Reds July 2023 thread

[CJD]

(07-04-2023, 04:14 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Geez, Steer goes 4 for 4 and can't get any love? That guy gets no respect around here.

Just kidding. You've been throwing him props more than most.

I'm not too concerned about DLC's mini slump. I saw or heard a stat a few days ago showing that he has faced the fewest percentage of fastballs per at bat than any hitter in MLB.

Steer is such a good player that it has become completely normalized in the fan base haha. He doesn't look like a rookie, play like a rookie or behave like a rookie, so he does not garner as much attention as the other rookies.

He takes controlled swings, he is a master of the strike zone. He has a 20.8% chase rate in 2023, the MLB average is 28.4%. His zone contact rate is above MLB average, his chase contact rate is above MLB average, his Whiff % is below MLB average (good in this case), and his swing percentages (both zone and general) are below MLB average. He is extremely selective with what pitches he swings at and which ones he does not, all while maintaining a below average K rate and an above average walk rate.

He even goes opposite field more than the MLB average, which is a good sign of a batter who can choose where the ball goes based on his swing.

He isn't flashy on the base paths with stretching singles into doubles or running out grounders like EDLC does (although his speed is solidly above average at 78% percentile) and he isn't playing a flashy defensive position like McLain (his arm is actually pretty weak all things considered), but he's consistently getting on base and giving good at bats. 

He's second on the team among position players with 1.8 WAR (behind Friedl), second in slugging and OPS (Behind McLain), 1st in OBP, 3rd in average (behind Friedl and McLain and technically Elly, but still a small sample size), 1st in walks, 1st in RBI, 1st in total bags, 1st in HRs, 1st in 2Bs, 1st in hits, and 2nd in runs scored (behind India).

As far as I'm concerned, he's the MVP of the team, with the only person in competition being McLain.

It's a shame that Corbin is having an NL MVP like season over in Arizona because, if it were any other year, I think McLain or Steer would run away with the NL rookie of the year award.

It's just Elly is more fun to track on a daily basis because he's so volatile haha.