1 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: Here we go, the Brian de la Cruz Power Hour 2 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: on the official show on the Fish Stripes podcast. I'm 3 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: vi Ela Susman, the managing editor of Fish Stripes. As 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 1: you can sell doing something a little bit different on 5 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: this pod episode, be sure to check out the full 6 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: side fishtripes dot com, where we cover your Miami Marlins 7 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: every day in our own way. Go to fish Stripes 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: dot com and or reminder to leave a rating and 9 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: review for our podcast on Apple if you can, anytime 10 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: between now and the end of the regular season. For 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: every new rating and review that we receive, we'll be 12 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: adding one dollar to our donation to the Player's Alliance. 13 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: Go check out the site The Players Alliance dot com 14 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: to understand what that organization is trying to accomplish in baseball. 15 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: The Brian de CRUs Power Hour. Hopefully this actually won't 16 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: be a full hour, but that's not entirely up to me. 17 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: I'm recording this towards the end of Thursday Night's game. 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: The Marlins have what seems to be a comfortable lead 19 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: against the Nats trying to close out this series win. 20 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: I had this idea to record the show regardless based 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: on what Brian Delacruz has done as a Marlin, which 22 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: has been nothing short of awesome in what is his 23 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: very first month as a major leaguer, and inspired by 24 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: the fact that he has three hits already to this 25 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: point in this game, and it looks like he'll have 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: one other opportunity at least before it's over. I have 27 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: to go in depth about what we've seen from him, 28 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: and not just you know, over hyping him, but putting 29 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: into perspective what he's doing, explaining why he really appeals 30 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: to me. I just for me, there has been a 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: void for most of this year where some of you 32 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: know Harold Ramirez was my favorite Marlins position player throughout 33 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen to twenty twenty in the rare instances where 34 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: he was available last year, He's been gone since before 35 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: spring training, and there's been a void in my heart 36 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: for a favorite Marlins position player. I had been holding out, 37 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: hadn't really committed to anybody this year, and now Brian 38 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: Delacruz has stolen my heart. He has been a joy 39 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: to watch, even more so than trying to overrate him 40 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: in terms of what his actual talent is. There are 41 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: things that are more important than just your value on 42 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: the field and all that, although he's been providing plenty 43 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: of that as well. Here's Brian de la Cruz brings 44 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: some the first pitch to de la Cruz, who has 45 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: another hit between now and the final out of the game. 46 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: I'm going to keep this going until the Marlins actually 47 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: wrap up this win on Thursday night, so we'll see 48 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: how long that takes to play these final two innings. 49 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: Just unloading all my thoughts about Brian Delacruz, the twenty 50 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: four year year old. If we weren't fully aware already, 51 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: he was acquired from the Astros in the Yemmy Garcia 52 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: trade less than one month ago. That trade made on 53 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: July twenty eighth, sending Yimmy Garcia to the Astros in 54 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: exchange for Dela Cruz and Austin Pruitt. So Austin pruit 55 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: It also pitched in this game that I'm watching right now, 56 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: just got finished. He was the one that came into relief. 57 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: He's already been up a couple of times. I suspect 58 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: that Austin Prewit may be designated for assignment again by 59 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: the time that you listen to this. He's that type 60 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: of very fringy arm, but Dela Cruz certainly the centerpiece 61 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: of the package that the Marlins got back. It's already evident. 62 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: It was evidence, maybe probably a week into Dela Cruz's 63 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: major league career, that there was something very interesting with 64 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: this guy, and as we reached the one month mark, 65 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: it is it's very evident that he is a piece. 66 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: He's a piece of this organization moving forward. How big 67 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:57,839 Speaker 1: a piece. That's something that I guess we could dive 68 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: into right now and make sense of what we've seen 69 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: so far. The one thing that stood out from the 70 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: very first game he played was the defense. You could 71 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: be fooled by tiny sample sizes with defense, more so 72 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: than any other aspect of your game. Watching fielding plays, 73 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 1: it takes a large body of work to really dissect 74 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: what a player does in that department. It takes hundreds 75 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: of reps. Especially if you are a corner outfielder, which 76 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: de la Cruz primarily has been. You don't get those 77 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: reps unless you play an entire half season or more 78 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: at a certain level. But what stuck out to me 79 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: when they made the trade is that it was brought 80 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: to my attention from Baseball Sports Info Solutions the same 81 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,600 Speaker 1: company that tracks Major League defense in defensive runts save, 82 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: they provide the same service to the miners. It's not 83 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: publicly available to everybody, but they kind they tease it 84 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: in a little bits and pieces. When the trade was announced, 85 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: they mentioned that Brian de la Cruz, he was having 86 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: a solid season at Triple A for their Astros affiliate offensively, defensively. 