Ben Ross

[hotshotschamp]

Where did this come from.  Dude is like prime Albert Pujols so far this year...

[bean5302]

On 4/15/2026 at 7:08 PM, hotshotschamp said:

Where did this come from.  Dude is like prime Albert Pujols so far this year...

4th year in AA, 5th year in the system out of college, and a .510 BABIP. He's getting lucky with doubles and it's blowing up his stats.

It is fair to give him some credit in terms of batted ball quality. His pop up rate is dramatically down and he's whiffing less. Pitchers are throwing him junk out of the gate though. Only a 43% first pitch strike rate. Working from 1-0 all the time helps a guy out.

[nova_twins]

Ross's numbers have changed so much that arguably it's not too early to consider a breakout. Doubled and homered today. He has a very unusual background as a college player who faced marginal competition throughout his amateur career. 

Now, step one is getting into the picture as a 27th or 28th guy (i.e. in St Paul barring injury). That is very doable because he plays good defense -- it doesn't take much to be slightly better than Ryan Kriedler at the plate. I can imagine that pretty easily.

Beyond that, I'd want to see it in AAA first, but I dunno, Willi Castro-ish? Less offense more defense. 

[Major League Ready]

8 hours ago, nova_twins said:

Ross's numbers have changed so much that arguably it's not too early to consider a breakout. Doubled and homered today. He has a very unusual background as a college player who faced marginal competition throughout his amateur career. 

Now, step one is getting into the picture as a 27th or 28th guy (i.e. in St Paul barring injury). That is very doable because he plays good defense -- it doesn't take much to be slightly better than Ryan Kriedler at the plate. I can imagine that pretty easily.

Beyond that, I'd want to see it in AAA first, but I dunno, Willi Castro-ish? Less offense more defense. 

Castro didn't tear up the minors and was released after not showing well at the ML level.  This is too small of a sample size to believe Ross has changed his offensive projection just yet.  However, if his bat remains fairly dominant, he could be great in the "Castro Role".   I would love to see Culpepper up in 4-6 weeks with Ross taking his spot in St. Paul.  BTW .... Culpepper looked very good at SS last night.  

[hotshotschamp]

is there a comp out there, of a guy who never really did much 3-4 years into the minors, then just broke out and never looked back??

I'm not saying he will do this, but is it with in the realm of possiblity?