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Post by DesignatedKyle on Aug 18, 2016 13:32:58 GMT -5
Sandy hits homers in his sleep.
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Post by geezergeek on Aug 18, 2016 20:47:32 GMT -5
Actually, we might want to consider moving him to 1B to preserve his bat. He will be Papi's replacement! papi signed as an unheralded free agent - leon signed as an unheralded free agent. Is this deja vu all over again?
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Post by jimed14 on Aug 18, 2016 20:59:01 GMT -5
He will be Papi's replacement! papi signed as an unheralded free agent - leon signed as an unheralded free agent. Is this deja vu all over again? It's even better. We traded cash to the Nationals for him the first time because he was going to get DFA'd, then he was DFA'd in July and outrighted to Pawtucket after going unclaimed. Then he was signed as a minor league free agent and had to clear waivers again last offseason.
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Post by ancientsoxfogey on Aug 18, 2016 21:30:31 GMT -5
And beyond just the stats of the performance:
He's known as a defense-first catcher, so that part of his game is pretty much a given.
Though he's spent a lot of time in the minors, he's never had a really heavy workload (100 games one year), so he's relatively fresh for a 27 year old.
He's a switch hitter, and he seems pretty locked in from both sides.
We've been talking about all-stars and potential all-stars on the position roster all year, and here the team has just stumbled onto a guy who, other than Papi, has been the most obvious all-star calibre player on the roster. It's ludicrous.
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Post by sox fan in nc on Aug 19, 2016 10:48:36 GMT -5
Dan Butler has much better minor league numbers across the board than Sandy. This is how incredible this run is. Leon had a total of 24 HR in TEN minor league seasons. Hell, if this is how it works, bring up Butler!
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Sandy Leon
Aug 19, 2016 10:57:41 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by sarasoxer on Aug 19, 2016 10:57:41 GMT -5
Isn't it time for a report on what Sandy is doing differently.....without him giving away the store?
Xander is flaying....It looks to me as if he is hitting only with his upper body. ..down and across the plate...no leverage. Also his plate discipline/zone judgement is way off.
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Post by tjb21 on Aug 19, 2016 12:47:02 GMT -5
@huntergbaseball: (great follow on twitter btw)
"Leon literally has a .459 BABIP. I'd say lolregress~!, BUT HE'S HITTING .383. Honestly, I don't even know. His K% and BB% are in line w/ career norms. He's pulling the ball a little more, but that happens when you're smashing baseballs. Hard hit balls % is WAY up, but his med. is actually down. GB% and FB% is in line w/ career norms. I've got nothing. Except that he's made some Jose Bautista-esqe adjustment that's turned him into an eater of worlds. But that's it."
Leon is one of the most bizarre cases I have ever seen. He makes no sense. I'm just glad he's doing this for the team I cheer for.
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Post by GyIantosca on Aug 19, 2016 13:22:57 GMT -5
Sandy St. Leon.
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Post by sox fan in nc on Aug 19, 2016 14:33:46 GMT -5
Sir Sandy Leon. Time for knighthood.
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Post by Guidas on Aug 19, 2016 21:30:38 GMT -5
On Monday, Sandy Leon was a 2.4 fWAR catcher. After today's game he's a 2.5 fWAR catcher.
Chuck Norris wishes he was Sandy Leon.
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Sandy Leon
Aug 20, 2016 12:58:36 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by mogreenwell on Aug 20, 2016 12:58:36 GMT -5
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Post by ray88h66 on Aug 20, 2016 13:09:11 GMT -5
I;ve never seen anything like Sandy Leon has done. If there are comps, I'd like to see them, I remember asking years ago about small sample sizes and was told 700 to 1000 AB'S we're needed. Not there yet, but this guy was awful before this year. I'm truly amazed, but happy with what he's done.