87 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: For whatever reason, they were very low on him. The 88 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: exact number escaped me. I think it was negative eight 89 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: defensive run saved in a half season at Triple A. 90 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: So they put that number out there, and I don't 91 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: think I saw anybody that was too strongly like disputing that, 92 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: but it did stick out to me looking at his 93 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: minor league numbers, that they were rotating in between all 94 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: three outfield positions. Maybe that was contributing to it. Of course, 95 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: playing in a ballpark that he'd probably never played at 96 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: at the Triple A level because that was his first 97 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: year playing at the Triple A level. When he got 98 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: called up to the Marlins, Hayeshu Sanchez was still out 99 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: with what we believe was a positive COVID test, although 100 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: never confirmed by the team, and that left a huge 101 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: void in right field once he was out, and of 102 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: course when they traded Duval to the Braves, Del Lacruze 103 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: debuted on July THIRTI, right after the trade deadline. He 104 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: stepped in his right in right field, and so to 105 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: this point that has been by far his primary position. 106 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: Sixteen starts in right field, foreign center field, and foreign 107 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: left field. The sample it is small, but to me, 108 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: we've seen such a wide variety of plays that he 109 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: makes look easy defensively most of those and right, but 110 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,039 Speaker 1: I mean just this week, just in this series against 111 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: the Nationals, and center field. One that definitely saved a 112 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: run at the wall in a close game. Lake Thomas 113 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: puts a charge into one out sward left center field, 114 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: De la Cruise up, but catch the mast to play 115 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 1: Ryan de la Cruise, balancing a lot of adversity there. 116 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: He has a very strong arm stat cast backs it 117 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: up repeatedly. A guy that clocks over ninety miles per 118 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: hour on his throws back to the infield and throws 119 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: to different bases as well. We've seen him make good 120 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: throws to home. We've seen maybe strong throwers the second 121 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: and the third in this small sample. He is fast, 122 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: above average speed, even by definitely by corner outfield standards, 123 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: so may he maybe he over the long haul, I 124 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: think he would be miscast as a center fielder because 125 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: his speed in center would be closer to average. And 126 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: we did have this incident here on Thursday night with 127 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: him and Lewis Brinson, with Brinson playing in center and 128 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: de la Cruz playing and left a collision where neither 129 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: of them caught the ball and Brinson suffered a thumb 130 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: injury as a result of that. So those are the 131 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: little things that you really do need a massive sample 132 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: to get a good handle. And like the communication between 133 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: his fellow outfielders, and to my memory, that is the 134 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: one instance that we've had of him converging on a 135 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: ball with one of his teammates, and in this case 136 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: it ended very poorly. That's something that you usually don't 137 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: see at the major league level, having that type of 138 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: miscommunication there. But overall, he has been awesome defensively in 139 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: terms of defensive front saved and tonight he was at 140 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: plus five, so he really is totally flipping the script 141 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: on what we saw on the minor league level, and 142 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: that really matches the eye test as well. On stat 143 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: cast that keep track of outs above average, which is 144 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: it takes similar things into perspective, but that's only about 145 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: the ground that you cover. It doesn't include your throwing arm. 146 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: So excluding the throwing arm, he also rates above average 147 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,559 Speaker 1: at plus two outs above average to this point, playing 148 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: all those different positions, and so I start with that, 149 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: even though that's not the sexy thing about what he's 150 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: doing right now, that gives him a very high floor 151 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: compared to somebody like Harold. As I'll get into shortly, 152 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: there are some very interesting similarities offensively between de la 153 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: Cruz and what Harold Ramirez did. Defensively, it is, with 154 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: all due respect to my guy, Dela Cruz offers a 155 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: lot more in that department, with his throwing arm, with 156 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: his agility, with his comfort making plays at the wall, 157 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: with his comfort definitely going to his right. We've seen 158 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: a lot of those opportunities running back into his right, 159 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: not as many opportunities yet going to his left. So maybe, 160 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: like that's the one mystery, if you want to get 161 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: really specific about it, it's his communication with his fellow 162 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: outfielders and the plays that he makes going to his 163 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: glove side. Wait to see that's something to watch for, 164 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: I guess the rest of the season. At the very least, 165 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: he has this high floor as an above average defensive 166 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,439 Speaker 1: outfielder who can play all those positions. What do you 167 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: want to talk about, of course, is probably the offense. 