Day-0 - The Arrival of Daylen Lile

[ChiliPalmer14]

Lile, Young and Hassell, and Crews are young athletic outfielders.  While Lile will probably always be a corner, the other three make me think a little about Lorenzo Cain.  Cain was near but below average until he was 28.  After that he posted three seasons in which he was probably a top 20 position player in MLB.  Another where he was probably top 50.  Young is 25, Lile is 22, Crews is 23 and Hassell is 23.  I'd happily take a Lorenzo Cain career from Young and/or Hassell and/or Lile.  Crews has higher expectations, of course.  Young probably has the lowest projected ceiling.

Young has played 224 games.  Here's how he and Cain stack up after their first 224 games:

Young:  25 years old, 769 PA, 83 OPS+, 3.7 WAR, 51 SB
Cain:  27 years old, 864 PA, 89 OPS+, 6.7 WAR, 30 SB

By the age of 25, Cain had a grand total of 51 MLB hits.  So, I'm glad I'm not the GM.  It'd surprise me if neither Hassell, Lile nor Young had a similar trajectory.  Because unless Wood is moved to 1B/DH, one or two probably has to go. I'd hate to choose the wrong one(s).

[JCA-CrystalCity]

My first instinct was to say LoCain had more power than Young ever would have, but his biggest seasons for HRs were a 15 and a 16. I think that might be a stretch for Young, but it's not outrageous. I could see Hassell doing that or maybe even more consistent teens power.

With only a 6 point difference in OPS+, hard to see how Cain has more WAR than young over the first 760-860 PAs.

[Slateman]

The good news is he seems to hit the ball pretty hard

The bad news is that he swings a lot

The ugly part is he is terrible in RF

[IanRubbish]

22 year olds are rarely James Wood.  Lile, Hassell, Crews are hard to really judge until they’ve broken in.  Doubtful any become perennial OPS leaders like Wood, but too early to say if you can get an .800 OPS out of them when they’re 25.  Which is a great accomplishment for most prospects who are not heading to Cooperstown.  None of these three are that patient, but that was known before they came up.

[welch]

Bring back Hassell. He can hit, AND he can play RF. Although Hassell is not as good as Young in CF, nobody else in MLB matches Young, either.

[imref]

TalkNats:

Daylen Lile in 384 innings has a -11 DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) and a -6 OAA (Outs Above Average) and a FG Def rating of -8.2.  His reads are rated poor leading to misses like yesterday. His arm is well below average for RF as we saw yesterday.

Needs to be the DH once Crews is back.

[varoadking]

TalkNats:
Needs to be the DH once Crews is back.

Why do we want a .248/.297/395/.692 hitter with 2 HR's in 157 AB's to be our DH?

Not sure why everyone is in such a hurry to get Crews back...he hasn't shown that he belongs in the Show either...

[nobleisthyname]

Why do we want a .248/.297/395/.692 hitter with 2 HR's in 157 AB's to be our DH?

Who would you prefer, Bell?

[varoadking]

Who would you prefer, Bell?

No...he should be gone...and perhaps JCA is right and today is his swan song...

[imref]

Why do we want a .248/.297/395/.692 hitter with 2 HR's in 157 AB's to be our DH?

I'm curious what you would have done with Jackson Holliday after he posted .247/ .322/.358 in the first five weeks of 2025 after a horrendous 2024. (.189/.255/.311 in 208 PAs)

[varoadking]

I'm curious what you would have done with Jackson Holliday after he posted .247/ .322/.358 in the first five weeks of 2025 after a horrendous 2024. (.189/.255/.311 in 208 PAs)

The Jackson Holliday with a MLB career stat line of .237/.291/.377/.668?

He's not exactly tearing it up as a #1 draft choice either...

[nobleisthyname]

No...he should be gone...and perhaps JCA is right and today is his swan song...

I agree, but then who replaces Lile's bat that's actually better and has a future on this team? Outside of Abrams and Wood there are no players on this team that match that description, and Wood is better in the field than Lile.

