Danny Espinosa loves 2015 - at least half

[Slateman]

Danny thinks April is over

[sportsfan882]

dreadful team

[Slateman]

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=&ind=0&team=24&players=0

Leads the team in WAR

[NJ Ave]

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2015&month=0&season1=&ind=0&team=24&players=0

Leads the team in WAR

Scary how sustainable those numbers look. Just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[NJ Ave]

Just a total change in approach.

O-swing% (outside strike zone)
2012-2014: 35-41%
2015: 30%

Z-swing% (within strike zone)
2012-2014: 70-71%
2015: 77%

Contact%
2012-2014: 66-71%
2015: 77%

Swinging at 15% fewer balls, 10% more strikes, and consequently making 10% more contact. Keep it up Danny!

[HalfSmokes]

if espinosa can hit and Uggla can hit, do Desmond and Escobar ride the pine when everyone is healthy? Espinosa with a decent bat is a better option than desmond (of course the decent bat part is a huge if) and if Uggla can return to 30 hr power he offers much more than Escobar (again a huge if)

[NJ Ave]

I'd trust Danny much more than Uggla, which is crazy to think about given the past few years. But swing, contact, and K-rates all stabilize between 50-100 PA, so the change in approach is becoming less and less likely to be just a "hot streak". But I'd never put it past Danny to go back to being a dummy and swinging at everything.

If everyone's healthy, I think Escobar rides the pine but I think there will be enough missed games to go around. With Danny's arm, I also kind of wonder how he fields fly balls

[GburgNatsFan]

Can you believe you're even proposing this hypthetically? Man, what an April Danny is having.

if espinosa can hit and Uggla can hit, do Desmond and Escobar ride the pine when everyone is healthy? Espinosa with a decent bat is a better option than desmond (of course the decent bat part is a huge if) and if Uggla can return to 30 hr power he offers much more than Escobar (again a huge if)

[HalfSmokes]

Can you believe you're even proposing this hypthetically? Man, what an April Danny is having.

paired with Desmond cratering

[NJ Ave]

Can you believe you're even proposing this hypthetically? Man, what an April Danny is having.

No, it's crazy. If it continues there will be posts on Fangraphs, ESPN, etc. about one of the strangest career turnarounds in recent memory. This Danny is literally a 5-6 WAR player.

[GburgNatsFan]

True.

paired with Desmond cratering

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Just a total change in approach.

O-swing% (outside strike zone)
2012-2014: 35-41%
2015: 30%

Z-swing% (within strike zone)
2012-2014: 70-71%
2015: 77%

Contact%
2012-2014: 66-71%
2015: 77%

Swinging at 15% fewer balls, 10% more strikes, and consequently making 10% more contact. Keep it up Danny!

You wonder if they give him positive feedback on this type of hitting approach?  Like, "we're loving the results lately.  You seem to be picking up the ball real well and getting rewarded for it.  Laying off junk means when you do swing, you make more contact with pitches that you can hit solid."  Show him the film with good Danny and bad Danny.  They don't talk about him as a Brian Banister / Brandon McCarthy of hitters, so I'm guessing O-swing rates don't speak for themselves to him, but this plate approach makes him much more lethal.  Of  course, it is early and much of these rates are due to the past 2 games, but still, it is nice to see.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I'd trust Danny much more than Uggla, which is crazy to think about given the past few years. But swing, contact, and K-rates all stabilize between 50-100 PA, so the change in approach is becoming less and less likely to be just a "hot streak". But I'd never put it past Danny to go back to being a dummy and swinging at everything.

If everyone's healthy, I think Escobar rides the pine but I think there will be enough missed games to go around. With Danny's arm, I also kind of wonder how he fields fly balls

What we have is Rendon and, at this point, a bunch of veterans at middle infield.  I'm guessing that if everyone is going well, they'll find a way to occasionally DH Desi in AL ballparks and give him more days off than in the past, play Uggla at first at bit, and give Rendon some days off in the first half to protect him from reinjury. 

Funny we've gone from blasting the bench depth a few days ago to wondering how to play everyone.  I love baseball.

[GburgNatsFan]

I think I remember him being able to lay off the low inside pitch, batting lefty, early last year, too.

You wonder if they give him positive feedback on this type of hitting approach?  Like, "we're loving the results lately.  You seem to be picking up the ball real well and getting rewarded for it.  Laying off junk means when you do swing, you make more contact with pitches that you can hit solid."  Show him the film with good Danny and bad Danny.  They don't talk about him as a Brian Banister / Brandon McCarthy of hitters, so I'm guessing O-swing rates don't speak for themselves to him, but this plate approach makes him much more lethal.  Of  course, it is early and much of these rates are due to the past 2 games, but still, it is nice to see.