168 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: If this was two thousand and one instead of twenty 169 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: twenty one, Miami would be going insane over this guy, 170 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: no matter how bad the team is. If this was, 171 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,559 Speaker 1: you know, back in the day for most of baseball's history, 172 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 1: and you had a guy that was hitting three fifty 173 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,840 Speaker 1: seven as a rookie, I mean, we would all just 174 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: be hysterical about what a stealer was that it got him, 175 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: about this huge place that he has in the future 176 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: of the organization it is. That's an incredible number. Even 177 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: more so, I guess in today's game when you consider 178 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: that league batting averages right now, we're about as low 179 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: as they ever have been. Of Course, what also comes 180 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: along with being up in the modern day is that 181 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: we have an understanding of what batting average means and 182 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: what it doesn't mean, and the importance that it doesn't 183 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,839 Speaker 1: quite have as we used to think it did. There's 184 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: nothing wrong with having a super high batting average. I'll 185 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: guarantee you that a three fifty seven. There's never been 186 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: a player in modern baseball history that hits three fifty 187 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: seven and is not helping their team a lot offensively. 188 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: That is an incredible number. Is it a sustainable number? 189 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: Not even the tiny bit with this guy, In my opinion, 190 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: it's been really fascinating to see to this point. So 191 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: recording this when he had a three hit day, I 192 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: think these two of those hits were low line drives 193 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: and the other one maybe elevated a tiny bit more, 194 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:06,720 Speaker 1: but all three of them singles, all three of them 195 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: in front of the outfielders. He is he is gifted 196 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: right now. He is really being blessed by the babitb gods, 197 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: the batting average on balls in play at this moment, 198 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: with you one more at that bending for tonight. He 199 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 1: has a season babbit of four eighty three. Nearly half 200 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: of all balls that he puts in play, so this 201 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: excludes home runs, just balls that are in the field 202 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: of play, nearly half of them are finding opening It's 203 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: nearly half of them are leading to him getting on base, 204 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: so that doesn't even include reaching on errors, and as 205 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: I said, doesn't even include the home runs. The league 206 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,959 Speaker 1: average BABEB is right around three hundred, actually a tiny 207 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,719 Speaker 1: bit lower than that, and the most extreme outliers that 208 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: you'll see over the course of a full season are 209 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: on the very high three hundreds. But the fact that 210 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: he is up near four near five hundred and the 211 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: high four hundreds four eighties is is just unbelievable. There 212 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,680 Speaker 1: is no other word for it. Based on some of 213 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: the other data that we have about his batted balls, 214 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: they kind of back up the fact that this will 215 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: need to come back down to earth. With stat caast 216 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: we have the weighted on base average would use as 217 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: a similar scale as batting average. It's a little bit higher. 218 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: The league average weighted on base average is in like 219 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,679 Speaker 1: three point fifteen three twenty, and so to this point 220 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: is in the mid of three hundreds. But he's expected 221 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,080 Speaker 1: weighted on base average just based on where he's sending 222 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: these balls, especially focusing on the exit velocity and the 223 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 1: launch angle and the direction of these balls, it tries 224 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: its best to calculate the likelihood of him getting hits 225 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: just based on where his balls are going. He's about 226 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: one hundred points lower than that. So even he is 227 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: far above average based just on his offensive results. Right now, 228 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: the quality of his batted balls and the combination of 229 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: that in his strikeouts as well, it would lead you 230 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: to believe that his true talent is actually slightly below 231 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: league average as a hitter. So let me say that again, 232 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: despite everything that he's doing right now, if he continues 233 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: hitting the kind of balls that he is hitting, all 234 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: things remaining equal, like over a large sample, this is 235 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: the type of profile of a below average major league hitter, 236 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: not terrible, and when combined with the defense that he 237 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: has and some of the base running that he started 238 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: to show tonight with his first stolen base as a 239 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: major leaguer, there should be more where that came from. 240 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: That's not a knock on him whatsoever. This is anyway 241 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: slicely at this moment, the Marlin should be very happy 242 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: