Tyler Colvin

by NovaO on May 12, 2008 1:01 PM CDT

Hey guys, I thought readers might be interested in this piece on Tyler Colvin. It isn't a positive review of Colvin, but readers who have not seen his swing might be interested in taking a look.

I've never really been high on Colvin because his plate discipline has been atrocious his entire career and while he is a good athlete, I don't see him as a guy who has all these great tools and just needs to put it together.

Now, he is walking slightly more this year, but his K's are way up and his power is down.

It is always possible the light bulb goes off in a player's head and they do put it all together, so I'm not completely writing the guy off, but the terrible K:BB ratio is just a giant red flag. I think this should be a lesson for teams to be wary of college hitters who don't show much plate discipline and only show modest power, especially in the first round. The link to the article is below, for anybody interested:

Tyler Colvin Scouting Report

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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didnt take me 2 seconds to see his 1st problem

that stance is horrible. my gosh its incredible he dont fall over after a swing with that wide and unbalanced stance. close it up a little and shorten that swing or ml pitching will eat you up tyler.

Go Cubbies Go!!!!!!

by cubsluver22 on May 12, 2008 1:16 PM CDT reply actions

He's struggling mightily right now...

Through May 12 games, Colvin has the following stats:

142 AB, 32 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 10 BB, 41 K, 1 SB, 0 CS .225/.286/.338 (.624 OPS)

By comparison, here are the stats of a guy who is barely on the prospect radar at this point, if he is at all on the radar (Ryan Harvey):

102 AB, 24 H, 7 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 7 BB, 34 K, 1 SB, 1 CS, .235/.298/.392 (.690 OPS)

It’s still a small sample, but the failure to improve on the atrocious BB and K ratios is a glaring red flag. The fact that he’s not hitting for power and his average has taken a big turn for the worst is a concern as well. The hope was/is that he’d improve his plate discipline and that some power would develop. Right now, the opposite is happening.

Hopefully, he starts to figure it out at some point. But 2008 has not been a good year for Colvin’s status as a prospect.

by SouthernCub on May 12, 2008 1:22 PM CDT reply actions

So as not to sound completely negative...

I’ll say the key is that SO FAR 2008 hasn’t looked good for his prospect status. Hopefully it’s just an early-season issue and that Colvin will bounce back as the season progresses.

But there is definitely reason for concern. He’s had three college seasons and basically two full big league seasons and we’re not seeing progress yet in terms of plate discipline.

by SouthernCub on May 12, 2008 2:36 PM CDT up reply actions

Huh?

Who writes the drivel on that site? As soon as I saw the comment about Colvin not being able to properly transfer all of his weight, despite video that shows pretty vividly that he hits off his front foot, I’d have enough. Take that article for what it’s worth.

Eighty-five percent of the f*ckin' world is working. The other fifteen percent come out here. -- Lee Constantine Elia, 1983.

by krummy12 on May 12, 2008 3:50 PM CDT reply actions

re:

I would rather have Colvin carry his hips forward for a long period than he currently does. This toe touch thing he does, in my mind, lessens the power of his hip rotation heading into foot plant.

See how Prince Fielder or Matt Kemp do it

www.baseball-intellect.com

by NovaO on May 12, 2008 4:53 PM CDT up reply actions

Can we stop drafting athletes? And start drafting baseball players?

Cubs 2008 (22-15)
Home (14-6) | Road (8-8) | 1-Run Games (4-3) | Extra Innings (4-2)
Updated on May 11, 2008

by SackMan on May 12, 2008 4:12 PM CDT reply actions

John Kruk agrees with you.

As I've told you before, I never repeat myself.

by santoswoodenlegs on May 12, 2008 5:07 PM CDT up reply actions

tyler colvin...

i think will come around, but harvey has hit poorly for average ever since he joined the cubs’ minor league system

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 12, 2008 6:11 PM CDT reply actions

I wasn't comparing their prospect status...

Just illustrating how much Colvin is struggling, and the similarity in plate discipline. Colvin is definitely the better prospect, and definitely more likely to improve his AVG (and thus his OBP and OPS). But the low BB rate and high K rate are definitely reason for concern.

by SouthernCub on May 12, 2008 6:19 PM CDT up reply actions

i understand that

i was just giving my thoughts about those guys

by columbusOHcubsfan on May 12, 2008 6:22 PM CDT up reply actions

ugh

His stance reminds me of a left-handed Mark McGwire for some reason.

by TheHawkRules on May 12, 2008 6:36 PM CDT reply actions

Colvin's

power isn’t down anymore after today. See the minor league wrap.

His isolated power is up to .164 after today. Last year it was .171 in AA.

Sometimes people just have to be patient.

It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.

by Josh Timmers on May 13, 2008 12:56 AM CDT reply actions

Also, aren't his walk rates up a little bit, at least?

IIRC he walked only 15 times all last year, and has 10 already in 2008.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on May 13, 2008 4:16 AM CDT up reply actions

Yes, his power numbers look better today...

I guess we should just expect 2-HR games to fix things. As of yesterday, his power numbers were looking bad. Outlier games like last night can certainly change things.

His poor BB and K numbers are the bigger reason for concern, in my opinion. He’s done slightly better in the BB department, but slightly worse in the K department this year.

But hopefully the big game last night is the beginning of a great rest of the season for him.

by SouthernCub on May 13, 2008 9:05 AM CDT up reply actions

Yesterday

was a flukey game for sure, but you can’t judge him anymore on five slow weeks (especially since he’s clearly working on getting his walk rates up) than you can from one game.

Soriano had four home runs on May 31 last season. He finished with 33. You shouldn’t have concluded anything about Fonzie last spring, and I really think we should be waiting until at least July to start drawing conclusions about Colvin.

I must admit that I’m as guilty as anyone on this front with my “April Prospect Wrap.” However, that was more to give people a sense of what kind of month people were having and I hope I kept my conclusions to a minimum. I was pretty hard on Dylan Johnston, although I think, in fairness, I was judging him more by last season. I might have gone overboard in praising James Russell, however.

It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.

by Josh Timmers on May 13, 2008 9:51 AM CDT up reply actions