[Elvir Ovcina]

What we have is Rendon and, at this point, a bunch of veterans at middle infield.  I'm guessing that if everyone is going well, they'll find a way to occasionally DH Desi in AL ballparks and give him more days off than in the past, play Uggla at first at bit, and give Rendon some days off in the first half to protect him from reinjury. 

Funny we've gone from blasting the bench depth a few days ago to wondering how to play everyone.  I love baseball.

It's insane.  Uggla is still the same hitter who is 35 and hasn't posted a positive WAR since 2012 (and hasn't this year, either).  He's still under .200 and generally looks clueless at the plate.  He managed to make four outs yesterday despite only seeing 8 strikes in 5 plate appearances, one of which was a strikeout.  He's still awful in the field.  One three run homer, no matter how useful, doesn't change the big picture.  Espinosa, on the other hand, looks like a completely different hitter from the left side (and the same from the right), and the stats bear it out.  That said, he's got 46 PAs against righties this year, so there's plenty of time to return to form regardless of how much better he looks. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Oh, I still think reality will hit with Uggla.  I don't see him as much of a piece after Rendon shows up and Escobar is playing.  I don't see how you bench Escobar, who was the object of everyone's drool before he was spiked.  Team can certainly get by with just 1 backup for middle infield.  I still think Moore and Uggla will not be long for the team.  But he isn't the first washed up or never was to have a hot streak and become a deity in fans minds.  We aren't talking Zeus here in terms of a deity.  One of the minor deities, like the luck goddess of a military camp in Asia minor.

[whytev]

Oh, I still think reality will hit with Uggla.  I don't see him as much of a piece after Rendon shows up and Escobar is playing.  I don't see how you bench Escobar, who was the object of everyone's drool before he was spiked.  Team can certainly get by with just 1 backup for middle infield.  I still think Moore and Uggla will not be long for the team.  But he isn't the first washed up or never was to have a hot streak and become a deity in fans minds.  We aren't talking Zeus here in terms of a deity.  One of the minor deities, like the luck goddess of a military camp in Asia minor.

This. Uggla still goes when Rendon and Escobar are back. But Espinosa is going to leech playing time from all 3 of them. Give him 1/4 of the starts at 2nd, 1/4 of the starts at SS, and have him step in when Rendon needs the similar rest days that Williams is giving to Werth and Span as they ease back in. Now suddenly he's playing a pinch over half the games.

[Mathguy]

So JCA - you don't think a solution has been reach that has brought Uggla back from the dead ?

Oh, I still think reality will hit with Uggla.  I don't see him as much of a piece after Rendon shows up and Escobar is playing.  I don't see how you bench Escobar, who was the object of everyone's drool before he was spiked.  Team can certainly get by with just 1 backup for middle infield.  I still think Moore and Uggla will not be long for the team.  But he isn't the first washed up or never was to have a hot streak and become a deity in fans minds.  We aren't talking Zeus here in terms of a deity.  One of the minor deities, like the luck goddess of a military camp in Asia minor.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

So JCA - you don't think a solution has been reach that has brought Uggla back from the dead ?

Not unless he made an acceptable sacrifice to Tyche of Antioch.

[mitlen]

Who is this April babe?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Who is this April babe?

An indecisive lady who first said, "I think you'd look great if you grew a Fu Manchu" and then said, "nah, you look like the biker in the Village People."

[welch]

If the new Danny swing is real, maybe it's time to:

- let Desmond sit
- remind Desmond that the offer he rejected is still on the table (maybe change the end of the contract to a combination of incentives and a coaching job in the minors. Another "face of the franchise")

I'm not sure that Rendon will return before the end of May. Things keep happening. And, although I ridiculed Uggla when he was with the Barfs in 2012, it's fun to have a guy who can hit home runs. The outfield looks thin...only three guys and two recovering from injury. Maybe Uggla or Desmond becomes the 4th OF when/if Rendon gets back this season?

[whytev]

If the new Danny swing is real, maybe it's time to:

- let Desmond sit
- remind Desmond that the offer he rejected is still on the table (maybe change the end of the contract to a combination of incentives and a coaching job in the minors. Another "face of the franchise")

I'm not sure that Rendon will return before the end of May. Things keep happening. And, although I ridiculed Uggla when he was with the Barfs in 2012, it's fun to have a guy who can hit home runs. The outfield looks thin...only three guys and two recovering from injury. Maybe Uggla or Desmond becomes the 4th OF when/if Rendon gets back this season?

I'd love to park Desmond in LF.  Good luck winning another Silver Slugger now, buddy.

[Slateman]

No thanks. I really don't want a 100 million dollar SS with failing legs and a 30% K rate

[sph274]

dan uggla has been god awful, why are people continuing with this "dan uggla is a MLB player and deserves a roster spot" fantasy? Danny has been surprisingly good but uggla is a bad bench player