[varoadking]

I agree, but then who replaces Lile's bat that's actually better and has a future on this team? Outside of Abrams and Wood there are no players on this team that match that description, and Wood is better in the field than Lile.

Let's think outside of the current 26 man roster...what about someone like Pickney who's .243/.324/.405/.729 with 16 HR's in 333 AB's?  You clear a spot on the 40 man by DFA'ing Bell or DeJong.

[nobleisthyname]

Let's think outside of the current 26 man roster...what about someone like Pickney who's .243/.324/.405/.729 with 16 HR's in 333 AB's?  You clear a spot on the 40 man by DFA'ing Bell or DeJong.

I'd be fine with that. I imagine Pinckney and his 30.4% K rate would be quickly exposed by big league pitching, but it's a lost season (decade?) at this point so why not.

[Natsinpwc]

Let's think outside of the current 26 man roster...what about someone like Pickney who's .243/.324/.405/.729 with 16 HR's in 333 AB's?  You clear a spot on the 40 man by DFA'ing Bell or DeJong.

Crews had a .778 OPS in Rochester. Obviously this dude is not ready!   

[imref]

I agree, but then who replaces Lile's bat that's actually better and has a future on this team? Outside of Abrams and Wood there are no players on this team that match that description, and Wood is better in the field than Lile.

Chaparro, Tena, or Schnell but I’d give Lile a lot of time.

The Jackson Holliday with a MLB career stat line of .237/.291/.377/.668?

He's not exactly tearing it up as a #1 draft choice either...

And a .733 OPS since May 1. Maybe prospects just need some time to develop?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I agree, but then who replaces Lile's bat that's actually better and has a future on this team? Outside of Abrams and Wood there are no players on this team that match that description, and Wood is better in the field than Lile.

I can't quite say Lile has had great performance from the get go as a hitter and demonstrated he's a must play cog for a playoff contender. If I could, then I'd look for an Isuzu dealership and offer to be a spokesman.

I can say eyeballs say he looks like he can hit, there has been an uptick in his hitting, rookies often need an adjustment period, scouts like him a bit, we don't know if we have something better, and have an opportunity to find out more by playing him at DH in a season where priority #1 is finding out what useful pieces we have.

[welch]

Lile is improving his hitting. Keep him in the games. His fielding is almost as bad as ever, Hide him at DH.

[varoadking]

Crews had a .778 OPS in Rochester. Obviously this dude is not ready!   

Likely just another reason Rizzo is gone...

[Slateman]

Let's think outside of the current 26 man roster...what about someone like Pickney who's .243/.324/.405/.729 with 16 HR's in 333 AB's?  You clear a spot on the 40 man by DFA'ing Bell or DeJong.

Why does the guy with an OPS almost 100 points lower than Lile get his spot?

xBA of .308. xSLG of .438. I say let him finish out the year. Make him the DH against RHP and see how he does.

[varoadking]

Why does the guy with an OPS almost 100 points lower than Lile get his spot?

Your math ain't mathin'...

[Smithian]

I’m not certain he couldn’t use a few weeks in Rochester to reset before closing in September.

I am progressively reaching point Lowe should be on the bench and Josh Bell start at 1B. Rotate OF through DH.

[Slateman]

Your math ain't mathin'...

Daylen Lile Triple A OPS: .907
Andrew Pickney: .735

You're right. It was well over 100 points higher.

[Slateman]

I’m not certain he couldn’t use a few weeks in Rochester to reset before closing in September.

I am progressively reaching point Lowe should be on the bench and Josh Bell start at 1B. Rotate OF through DH.

Neither Lowe nor Bell should be starting. Bell should he DFA'd

[varoadking]

Daylen Lile Triple A OPS: .907
Andrew Pickney: .735

You're right. It was well over 100 points higher.

Pickney can put the ball in the seats...Lile hasn't shown that in the bigs or the minors...

But honestly, debating over whether Lile or Pickney should be playing just highlights how totally pathetic this team really is...