about getting him under the circumstances that they did. He 243 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: hasn't shown anything to this point that makes you believe 244 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 1: that he's even a starting caliber player on a potential 245 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: playoff team. There's a lot more quirks though that I 246 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: could get into, and some other signs for a lot 247 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: of positivity. The one thing that we really need to 248 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: give credit to the Marlins for, and this has been 249 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: just a really frustrating time to follow the team. There's 250 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Really, most of the season has 251 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: been frustrating, where every time you feel like they've hit 252 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: a new low. Remember the first low that I felt 253 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: they hit during the season. You could go all the 254 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: way back to the first series of the season when 255 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: Anthony Bass blew that save. They had all this conviction 256 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: about Anthony Bass being the team's closer and his first 257 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: real opportunity a crushing defeat. The next low after that 258 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: was when they were in New York, right, and I 259 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: think Bass was still the closer at that point. Inadvertently 260 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: hits Michael Confordo that forces in the winning run on 261 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: a highly controversial play that I think everybody acknowledged was 262 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: a mistake, and that continues to spiral things out of control. 263 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 1: Early in the season, they climbed their way back to 264 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: five hundred, and then all the injuries start to pile up. 265 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: I guess the next little point was must have been 266 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 1: that losing streak in the end of May and early 267 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: June that went up to eight games in total. Eliez 268 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: or Hernandez coming back from his first significant injury and 269 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: then immediately getting hurt again as a base runner. There 270 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: was another low right there. There were other lows heading 271 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: into the trade deadline, heading into the All Star break, 272 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: I guess, and then actually at the trade deadline when 273 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: it was clear that the Marlins were unwilling to pay 274 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: Starling Marte to keep him around, so that was deflating 275 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: when there was mutual interest, and then couldn't get a 276 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 1: deal done and they traded him. And then there have 277 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: been times even since the All Star break where all 278 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: these decisions that they make, both with the roster and 279 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: with the lineup, they are really maddening and don't seem 280 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: to have any coherent goal to them. So many lows 281 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: in this season. The one thing that you got to 282 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: give the Marlins credit for, for all these really perplexing 283 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: decisions they've made about this roster and this lineup, insisting 284 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: to be playing Jorge Alfaro on a near daily basis, 285 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: not calling up guys that we really want to see 286 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: like Lewin Diaz or Bryson Brigman or on the pitching side, 287 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: some other guys as well. This roster construction, it's very frustrating. 288 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: But the one thing they've gotten right is that they 289 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: have given Dela Cruz an opportunity to play every single 290 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: day since that's trade, not literally, but pretty damn close 291 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: to every day. There's now been twenty six games since 292 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: he was activated, and he has started twenty four of them, 293 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: sixteen and right foreign, center field, foreign left field, only 294 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: two days off in all of that time, so credits 295 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: to them for doing that. There has been some frustration 296 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: about where they're putting him in the lineup, that he 297 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,120 Speaker 1: has been so productive to this point, but yet almost 298 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: every game he starts in the eighth spot. He's not 299 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: batted above six in any game this season, even on 300 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: days like in this particular game, Jazz is getting a rest, 301 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: so that makes a void near the top of the lineup. 302 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: You would think there have been other days where Miguel 303 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: Rojas has been resting where they're weakening the top of 304 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: the lineup and yet not considering moving their hottest hitter 305 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 1: like to reinforce that part of the lineup. But the 306 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: other complication of having de la Cruze always in the 307 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:39,439 Speaker 1: number eight spot, of course, is that he's batting in 308 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,680 Speaker 1: front of the picture. Marlin's pitchers are right down there 309 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: almost as bad as anybody else's in terms of doing 310 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: anything productive aside from the occasional sacrifice bunt. They are 311 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: automatic outs, they really are, and there have been some 312 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 1: outstanding stats that come out of that, really depressing stats 313 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: to me, to be honest with you, entering this game, 314 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,200 Speaker 1: through his first what was it his first twenty four games, 315 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: ors first, Yeah, so through his first twenty four games, 316 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: this was his twenty fifth tonight. In his first twenty 317 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: four games, he'd only scored four runs. Four runs in 318 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,360 Speaker 1: twenty four games, one run scored every six games, basically 319 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:28,159 Speaker 1: one run scored every week. Despite being on fire at 320 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: the plate. It is an unthinkable load total, and it's 321 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,639 