Man, is Park hot

[gunnarthor]

After April 11th, Park was hitting .143/.250/.286 with 12k in 24 at bats. He was benched for a couple games.  Since then he has been hitting .297/.341/.730.  And his krate has gone down while his walk rate has gone up.  And that home run he hit last night was really impressive. 

 

He seems to be making pretty quick adjustments to ML pitching.  Obviously, there are more to come but this has really been a nice start for him.

[Riverbrian]

I'm pumped.

 

I think the Twins Parked one with Park. 

[Loosey]

He has been a very pleasant surprise among a lot of unpleasant ones this season so far.  Outside of his first week and half, he is far surpassing my expectations.

[Blake]

The real question, though, is Park positionally flexible? 

 

 

[awinter]

 

The real question, though, is Park positionally flexible? 

Can he pitch in high leverage late innings situations?

[awinter]

On a serious note, I agree he has been looking good his last few games. At the beginning of the season, I hoped he'd either be so terrible they would have to send him down and put Sano at DH, or be so good that we forget about our surplus of DH types. With injuries setting in, it's tough to complain about who is playing each position now.

[KirbyDome89]

 

The real question, though, is Park positionally flexible? 

If only playing 1B or being the DH is flexible then yeah absolutely

[FormerMinnasotan]

I am warming up to Park. At first I was skeptical as he was touted as a power hitter but from arguably a weaker pro league in South Korea. He started out slow, but man he is coming on. Both Park and Sano might be two really dangerous hitters and help turn around the offense.

[Craig Arko]

This thread is not what I expected it to be.

 

All things considered, perhaps that's for the best.

[Jham]

As Bremer posted last night, 4 of his 5 HR have been on hanging breaking balls with his one off of a fastball an opposite field crush on a 3-1 92 mph pitch.  

Last night, he showed he's vulnerable (as most hitters are) to 94-95 at the letters.  He laid off one, then struck out on the other.  He also fouled one back that was belt high.  I think in ST his HR came off mostly fastballs.  

 

Point is, it's sort of hard to analyze at this point.  You can't really survive in this league trying to hit breaking balls out of the park, or go opposite field with fastballs.  Well Puckett sort of did, but he was one of the better bad ball hitters of all time, and his approach was avg. over power.  I want to see Park turn around some heaters before I jump to conclusions.  He and Sano seem to have the same problem catching up to high heat, but not laying off it either.  

That said, his power to all fields is undeniable.  His approach and adjustments show a high baseball IQ.  Visually, he's swinging harder, more proof he's getting more comfortable.  He's got some swagger, some style, a closed stance, and compact swing that reminds me of Mike Trout.  If he can shorten up a little bit more (since he has power to spare) or simply learn to lay off the balls he can't crush, he can easily be a 30-40 HR guy who may hit near .300.  If not, the league will adjust, and he'll be hard pressed to stay in the league, Collabello style.

[Rosterman]

If Park can take a walk and hit the bombs, he will be the cleanup guy for the next four years. He's showing a solid work ethic. He wants to shine.

 

Yes, we have a logjam...and the concept of Sano/Park/Arcia in the middle of the order is better than, say, last year's whatever. 

 

If anything, the slow start to the season is a wakeup call to just how good major league baseball is and the quality of play expected by YOU if you wish to play in it. You (and your team) have no value if you play bad. 

 

Will be interesting to see if the players can rise and win some series. Most all of the games have been close, and the pitching has held the opposition to the same standards as the opposition ahs held our batters. At some point, one aspect or another gets better or worse.

 

[Pardon My Dinger]

Distance of the average ParkBang is damn near 430 feet. Fancy, fancy stuff right there. 

[Badsmerf]

His scrappiness is yet to be tested. Showing some strong veteran presence currently though. I do have one criticism, he doesn't smile very big.

[Pardon My Dinger]

His scrappiness is yet to be tested. Showing some strong veteran presence currently though. I do have one criticism, he doesn't smile very big.

Gotta avoid that scrappiness to crappiness hurdle. Until proven otherwise, I'm gung ho for byung ho.

[MindFreak]

 

This thread is not what I expected it to be.

 

All things considered, perhaps that's for the best.

Were you expecting a few Hot Bung Hole references??

[TheLeviathan]

The dude has legit power.  The ball just explodes off his bat.

[nicksaviking]

Park looks great at 1B. Kind of ashame he's at DH. Corner OF is also packed, even if he could go to 3B that's filled too.

 

We probably just have to accept that we have a pretty athletic dude at DH.

[DocBauer]

I have to say, I've been impressed with his defense at 1B as well as his power. He coils and just unloads on the ball when he makes contact, but his swing looks compact and level through the zone and doesn't seem to the herky-jerky motion of some power hitters. (Arcia for example) I don't know if he can sustain hus current run with the bat. I'd think there will be a series of ups and downs still as he gets acclimated, but I think he looks good.