Follow the Non-Prospects: Danny Espinosa, 2B

[zoom]

it's really too bad that Espinosa didn't just have the surgery.  with his struggles and his injury, i think he's going to be freaked between the ears.  a fresh start (post surgery) would have been the best bet for him.  i anticipate he will end up having the surgery in the next 2 years. 

[welch]

I just looked at Espi in Syracuse: 6 games, batting .118 with 10 K's in about 17 AB's. He's hitting worse than with he Nats.

I hope management is letting Espi prove to himself that he needs surgery, rest, and hitting training.

[Smithian]

I just looked at Espi in Syracuse: 6 games, batting .118 with 10 K's in about 17 AB's. He's hitting worse than with he Nats.

I hope management is letting Espi prove to himself that he needs surgery, rest, and hitting training.

Holy crap Espinosa.

Get surgery. For you own good.

[mimontero88]

Rendon stays. A fixed Espi, as a hitter, would stop swinging from his heels, hit for average, raise his walks, and reduce his K's. That's a lot of fixing.

I don't think a fixed Espi has to hit for average to be productive.  I think he always projects as a .230 guy with power but that is good enough offense from a 2B.  I think you are a lot like me in that you don't favor the high K rate, low average, power hitters and wouldn't like to see them anywhere near your team's lineup but that doesn't mean an Espi with a fully functional rotator cuff doesn't have value doing what he already did do last year.

[Slateman]

Isn't Triple A usually filled with junk ball pitchers?

[HalfSmokes]

I don't think a fixed Espi has to hit for average to be productive.  I think he always projects as a .230 guy with power but that is good enough offense from a 2B.  I think you are a lot like me in that you don't favor the high K rate, low average, power hitters and wouldn't like to see them anywhere near your team's lineup but that doesn't mean an Espi with a fully functional rotator cuff doesn't have value doing what he already did do last year.

he has value, but, mindfacting here, high K low average seems really prone to long slumps

[Slateman]

he has value, but, mindfacting here, high K low average seems really prone to long slumps

Going on like a six months for Espinosa

[sportsfan882]

Adam Kilgore ‏@AdamKilgoreWP 2m
Espinosa said he feels more comfortable and better about his swing working with Syracuse hitting coach Troy Gingrich. http://wapo.st/102Owg5

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Danny Espinosa embracing return to minors, rediscovering old swing
By Rick Maese, Published: June 19, 2013 at 11:13 am

When the Nationals told Danny Espinosa he was headed back to the minors, the struggling second baseman didn’t have to search hard for his feelings. “I was [ticked] off,” he said. It didn’t take long, though, for him to embrace the team’s decision. He says he knew something was wrong with his swing and suiting up for the Syracuse Chiefs would give him time to figure it out.

“I think this will be the biggest blessing in disguise of my life,” Espinosa said Tuesday.

After less than a week with the Nationals’ Class AAA affiliate, Espinosa said he’s already found something — a comfort level he rarely felt at the big-league level — and he’s hoping the stats might soon bear that out. Thus far, that hasn’t been the case.

Espinosa is 2 for 17 with the Chiefs. He has 10 strikeouts. He’s hitless in his last 10 at-bats and struck out three times alone in an 0-for-4 performance Tuesday night at the Charlotte Knights.

“I’m not swinging at bad pitches,” he said before Tuesday’s game. “My timing is just off. I’m out in front of fastballs still. That’s from trying to pull the ball too much when I’m in the big leagues. I’m not a pull hitter.”

Espinosa said the wrist that landed him on the disabled list earlier this month is not bothering him. He joined Syracuse for a rehab assignment on June 13. At some point in the next two weeks, the Nats can either activate him to the 25-man roster or option him to the minors. Anthony Rendon has been taking full advantage of the spot in the big-league lineup and is hitting .395 with at least one hit in 10 of the 11 games since he re-joined the Nats earlier this month.

Back in the minors, Espinosa has been working daily with Chiefs hitting coach Troy Gingrich. He enjoyed his best statistical seasons working with Gingrich in 2010 and is trying to recapture that form. He’s spent the past week studying video of his stance and swing from that period and says it’s noticeably different from what he’d been doing the past three seasons in a Nationals’ uniform.

Espinosa is trying to keep his hands closer to his body, tightening his swing and giving him more control of the barrel of the bat, which would enable to spray the ball in more directions.

“To get away now, I’m able to break some bad habits from the past two years,” said Espinosa, who was hitting .158/.193/.272 with the Nats this season. “Working with Troy, I feel a ton better.

“I’ve never felt as good as I did since 2010. …The past three years, I’ve basically been battling every day in the big leagues to feel comfortable, to be where I need to be. At least right now, I’m comfortable. I’m comfortable with my swing.”

Chiefs Manager Tony Beasley said he sees nothing wrong with the wrist of shoulder that had ailed Espinosa for much of the season. For now, it’s all mechanics and confidence.

“It’s going to take time, but you’ve seen some better swings, some better strike zone discipline the last few days,” Beasley said. “Hopefully, he’ll continue down that road to where he can really get that confidence back. …We’re trying to get him into that mode. I think he’s slowly getting there.”

Espinosa’s new terrain is a far cry from the big leagues. The Chiefs had consecutive games end past midnight this week. By the final out, the people in the dugouts outnumbered those in the stands.

Now that he has found his old swing, Espinosa hopes it’s just a matter of time before his numbers improve. He says it would’ve been difficult to do this type of intensive work while with the Nats.