Speaker 1: even crazier when you consider that he has hit a 322 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: couple of home runs, so twice he has driven himself in. 323 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: He'd only been scored by other teammates twice in his 324 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,880 Speaker 1: first twenty four games. Thankfully, Miguel Rojas brought him home 325 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: in on his home run tonight, so that was the 326 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: third time that one of his teammates had actually driven 327 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: him in. That's a frustrating reality of batting in the 328 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: number eight spot with this lineup at a time where 329 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: of course the pitcher is occupying a spot, and also 330 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: because there had been some inconsistencies from the Marlins leadoff 331 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: hitters during that same span as well. It was you 332 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: put them in the worst possible shot to actually contribute 333 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: to the team. There was the stat that I dug 334 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,439 Speaker 1: up from on Baseball Reference that I hadn't been totally 335 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:28,359 Speaker 1: aware of before. One that takes into account all the 336 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: opportunities that you have to score a run and how 337 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: often you're actually able to do so. They call it 338 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: run scoring percentage, and the formula is it's your run 339 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: scored minus your home runs. So every time you score, 340 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: aside from the times where you score yourself, and divided 341 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:45,719 Speaker 1: by all your hits, every time you get hit by 342 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: a pitch, all your walks, and excluding your home runs 343 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,439 Speaker 1: or your times, is a pinch runner, it looks like. 344 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: And for him, his run scoring percentage, you know, the 345 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: frequency that his teammates actually brought him home entering this 346 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,640 Speaker 1: game was only seven percent. The league average is thirty 347 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,840 Speaker 1: one percent. There will come a point, you know, if 348 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,679 Speaker 1: he does continue getting hits at this degree, where they 349 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: will be forced to move them up in the lineup. 350 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,760 Speaker 1: I'm not convinced that that is going to happen again. 351 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: Because of the disparity between his on base average and 352 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: is expected weighted on base average the inflated batting average 353 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: on balls and play. In this particular game, he has 354 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: three hard hit balls, you know, ones that are defined 355 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: as having at least ninety five miles per hour of 356 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: eggit velocity. Overall, he does not quite do that as 357 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,640 Speaker 1: often as you think. You know, by the eye tests, 358 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: he hits a lot of these line drives that are 359 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 1: very esthetically pleasing in that I think will give him 360 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: an opportunity to overperform. You know, some of these stats, 361 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: These stats are not perfect in anticipating how often guys 362 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 1: get hits. There are exceptions to the norm depending on 363 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 1: how you use the entire field. Dela Cruz loves to 364 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: use the middle of the field and he he just 365 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 1: has a nice swing path that avoids getting any sort 366 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:16,199 Speaker 1: of pop ups or like really low percentage hits, So 367 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: I think there is some potential for him to overperform. 368 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: The bottom line is that his hard hit percentage, even 369 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 1: including tonight, is a shade over thirty percent. The league 370 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: average is thirty nine percent, so it's not even particularly 371 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: close in terms of the balls that he hits at 372 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: that kind of exit velocity that makes you think that 373 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: things will come back down to earth. But one way 374 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 1: that he is helping himself is by making more contact 375 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,080 Speaker 1: in general. There were some issues with that at the 376 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: beginning of this month, and we've seen a nice progression 377 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,119 Speaker 1: in the right direction ever since then. So we struck 378 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: out once in his first game, once in a second game, 379 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 1: then two more times in his fourth game, a bunch 380 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: of multi strikeout games during the first half of the month. 381 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: If you just look at it, let's use the cough 382 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: as his first thirteen games through August eleventh, he was 383 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: striking out nearly one third of the time fifteen strikeouts 384 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,200 Speaker 1: and forty seven played appearances. And so if you fast 385 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: forward again ever since then, in his last twelve games, 386 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 1: that strikeout rate has dropped into the low twenties. So 387 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,400 Speaker 1: it's gone from low thirties to the low twenties. It's 388 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: gone from really bad to being pretty much league average 389 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: for a position player. So to be doing that as 390 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 1: a rookie and as an aggressive hitter is extremely encouraging about, 391 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: you know, how his actual skill set could make an 392 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 1: impact and kind of overcome any sort of issues with 393 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: his approach. Tiny tiny samples, tiny tiny samples. I think 394 00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: we can learn more from looking at the whole month 395 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,639 Speaker 1: than trying to even split up this already small sample 396 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,879 Speaker 1: into a matter of weeks. I wouldn't advise against that. 397 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: I just found that interesting there is even in this 398 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: sample there has been a progression. If it does feel 399 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,239 