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jimoh
Veteran
Posts: 3,990
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Post by jimoh on Aug 20, 2016 13:40:01 GMT -5
Searching for a comp: Dusty Rhodes NY Giants in the 50s? Not really. Hit well in the minors, then OPS at ages 25 ad 26 of 817 and 756 as a part-time player (176-200 PAs), then at age 27 .341 410 .695 1.105 in 186 PAs, plus .667 .714 1.667 2.381 with 2 hrs in 7 PAs in the World Series. Drank, could't run or field, pinch-hit a lot.. .838 at age 28, then too poor years. www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rhodedu01.shtml
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Post by grandsalami on Aug 20, 2016 14:30:38 GMT -5
With help from Guillen, Leon made an adjustment to his stance, standing taller at the plate rather than crouching. But the biggest difference, according to Perez, was his mindset. Two years ago, when Perez managed Leon on a winter league team in Zulia, Venezuela, he saw a passive hitter who allowed opposing pitchers to dictate his at-bats.
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Post by grandsalami on Aug 20, 2016 15:16:39 GMT -5
So it is a change
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Post by grandsalami on Aug 20, 2016 16:28:33 GMT -5
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Post by grandsalami on Aug 20, 2016 16:40:19 GMT -5
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Post by grandsalami on Aug 20, 2016 17:06:36 GMT -5
its night and day difference
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Post by pedroelgrande on Aug 21, 2016 0:54:54 GMT -5
That explains everything.
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Post by Coreno on Aug 21, 2016 14:53:55 GMT -5
Yup. It's the beard.
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Post by flyrodc on Aug 21, 2016 22:28:08 GMT -5
its night and day difference He looks like Dykstra in the new stance.
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Post by klostrophobic on Aug 21, 2016 23:09:01 GMT -5
its night and day difference He looks like Dykstra in the new stance. At least one of us is functionally blind at scouting batting stances. But damn, Dykstra has god-tier forearms. Gotta get on that regimen. Sandy Leon and Steven Wright are the two best out-of-nowhere acquisitions since Mark Bellhorn.
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ericmvan
Veteran
Supposed to be working on something more important
Posts: 8,942
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Post by ericmvan on Aug 22, 2016 0:40:22 GMT -5
Sandy Leon and Steven Wright are the two best out-of-nowhere acquisitions since Mark Bellhorn. Really, three different things. Bellhorn was two years removed from a 3.4 bWAR season, so putting up a 3.7 was not unexpected for some of us. I thought it was a great gamble, and it paid off. Wright had learned the knuckler remarkably quickly, more so than anyone in memory other than Charlie Hough, so that was a beautiful gamble, too. How much longer would he continue to improve? This outcome was not likely, but you could very easily see how it might happen. A better comp: you acquire as a AAA starter, at age 31, a guy coming off a below-replacement level rookie season (111 PA, but 147 career AB including two earlier cups of coffee). He's a career minor leaguer who finally got his shot and failed. Folks get injured, he gets another shot, and over the next 3 seasons he puts up 1.6 bWAR in a season's worth of PT, which is to say, you got a solid 4th OFer out of nowhere. But it's still not a great comp, because Darnell McDonald was the 26th pick in the draft before he was a failure. Leon? He peaked as the Nationals #15 prospect; his bat would be "serviceable" (for a catcher!) with below-average power, but his glove would make him an MLB backup, maybe at best a second-division starter. And then he had an off year and went back to being a depth chart guy. We only needed him because we a) had a 40-man roster squeeze that led to DFA'ing Dan Butler*, and b) because CV got hurt in ST and Swihart wasn't ready yet. As a merely adequate backup catcher, he was one of about twenty similar players who are kicking around MLB at any point in time, and his basic qualification for the job was that he was better than Humberto Quintero. It's hard to find any good comp for this. *To make room for re-signing Craig Breslow. Who knew that bringing him back would pay off so well?
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ericmvan
Veteran
Supposed to be working on something more important
Posts: 8,942
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Post by ericmvan on Aug 22, 2016 1:00:27 GMT -5
Leon's career, in Davenport Peak (Age-Adjusted) Translations. These are EqA, where .252 is average for MLB catchers.
.243 .244 .256 .238 .231. Named National's #24 prospect. .285 (249 PA). Named #15 prospect. .191 .209 ---- acquired by Bos .187 .293 (but .219 in AAA and .354 in MLB)
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Post by soxfanatic on Aug 22, 2016 4:49:43 GMT -5
its night and day difference He looks like Dykstra in the new stance. That's his old batting stance. The new one is the one on the left.
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