[Mick]

1759722006[/url]']

1759709301[/url]']

1759681543[/url]']

1759628804[/url]']

You do like your short sample sizes.  Eldridge hit eight or nine balls 100 miles an hour or harder. I don’t know if he’ll be on the roster to begin the season next year. But he’ll be there relatively soon. And he’s gonna strike out a ton  I doubt he’s gonna hit for much of an average his first year. But the power will play.  What he did this September generally means nothing. As long as he didn’t look overmatched. And he didn’t.

He is having a bone spur removed. Which also may have been bugging him a little bit. I truly hope that’s not a real problem. If it is – then everything changes.

Just for kicks, here are some numbers from a player’s first partial season.  He was called up in August 2016.  :

84 AB’s.  42 K’s.  .179.  4 HR’s.

Didn’t look like much. He’s been pretty good ever since.  I’ll let you guess the player.

Yeah, I know. It's easy to play that game with very young September callups:

17 ABs, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts, no walks, .118/.118/.118/.235 (Posey)
10 ABs, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts, .200/.200/.300/.500 (Babe Ruth)
34 ABs, 7 hits, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts, .206/.325/.294/.619 (Mike Schmidt)
151 ABs, 36 hits, 23 strikeouts, .238/.286/.298/.584 (Ty Cobb)

On the other hand, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Rickey Henderson, Will Clark, Jack Clark, Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds, Stan Musial, Harmon Killebrew, Jeff Kent, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons started strong and stayed strong.

As for Eldridge, I'd be very surprised if he doesn't make the major league roster next year and plays 1B / DH with Devers. I imagine that Dominic Smith and Wilmer Flores will be looking for work with other teams next year. Smith is 30, hit .284 and plays a good first base...he'll be employable. Flores, not so sure. He had 71 RBIs, tying a career high, but had the fourth slowest bat speed in MLB. He will turn 35 next season, they don't generally improve.

Verlander, on the strength of his second half (when, for the first time in his career, threw more breaking balls than fastballs) with the 2.60 ERA and given the Giants' paucity of pitching -- I suspect he'll return.

Actually, Mays started out terribly — 1-26 (the one hit being an HR off Warren Spahn).  As the story goes, he cried about his play to Leo Durocher.  In turn, Durocher told him to stick with it, that he was not going to be removed from the lineup.  And, the rest is history.

Right, but we were talking about September call-ups...Mays was given the job in May, 1951...still, he made good contact that month. In 27 plate appearances, he only struck out three times and drew six walks. And he hit .348 in June with a 1.041 OPS. Nine doubles, two triples, six home runs and 26 RBIs.

Will Clark was not a September call up.  He memorably debuted v. Nolan Ryan on Opening Day 1986.

And, Jeff Kent was not a September call up. 

I didn’t check any of the other guys.

Yes, I put it inartfully. My point was that the players I mentioned didn't struggle, they all did great from the jump, whether it was a full season or a call-up. Why I said "On the other hand...": 

Willie Mays, 464 ABs, 22 doubles, 20 HRs, .274/.356/.472/.828
Lou Gehrig, 26 ABs, 11 hits, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR; .423/.464/.769/1.234
Ted Williams, 565 ABs, 31 HRs, 145 RBI, .327/.436/.609/1.045
Rickey Henderson, 351 ABs, 33 SBs, 13 2Bs, .274/.338/.336/.675, 
Will Clark, 408 ABs, 27 2Bs, 11 HRs, .287/.343/.444/.787
Bobby Bonds, 307 ABs, 10 2B, 5 3B, 9 HRs, 16 SBs, .254/.336/.407/.743   122 OPS+
Barry Bonds, 413 ABs, 26 2B, 16 HRs, 36 SBs, .223/.330/.416/.746   103 OPS+
Stan Musial, 47 ABs, 20 hits, 4 2Bs, .426/.449/.574/1.023
Harmon Killebrew, 13 ABs, 4 hits, 1 2B, 3 RBI, .308/.400/.385/.785
Jeff Kent; 305 ABs, 21 2Bs, 11 HRs, .239/.312/.430/.741, 105 OPS+
Jimmie Foxx; 9 ABs, 6 hits, .667/.667/.778/1.444
Al Simmons; 594 ABs, 31 2Bs, 102 RBIs, .308/.343/.431/.774

Also, Eldridge hit just three balls over 100 mph, but he did hit 11 of his 16 connections over 95 mph, which is the "hard-hit" standard
Bryce Eldridge - Stats - Batting | FanGraphs Baseball

And Jack Clark belongs on the "struggle" list. 17 ABs four hits, .235/.263/.235/.498. Of course, he was 19, younger even than Mel Ott, youngest player in GIants history. He didn't get to over 100 OPS+ until his fourth season, but was 125 OPS+ for fourteen of the next fifteen seasons.

Interesting player, Jack Clark. For the first full ten seasons of his career, he averaged 61 walks and 69 strikeouts per season, had a very discerning eye. for his last five full seasons, he averaged 116 walks (leading the league three times) and 130 strikeouts. It coincided with a power binge, as he averaged 19 HRs for his first 10 seasons, then 28 for his last five.