Speaker 1: like he is getting actually a little bit better as 400 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: an offensive player than he was at the very start 401 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: of his major league career. Awesome to see. Yeah, to 402 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: dig in a little bit more on his approach, I mean, 403 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: in this particular game, it's been a perfect example of 404 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,160 Speaker 1: being aggressive early in account when you get a pitch 405 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: to hit. I mean, the one that stuck out to 406 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 1: me is that breaking ball that he hit. I guess 407 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,199 Speaker 1: that was in the sixth inning. That was right in 408 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: the middle of the plate, and he served it to 409 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,400 Speaker 1: left fields as a single. Overall, swinging at the first 410 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,440 Speaker 1: pitch about one third of the time, that's a little 411 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: bit above the league average. His contact rate is pretty normal, 412 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 1: his swinging strike rate is pretty normal, you know, not 413 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,959 Speaker 1: good or not super bad in either of these categories. 414 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 1: And so as I'm talking bottom of the eighth inning, 415 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,880 Speaker 1: he's up again. He's finally that up for a fourth time. 416 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: This is almost certainly going to be his last plate 417 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 1: appearance of the day, and it's a one to one 418 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:15,920 Speaker 1: count against Harper, who I gotta double check the name 419 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:20,920 Speaker 1: of this picture. I think it's Ryan Harper of the Nationals. 420 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: So he's a fellow right handed pitcher, because of course 421 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: he started this game against the lefty Patrick Corbyn, who 422 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: got shelled, and the bullpen for the Nationals has actually 423 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: been doing alright against against just about everybody. And so 424 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: he takes another breaking ball there for one to two count. 425 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: Entering this plate appearance, as I said, hitting three fifty 426 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: seven in his young major league career, a number that 427 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: almost certainly is going to come back down to earth, 428 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: but having himself a pretty excellent night, and it looks 429 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 1: like this is finally going to be an out for him. 430 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:01,119 Speaker 1: He got another breaking ball and he lined out to 431 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: left field. Not a bad night at all, going three 432 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:10,160 Speaker 1: for four with a line out to left. I don't 433 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: think he had a single swing and miss in this game, 434 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 1: even though he was pretty aggressive in the first place. 435 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: But so if you include that final out, he's just 436 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: gonna by the time you're listening to this podcast, a 437 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 1: three point fifty three hitter in the big leagues one 438 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: month into his major league career. At the very least, 439 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: I really like his chances of winning National League Rookie 440 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 1: of the Month for this month. As much as I 441 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: would downplay batting average and its significance, you know that 442 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,679 Speaker 1: Major League Baseball in general still clings on to that. 443 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: That's the easiest number to grasp. And so if you 444 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: just like isolate this month, which doesn't include his first 445 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: couple of major league games right after the deadline, you know, 446 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: the numbers look even more impressive. I pulled up the 447 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: stack before the game in terms of wins above replacement 448 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: on Fangraphs for August. He was at zero point eight, 449 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: nearly one win above replacement in a single month. Won 450 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: the best figures among all rookie hitters this month. In fact, 451 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: the only guys that were ahead of him were Wander 452 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:19,439 Speaker 1: Franco and Frank Schwindel of the Cubs. So I'm curious 453 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: whether that number really comes into play when they decide 454 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: the Rookie of the Month award. At the very least, 455 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: he's going to get some consideration from that because of 456 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,440 Speaker 1: his all round game. I think his all round game, 457 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: you have to say, is as good as any National 458 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,639 Speaker 1: League rookie so far this month, including Jazz Chisholm Junior 459 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,159 Speaker 1: and Jazz has had some nice moments in August, but 460 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 1: also some misstime and if nothing else, Dela Cruz has 461 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:45,159 Speaker 1: had that availability and once again, just credit to the 462 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: Marlins by continuing to run him out there. I'm not 463 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 1: sure exactly what the team's expectations were coming out of 464 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: the trade. They didn't necessarily tout him as a huge 465 00:26:55,160 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 1: steal or. I don't think they really set any unrealistic expectations. 466 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:02,640 Speaker 1: Most of this is just born out of the fact 467 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: that he is crushing the ball, that he is doing 468 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,440 Speaker 1: such a great job, and that's why people have growne 469 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:15,119 Speaker 1: so fond of him. On a content creator side, I 470 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: have to say he is a good jift material target 471 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,119 Speaker 1: as well. There's definitely a higher tier of guys on 472 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:25,200 Speaker 1: this Marlins team that lend themselves to those fun gifts 473 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,919 Speaker 1: gifts gifts that I make. I've been doing them for 474 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: years now in our fish Stripe's gift database that you 475 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: can subscribe to by contacting me. With the hundreds of 476 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 1: reaction gifts and highlights, etc. For both the players and 477 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,199 Speaker 1: the fans and non players. All that type of stuff. 