Nationals @ Phillies, Game 1

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Dude's 27.  If he can't do it now, the correct answer is probably "never."

I think he is starter material

I am just so wrong about the world.

[welch]

Thomas is a keeper. Hits .250 with 15 home runs and .725 OPS. Fast, throws to the right base. That's good enough. The question is Robles: Victor catches fly balls but cannot hit and often improvises foolishly. I'm still puzzled by his decision to bunt with bases loaded and the fielders drawn in.

[Elvir Ovcina]

I am just so wrong about the world.

You are everything that is right.  I just have to go to New York tomorrow to talk to a bunch of douchebags, which is better than St. Louis for a root canal but not high on my list.  I am therefore a slightly more ornery version of Grumpy Cat, which will ironically make me no more pleasant than the locals tomorrow.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It is odd, and maybe the problem with UZR, but it likes Thomas in center more than than on the corners. I would like to see some metrics to back up the eye that he can't play there. Maybe it's because we see Robles fetch and think Thomas is the dog.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

  I am therefore a slightly more ornery version of Grumpy Cat, which will ironically make me no more pleasant than the locals tomorrow.

grumpy cat is no longer ornery. He's dead. May beat being in New York.

[Elvir Ovcina]

It is odd, and maybe the problem with UZR, but it likes Thomas in center more than than on the corners. I would like to see some metrics to back up the eye that he can't play there. Maybe it's because we see Robles fetch and think Thomas is the dog.

His defensive stats in CF are markedly better this year than any other year of his career.  They had him as god-awful in CF last year.  The OAA rankings have him roughly average this year, as do most of the other metrics.  But then again, there are a number of guys this year who have gotten a lot of innings in CF who shouldn't have gotten any, and that helps with being above-average.

I'm not willing to take 24 full games of CF in which he's barely managed major league average as a reason to throw out the prior years and the eye test.  He's not as bad as some guys who have gotten run in CF (cough, Randal Grichuk), but that doesn't mean he should be out there.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Also, I detest Brad Hand. 

I have no rational reason for this, but he is a lefty, throws 1 pitch every eleven minutes, and sucks enough of the times he goes out there to cause mid-inning pitching changes after throwing 1 pitch every 13 minutes (runners on, you know).  He's the kind of MF that makes MLB unwatchable.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Thomas may be an average player. 100 wRC+ with average defensive metrics can play in cf.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Thomas may be an average player. 100 wRC+ with average defensive metrics can play in cf.

Yes, it can.  But I wouldn't expect him to repeat the defense.  Defensive metrics are noisy, and when they don't match the eye test there's even more reason for suspicion.

[Natsinpwc]

Also, I detest Brad Hand. 

I have no rational reason for this, but he is a lefty, throws 1 pitch every eleven minutes, and sucks enough of the times he goes out there to cause mid-inning pitching changes after throwing 1 pitch every 13 minutes (runners on, you know).  He's the kind of MF that makes MLB unwatchable.

You were Ayn Randed.  Then Brad Handed.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Yes, it can.  But I wouldn't expect him to repeat the defense.  Defensive metrics are noisy, and when they don't match the eye test there's even more reason for suspicion.

realizing he is both 27 and somebody the Cardd were willing to trade for Jon Lester in his bottom out year, it's still worth a shot here to see if regular reps smooth out his bad routes and rough time judging flies. The arm can play and the speed is there. I can see St L saying "we have O'Neill, Carlson, and FigNewtbar, so Thomas is never sniffing center, and he's no more than a backup short side of a platoon corner guy for us. " he's got a window before Hassell shows up to show he can have more than a backup career.