[Mick]

1759722006[/url]']

1759709301[/url]']

1759681543[/url]']

1759628804[/url]']

You do like your short sample sizes.  Eldridge hit eight or nine balls 100 miles an hour or harder. I don’t know if he’ll be on the roster to begin the season next year. But he’ll be there relatively soon. And he’s gonna strike out a ton  I doubt he’s gonna hit for much of an average his first year. But the power will play.  What he did this September generally means nothing. As long as he didn’t look overmatched. And he didn’t.

He is having a bone spur removed. Which also may have been bugging him a little bit. I truly hope that’s not a real problem. If it is – then everything changes.

Just for kicks, here are some numbers from a player’s first partial season.  He was called up in August 2016.  :

84 AB’s.  42 K’s.  .179.  4 HR’s.

Didn’t look like much. He’s been pretty good ever since.  I’ll let you guess the player.

Yeah, I know. It's easy to play that game with very young September callups:

17 ABs, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts, no walks, .118/.118/.118/.235 (Posey)
10 ABs, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts, .200/.200/.300/.500 (Babe Ruth)
34 ABs, 7 hits, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts, .206/.325/.294/.619 (Mike Schmidt)
151 ABs, 36 hits, 23 strikeouts, .238/.286/.298/.584 (Ty Cobb)

On the other hand, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Rickey Henderson, Will Clark, Jack Clark, Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds, Stan Musial, Harmon Killebrew, Jeff Kent, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons started strong and stayed strong.

As for Eldridge, I'd be very surprised if he doesn't make the major league roster next year and plays 1B / DH with Devers. I imagine that Dominic Smith and Wilmer Flores will be looking for work with other teams next year. Smith is 30, hit .284 and plays a good first base...he'll be employable. Flores, not so sure. He had 71 RBIs, tying a career high, but had the fourth slowest bat speed in MLB. He will turn 35 next season, they don't generally improve.

Verlander, on the strength of his second half (when, for the first time in his career, threw more breaking balls than fastballs) with the 2.60 ERA and given the Giants' paucity of pitching -- I suspect he'll return.

Actually, Mays started out terribly — 1-26 (the one hit being an HR off Warren Spahn).  As the story goes, he cried about his play to Leo Durocher.  In turn, Durocher told him to stick with it, that he was not going to be removed from the lineup.  And, the rest is history.

Right, but we were talking about September call-ups...Mays was given the job in May, 1951...still, he made good contact that month. In 27 plate appearances, he only struck out three times and drew six walks. And he hit .348 in June with a 1.041 OPS. Nine doubles, two triples, six home runs and 26 RBIs.

Will Clark was not a September call up.  He memorably debuted v. Nolan Ryan on Opening Day 1986.

And, Jeff Kent was not a September call up. 

I didn’t check any of the other guys.

Yes, I put it inartfully. My point was that the players I mentioned didn't struggle, they all did great from the jump, whether it was a full season or a call-up. Why I said "On the other hand...": 

Willie Mays, 464 ABs, 22 doubles, 20 HRs, .274/.356/.472/.828
Lou Gehrig, 26 ABs, 11 hits, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR; .423/.464/.769/1.234
Ted Williams, 565 ABs, 31 HRs, 145 RBI, .327/.436/.609/1.045
Rickey Henderson, 351 ABs, 33 SBs, 13 2Bs, .274/.338/.336/.675, 
Will Clark, 408 ABs, 27 2Bs, 11 HRs, .287/.343/.444/.787
Bobby Bonds, 307 ABs, 10 2B, 5 3B, 9 HRs, 16 SBs, .254/.336/.407/.743   122 OPS+
Barry Bonds, 413 ABs, 26 2B, 16 HRs, 36 SBs, .223/.330/.416/.746   103 OPS+
Stan Musial, 47 ABs, 20 hits, 4 2Bs, .426/.449/.574/1.023
Harmon Killebrew, 13 ABs, 4 hits, 1 2B, 3 RBI, .308/.400/.385/.785
Jeff Kent; 305 ABs, 21 2Bs, 11 HRs, .239/.312/.430/.741, 105 OPS+
Jimmie Foxx; 9 ABs, 6 hits, .667/.667/.778/1.444
Al Simmons; 594 ABs, 31 2Bs, 102 RBIs, .308/.343/.431/.774

Also, Eldridge hit just three balls over 100 mph, but he did hit 11 of his 16 connections over 95 mph, which is the "hard-hit" standard
Bryce Eldridge - Stats - Batting | FanGraphs Baseball

And Jack Clark belongs on the "struggle" list. 17 ABs four hits, .235/.263/.235/.498. Of course, he was 19, younger even than Mel Ott, youngest player in GIants history. He didn't get to over 100 OPS+ until his fourth season, but was 125 OPS+ for fourteen of the next fifteen seasons.

Interesting player, Jack Clark. For the first full ten seasons of his career, he averaged 61 walks and 69 strikeouts per season, had a very discerning eye. for his last five full seasons, he averaged 116 walks (leading the league three times) and 130 strikeouts. It coincided with a power binge, as he averaged 19 HRs for his first 10 seasons, then 28 for his last five.