478 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: My favorite targets on this team, my favorite subjects, I 479 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,679 Speaker 1: should say, of gifts right now would have to be 480 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: Jazz and hay Siuszagela. They're in a tier all their own, 481 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: the combination of their style play, the comfort that they 482 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 1: have playing the game, how expressive they are during the 483 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,200 Speaker 1: games of course, also in the dugout and off the field. 484 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,639 Speaker 1: They're in a tier on their own. Guys that have 485 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 1: starred in the most memorable gifts probably on average, but 486 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: I have Dela Cruz quickly emerging into that second tier 487 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: right with Lewis Brinson and Jorge Alfaro, of guys that 488 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: also play the game in a way that is a 489 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:26,880 Speaker 1: lot of fun to capture on video and pretty comfortable 490 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 1: with themselves off the field already. So I already have 491 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:31,639 Speaker 1: a few of those you may have seen on social 492 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,439 Speaker 1: media and embedded in articles of Dela Cruze having a 493 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 1: good time. That's something else that he has in common 494 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: with Harold Ramirez, you know, tying it back to him 495 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: as an offensive player. Compared to Harold, there really are 496 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: a lot of similarities. The fact that he has good 497 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 1: sprint speed coming out of the batter's box that allows 498 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: them to beat out more infield hits than the average player, 499 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,360 Speaker 1: that he does hit a lot of low line drives, 500 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: and that he uses all fields. There were states, as 501 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: you may remember, of Harold's rookie year, where he did 502 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: hit for a significant amount of power for a couple 503 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: of weeks at a time maybe, and with Dela Cruz 504 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: to this point we haven't actually seen even that yet. 505 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: He does have a couple home runs at Grand Slam 506 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: in particular, was absolutely hammered in a way that shows 507 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 1: you that his raw power is probably above average by 508 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: Major League player standards, not elites. I don't think it's 509 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: realistic to think that he's going to channel all this 510 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: into being a middle of the order hitter. At the 511 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: very least, when he is sitting on the right pitch, 512 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: he does incredible damage against it. So ultimately, yeah, I 513 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: really do think that as an offensive player, you should 514 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: think Harold Ramirez when you see Brian Delacers. I know 515 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: it's a very different body type from him, and mechanics, 516 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:05,160 Speaker 1: for sure, I think the attributes are pretty similar. That 517 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: the actual physicality and the actual skill set. Their approach 518 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: at the plate has a lot of similarities too, and 519 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 1: so that means It's a guy that is going to 520 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: be very aesthetically pleasing to watch somebody that might overperform 521 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,760 Speaker 1: in clutch situations because he does use the all fields 522 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: and because he is a guy that can at times. 523 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: I mean, he's showing more evidence as this season goes on, 524 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,720 Speaker 1: as his month goes on, that he can jump on 525 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: pitches early in the count to not even bring a 526 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: strikeout into the equation. There are going to be hot 527 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: streaks like this, I imagine from him in the future, but 528 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: this isn't the new normal from him. They're going to 529 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: be limitations as well, you know, barring a pretty dramatic 530 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 1: change in his swing plane or dramatic change in his approach, 531 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 1: that there's still definitely a ceiling on this type of player. Yeah, 532 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: if I was to guess, I might as well just 533 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:03,920 Speaker 1: put a prediction out there as we go to the 534 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: ninth ending of this game, and I gotta probably get 535 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 1: back to work on some postgame coverage when they're finished 536 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,120 Speaker 1: recording this that Dela Cruz is slashing his slash on 537 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 1: a three fifty three batting average, a three to ninety 538 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: one on base a four to seventy one slugging percentage 539 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: through his first month, they have the Marlins another what 540 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: thirty four games to go after this, he'll probably play 541 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 1: at least thirty of those. You essentially double the sample size. 542 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: What his stuff will look like at the end of 543 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: the year. I would guess the batting average comes down 544 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: slightly below three hundred, like to ninety two, and obp 545 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: it depends a little bit where he continues batting in 546 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:46,600 Speaker 1: the order, because I don't think they're going to keep 547 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: him the eighth spot forever. At this point, I'm assuming 548 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: they move him up, that he sees more strikes, and 549 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,959 Speaker 1: that the walk rate goes even lower than it currently 550 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:56,800 Speaker 1: has been. I'll say that the on base percentage by 551 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: the end of the year looks about three thirty five, 552 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,880 Speaker 1: So two ninety two batting average, three point thirty five 553 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: on base. There will be a couple more home runs 554 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,040 Speaker 1: in there, but I think the isolated power, you know, 555 