[lex24]

Luciano is 22.  

When Heliot Ramos was 22, here are his major league stats:

ABs: 20
Hits: 2
OPS: .382

Today, in his age 24 season, Ramos is an All-Star

While I am not suggesting Luciano will be an all-star in his age 24 season, I would suggest that it is far too early to give up on him.  At some point, the light will come on just as it did for Ramos.  Luciano has too much talent not to succeed.

That said, Luciano is not fielding well at either 2B or SS...his collective fielding percentage is 93.8%, 10 errors in 161 chances. He does have a discerning batting eye, 43 walks in 55 games, .365 OBP. And he hit major league pitching well in his brief cup of coffee up here. But I'm thinking 1B or corner outfield are his future, unless he really accelerates in the middle infield.

The Giants still see Luciano as the team’s future SS.

Per Zaidi, “…we’re not giving up on the shortstop role for him.  From what we track, his defensive metrics at shortstop have been pretty solid in the minor leagues over the last couple of years.  Over a big sample, he has done a nice job.  Look, it’s always going to be different when you come up here with the pressure and expectations and being able to do it on a night in, night out basis on a big stage.  That’ll be a hurdle for him, but we’re going to continue to get him reps there.”  

We shall see……..

He made four late-game errors in three games at shortstop. That's...hard to do.

In retrospect, perhaps the Giants put Luciano in a situation defensively that he wasn’t prepared to handle.  If so, that is on team management.  
 
Of course, it could be that Luciano will never be a solid defensive major league SS.  However, I think passing judgment based on a handful of games is rather premature.  Heck, in this era, very few players are fully formed big leaguers when they begin their major league career.

The wisdom on Luciano in baseball circles has been he’s not a quality defensive shortstop and certainly not major league level defensively. The Giants are on an island on this. They have stubbornly refused to accept that. And now he’s playing second base. His slug pct in a hitters league is .330. 

Luciano’s ticket to the major leagues is his power. They’ve screwed him up, in my opinion, by insisting he is a cromulent MIF. 

Frankly, to me, he looks like a baseball version of Roberto Duran. “Hands of stone.” I’m hoping when this year is over, they either move him to the outfield or a corner infield position. Preferably first base.  Tell him to focus on finding his power stroke.

Course, Zaidi LOVES his metrics. And the Giants continue to pretend that they are smartest team on the planet. They’re not.

---

Depending on one’s point of view, baseball fortunately (or unfortunately) provides a large enough sample size to make almost any data analysis relevant.

Being more dinosaur than wonk, I just miss the old eyeball test(s) that perhaps showed more about a player than his raw stats or headlines.

Jim Davenport was known for his defense, and only a lifetime .258 hitter, but he was super clutch at the plate when it counted.

Roger Maris was known for his HR seasons, but he had one of the best outfield arms in the AL and the play he made in the 7th game of the ‘62 Series to cut off Mays’ double down the RF line and keep Matty Alou from scoring will never show up in the record books.

In recent years there are probably stats to show how good Brandon Crawford was going into the hole to get a tough out falling to his right, but where are the stats showing the role his cannon of an arm played in getting that out?

No disrespect, but if stats told the whole story MLB could just stream AI-simulated pennant races and sell beer and peanuts through Uber Eats. At least we wouldn’t have to deal with game-day parking hassles.

So is there a reason why Wisely seems better suited to SS than 2B?

Love this.  

As for Wisely,  he’s probably more suited to play second base. But the Giants don’t have a decent shortstop so he’s getting the opportunity and he’s making the most of it. Good for him

[lex24]

Luciano is 22.  

When Heliot Ramos was 22, here are his major league stats:

ABs: 20
Hits: 2
OPS: .382

Today, in his age 24 season, Ramos is an All-Star

While I am not suggesting Luciano will be an all-star in his age 24 season, I would suggest that it is far too early to give up on him.  At some point, the light will come on just as it did for Ramos.  Luciano has too much talent not to succeed.

That said, Luciano is not fielding well at either 2B or SS...his collective fielding percentage is 93.8%, 10 errors in 161 chances. He does have a discerning batting eye, 43 walks in 55 games, .365 OBP. And he hit major league pitching well in his brief cup of coffee up here. But I'm thinking 1B or corner outfield are his future, unless he really accelerates in the middle infield.

The Giants still see Luciano as the team’s future SS.

Per Zaidi, “…we’re not giving up on the shortstop role for him.  From what we track, his defensive metrics at shortstop have been pretty solid in the minor leagues over the last couple of years.  Over a big sample, he has done a nice job.  Look, it’s always going to be different when you come up here with the pressure and expectations and being able to do it on a night in, night out basis on a big stage.  That’ll be a hurdle for him, but we’re going to continue to get him reps there.”  

We shall see……..

He made four late-game errors in three games at shortstop. That's...hard to do.

In retrospect, perhaps the Giants put Luciano in a situation defensively that he wasn’t prepared to handle.  If so, that is on team management.  
 
Of course, it could be that Luciano will never be a solid defensive major league SS.  However, I think passing judgment based on a handful of games is rather premature.  Heck, in this era, very few players are fully formed big leaguers when they begin their major league career.

The wisdom on Luciano in baseball circles has been he’s not a quality defensive shortstop and certainly not major league level defensively. The Giants are on an island on this. They have stubbornly refused to accept that. And now he’s playing second base. His slug pct in a hitters league is .330. 

Luciano’s ticket to the major leagues is his power. They’ve screwed him up, in my opinion, by insisting he is a cromulent MIF. 

Frankly, to me, he looks like a baseball version of Roberto Duran. “Hands of stone.” I’m hoping when this year is over, they either move him to the outfield or a corner infield position. Preferably first base.  Tell him to focus on finding his power stroke.

Course, Zaidi LOVES his metrics. And the Giants continue to pretend that they are smartest team on the planet. They’re not.

---

Depending on one’s point of view, baseball fortunately (or unfortunately) provides a large enough sample size to make almost any data analysis relevant.

Being more dinosaur than wonk, I just miss the old eyeball test(s) that perhaps showed more about a player than his raw stats or headlines.

Jim Davenport was known for his defense, and only a lifetime .258 hitter, but he was super clutch at the plate when it counted.

Roger Maris was known for his HR seasons, but he had one of the best outfield arms in the AL and the play he made in the 7th game of the ‘62 Series to cut off Mays’ double down the RF line and keep Matty Alou from scoring will never show up in the record books.

In recent years there are probably stats to show how good Brandon Crawford was going into the hole to get a tough out falling to his right, but where are the stats showing the role his cannon of an arm played in getting that out?

No disrespect, but if stats told the whole story MLB could just stream AI-simulated pennant races and sell beer and peanuts through Uber Eats. At least we wouldn’t have to deal with game-day parking hassles.

So is there a reason why Wisely seems better suited to SS than 2B?

Love this.  

As for Wisely,  he’s probably more suited to play second base. But the Giants don’t have a decent shortstop so he’s getting the opportunity and he’s making the most of it. Good for him