouse]

Beginning in 2013 I started going to one Twins' road game a year. (I know; that means I've only done it twice so far.) But the Twins have won both of those games- one in Colorado, and on in Milwaukee. And Eduardo Escobar has homered in both of those games. So... really, I'm just hoping he continues that stretch this June in Chicago.

[Squirrel]

Beginning in 2013 I started going to one Twins' road game a year. (I know; that means I've only done it twice so far.) But the Twins have won both of those games- one in Colorado, and on in Milwaukee. And Eduardo Escobar has homered in both of those games. So... really, I'm just hoping he continues that stretch this June in Chicago.

Me, too!

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Escobar was for real after the 2013 season.  All the signs were there and fairly obvious.  Just the Twins' front office and their manager could not read them.  That was the winter that Ryan brought back Jason Bartlett, for crying out loud...

 

Exactly! He went down to AAA in July 2013 and figured something out. Came back to the Twins in September and he had changed dramatically.

 

I was pulling my hair out (what little I have left) when folks in the off-season wanted the Twins to sign Stephen Drew after his near careeer year with the Red Sox. I caught a lot of ridicule then for suggesting EE should get a real shot. I'm glad it's worked well for he and the Twins.

 

I think he's for real.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Oldgoat_MN

[jorgenswest]

As a minor leaguer he was always several years younger than league average. He didn't perform well with the bat in that context but his glove kept moving him forward. He was in AA by 21 and the majors by 22. It isn't unusual to both struggle with the bat and improve significantly under these conditions. We knew that when he was acquired but there was so much noise the other direction it went mostly unheard.

 

His last two seasons were real. It may have been a ceiling but it is a ceiling that should hold through his team control with the Twins. Players with his skills are valuable to any roster.

[zchrz]

 

Recall that they tried EE in the outfield for a number of games -- he looked terrible out there, waiting to play the balls after they hit the ground or the wall.

 

So, there's that in terms of super-utility. 

 

Compact body, compact swing, plenty of pop.  Nothing flashy.  We used to call that a ball-player when I was a kid.

 

Him playing the outfield by starting on the warning track, within arms reach of the wall, so there was no way he would have to go back on a ball was hilarious.  Not really a good hilarious but one must find joys painful times.

Edited March 6, 2016 by zchrz