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 1: the difference between the average and the slugging, should remain 556 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,920 Speaker 1: relatively consistent. I'll give him a little credit and say 557 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:22,440 Speaker 1: that ticks up to slugging would be like four thirty 558 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: if you keep the same differential between the average and 559 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: the slugging. So that's gonna be my prediction for his 560 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 1: season end stats with the Marlins two ninety two betting average, 561 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 1: three thirty five on base, four thirty slugging playing at 562 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 1: lone depot park. That is a slightly above average hitter 563 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: for a guy that we're already fairly convinced is an 564 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 1: above average fielder. It's okay to dream about him as 565 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: a candidate to be an everyday player next year. And 566 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 1: the beauty of it is his versatility where you can 567 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:56,240 Speaker 1: imagine him potentially playing any of those spots. I'm most 568 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:00,280 Speaker 1: skeptical about center field. And the interesting thing is with 569 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: right field, we know that is Haeshu Sanchez's primary spot 570 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 1: and that Sanchez does not have that versatility, and he 571 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,520 Speaker 1: also does not have the roster flexibility that de la 572 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: Cruz has, where Sanchez will be out of options next year, 573 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: Dela Cruz will still have all of his minor league 574 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: options next year, and as I said with my prediction, 575 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: I do think he's going to slump compared to, of 576 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: course his current numbers between now and the end of 577 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: the year, where it's not going to be guaranteed that 578 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 1: he's going to be on the open day roster depending 579 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: on what else they do. In the off season just 580 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 1: because we know there is some urgency from this team 581 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,720 Speaker 1: to win right away. We also know that this team, 582 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,120 Speaker 1: when they do have guys that are more versatile situations, 583 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,880 Speaker 1: they're going to exploit that. Even if you are somebody 584 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: that in a vacuum kind of deserves to be up 585 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: in the majors, that doesn't necessarily mean enough to actually 586 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: keep you up at all times, depending on trying to 587 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: balance things with the rest of the players that are 588 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,240 Speaker 1: under contract. In all that, I do think he certainly 589 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,560 Speaker 1: has the inside track of being on the opening day roster. 590 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,040 Speaker 1: But this just goes back to a point that I 591 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:14,320 Speaker 1: made in an article earlier this month about that was 592 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 1: at the time when we were excited for Brinson and 593 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: de la Cruz and the return of Hayesus Sanchez, and 594 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:25,000 Speaker 1: since then, unfortunately Brinson has slumped and now he has 595 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,239 Speaker 1: this thumb injury that we don't know how long that's 596 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 1: going to keep him out. That there's no circumstance where 597 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 1: you go into the offseason and you feel content about 598 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: your major league outfield. If this team really does have 599 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:39,400 Speaker 1: any urgency to improve next year, they're going to have 600 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: to make a fairly significant investments in the offseason, whether 601 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:47,160 Speaker 1: it's a free agency or trade or both to bring 602 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:51,680 Speaker 1: somebody else in. This is big, This is really big. 603 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: Well that's my prediction, So I'd love to hear what 604 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: your prediction is for what Dela Cruze is going to 605 00:34:56,280 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 1: look like by the end of the year. One of 606 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:03,439 Speaker 1: the bright spots with this organization the rest of the way, 607 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: that's all we gotta do. We gotta cling to the 608 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:08,400 Speaker 1: bright spots because in the bigger picture, still a lot 609 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: of questions about where this team is headed. And we 610 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:13,919 Speaker 1: will not hold back here at Fish Stripes from being 611 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,440 Speaker 1: very critical about what they do and trying our best 612 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: to figure out what direction they're headed in and what 613 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: needs to be done, you know, to avoid another frustrating, 614 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: stressful year like this one was. But I appreciate all 615 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 1: of you guys that have stuck with us, you know, 616 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: throughout all this. Our usual wide range of material will 617 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,440 Speaker 1: be up at fish stripes dot com, the live stream 618 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,799 Speaker 1: coming up again on Friday an hour before first pitch, 619 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:49,719 Speaker 1: and yeah, a whole lot of analysis to do as 620 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:55,919 Speaker 1: well coming down the stretch of the season, and yeah, 621 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:00,680 Speaker 1: trying to dispel like reality from a mara at this 622 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 1: time of year that is always the biggest challenge and 623 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: Dela Cruz is going to be a prime example of it. 624 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: Trying to make sense of exactly what matters during the 625 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,799 Speaker 1: final month plus of a regular season when your team 626 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,640 Speaker 1: is already out of it. So always eager to hear 627 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,400 Speaker 1: from you guys and what you want covered on the show. 628 00:36:18,920 --> 00:36:22,040 Speaker 1: Another reminder, leave a rating and review for Fish Stripes 629 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: on Apple and that will go towards our big donation 630 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 1: to the Player's Alliance coming up at the end of 631 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:50,760 Speaker 1: the regular season. I'm Ele Susman. Go Fish