“Here, you want to win but you’re developing ballplayers,” he said. “In the big leagues, you’re winning. If the numbers aren’t there, the numbers aren’t there and they’ll get rid of you. That’s what happened.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/nationals-journal/wp/2013/06/19/danny-espinosa-embracing-return-to-minors-rediscovering-old-swing/

[Lintyfresh85]

He was optioned to AAA today.

[OldChelsea]

[...]
Amanda Comak: Rizzo did not rule out Espinosa being optioned to the minor leagues AFTER he is healthy so he can get himself back to normal offensively.

...what's 'normal' for him? The youngster who exploded onto the scene here a few years ago, or the strike-out machine of today?

[Slateman]

...what's 'normal' for him? The youngster who exploded onto the scene here a few years ago, or the strike-out machine of today?

Right now, Rendon is out hitting the 2011 Danny Espinosa. So, in reality, he's going to have to get better than he was.

[sportsfan882]

Things are getting really ugly for Espinosa. 0/4 with 4 Ks and a BB today.

2/21 (.095) with 14 Ks since being sent down.

[mimontero88]

he has value, but, mindfacting here, high K low average seems really prone to long slumps

I think that's more of a fact than a mindfact.  When you K at a high rate you don't get the benefit of all of the good things that can happen just by putting the ball in play nearly as much as a player with an average K rate so when you're slumping even the lucky hits are hard to get.

[mimontero88]

Right now, Rendon is out hitting the 2011 Danny Espinosa. So, in reality, he's going to have to get better than he was.

Here is the issue I see coming out of all of this.  Anthony Rendon is likely the future at 2B in any scenario where Zimmerman isn't moved to 1B.  That makes a healthy Espinosa a very nice trade piece.  However, the Nats are going to have to find some kind of way to get that healthy Espinosa enough ABs to reestablish his trade value.  I'm not sure how they can get that done since obviously Rendon and Desmond are too productive to have Espi spell them any more than the normal day off.  Will be interesting to see how it's handled if/when Espinosa is finally healthy and hitting again.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

If DE gets going again in the minors, then I see them either trading him off of that performance or perhaps, if one starting position player goes down, doing a line up shuffle where Rendon is moved to 1st, 3d or corner OF to make room for him.  If Desi went down then I see espinosa there.

Interesting to see in one of the articles today how he is working with his 2010 hitting coach trying to get back to that form.  He's trying to pull less and use the whole field.  Mayeb between Davey and Eckstein offering him tips, he forgot what he was good at.   

Kind of like how Schaefer beer changed their yeast and never was able to get back to the taste that made it the #1 beer in the country in the 60s.

[MorseTheHorse]

Interesting to see in one of the articles today how he is working with his 2010 hitting coach trying to get back to that form.  He's trying to pull less and use the whole field.  Mayeb between Davey and Eckstein offering him tips, he forgot what he was good at.   

So, if DE starts hitting again..Fire Eckstein?

[imref]

He was optioned to AAA today.

yeah, Zuck has the story:

http://www.natsinsider.com/2013/06/espinosa-officially-optioned-to-aaa.html

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Well, I'm not sure the consequence should be a contingency requiring the first condition.

[In other words, fire him anyway regardless of whether Danny starts to hit]

[mimontero88]

So, if DE starts hitting again..Fire Eckstein?

Even if he doesn't we really should...

EDIT:  Dammit JCA beat me to it.

[mimontero88]

Anyone else remember that game where Espinosa hit 2 HRs off Cliff Lee?  Would have been nice yesterday.

[HalfSmokes]

what is the multiplier going from syracuse to the MLB supposed to be- I've read .25 points of average and 18%- either way, we have guys raking in syracuse who can't hit in the majors (barring Grindon). Something doesn't seem right

[mimontero88]

what is the multiplier going from syracuse to the MLB supposed to be- I've read .25 points of average and 18%- either way, we have guys raking in syracuse who can't hit in the majors (barring Grindon). Something doesn't seem right

It's an average.  Some guys see no drop at all in average at the major league level.  Also the number is not entirely accurate since guys who hit particularly badly in the majors don't last long and thus account for far less of the sample size than the guys who stick.  More an interesting fact than anything tangibly useful.

[welch]

The best news in the Post article is Espinosa's saying that he had been trying to pull everything when he should have been hitting to all fields. IF (note a big "if") he's decided to become a hitter rarther than "a guy with pop" or "a guy who goes yard" or any of that other bull-spit, then there is hope.

Just hit the ball square with the fat part of the bat.

The world, or DC's part of it, does not need a sloppy hitter who swings like Frank Howard before Howard was coached by Ted Williams, and who is about seven inches shorter and 75 pounds of muscle lighter than Hondo.

If Espi learns to hit -- the way Rendon already hits -- then life is good. Rendon can move to 3B with Zim at 1B, or any combination.

Notice, also, Espi's comment that the manager at Syracuse can take time to work with him, to improve his hitting. OK: the Nats have a hitting instructor. Espi has been hitting badly ever since he began swinging from his heels, looking for a homer every time. Although Espi has hit a few homers (20? 15?) they don't compensate for the .220 batting average and nearly 200 K's per season.

McCatty: it should have been his job. [ note: Eckstein. I was thinking Eckstein and typed the name of a pitching coach who has a bunch of good pitchers]

[hammondsnats]

he needs a change of scenery