Cubs CF Jae-Hoon Ha has caught scouts' eyes in the Florida State League with eye-popping numbers to...

Cubs CF Jae-Hoon Ha has caught scouts' eyes in the Florida State League with eye-popping numbers to start the season. He is hitting .403/.406/.645 through 14 games with a pair of home runs. He has not drawn a walk yet and is only 2-for-7 on stolen base attempts, but manager Buddy Bailey is pleased with the 20-year old's aggressive approach. "He's got one gait and it's always aggressive," Bailey said. "To me, it's the perfect thing for a young player. Players learn when they're aggressive."

Baseball America

about 1 year ago FTLOTC 18 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Developing plate discipline

Doesn’t seem like the ideal philosophy for the development of plate discipline, a long-time problem in the Cubs organization.

by FTLOTC on Apr 25, 2011 3:35 PM CDT reply actions

We've heard this before

Somewhere, KKKKKorey Patterson is grimacing.

It's a simple question, Doctor: would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs??

by Invalid User on Apr 25, 2011 4:23 PM CDT reply actions

Terrible Comparison

Ha has only struck out five times in 78 plate appearances.

Patterson didn’t walk because he swung and missed a lot. Ha doesn’t walk because he swings and connects a lot.

by Josh Timmers on Apr 25, 2011 6:19 PM CDT up reply actions

So...

more like Starlin? Too soon? I’ll just answer that one for myself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just North of Wrigley Field

by jameslcrockett on Apr 25, 2011 6:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Starlin?

Don’t hang that on him yet.

He’s got an excellent arm in the OF, though.

by Josh Timmers on Apr 25, 2011 8:32 PM CDT up reply actions

for including his K total. It was the first thing I thought about. Sure, that’s still not a good ratio, but that’s not the only way to be productive. Let us know if you hear that his approach isn’t working.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just North of Wrigley Field

by jameslcrockett on Apr 25, 2011 6:54 PM CDT up reply actions

I have to agree with the first two posts.

I don’t understand why the Cubs seem to approach this as an “either/or” choice.

That said… you’ve got to be excited so far for Ha. We’ll see if he can keep this up and then what happens whenever he makes the big jump to AA.

"Stuff like this is why they should shut off the internet."

by Orval Overall on Dec 17, 2010 1:19 PM CST

by fsuapollo on Apr 25, 2011 5:45 PM CDT reply actions

I think it's a little more difficult

to teach someone plate discipline that just telling them to take more pitches.

Check out the walk rates of Brett Jackson and Matt Cerda. Ryan Flaherty and Micah Gibbs can draw a walk too. It’s not the whole organization that’s hacking. If you want to develop more patient hitters, you need to draft or sign more patient amateurs.

by Josh Timmers on Apr 25, 2011 6:25 PM CDT up reply actions

Oh sure. There are always exceptions.

It just doesn’t seem like the Cubs as a whole value OBP all that much.

It is great to see some improvements (BJax, even Vitters).

I guess I’d just like to see a bit more diversity in the Cubs’ overall offensive profile (majors and minors).

"Stuff like this is why they should shut off the internet."

by Orval Overall on Dec 17, 2010 1:19 PM CST

by fsuapollo on Apr 25, 2011 6:59 PM CDT up reply actions

or you need to use the ones you have

A certain ex Cub was one of the very few players with more walks than Ks in both the minors and the majors, but it not exactly seem to impress the powers that be.

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry
Me either

by Doggie Stalker on Apr 25, 2011 10:13 PM CDT up reply actions

Because he put a sub-.800 OPS as a 28 year old in AAA

If Sam Fuld was named Samuel Rodriguez and hadn’t gone to Stanford you wouldn’t even know who he was.

by JSB on Apr 26, 2011 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions

Oh I would know who he was

Defense & plate discipline happen to be among my favorite baseball player skills.
FYI the one new thing I learned about Fuld from the most recent spate of articles is that Tampa had been interested in him for a while. Tampa is a team that understands and values those skills and they have been just a wee bit better than the Cubs in evaluating talent. The Cubs simply must start valuing “small ball” skills if they want to win.

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry
Me either

by Doggie Stalker on Apr 26, 2011 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions

Fuld is having a great season

But based on his age/performance at different levels of the minor leagues, this performance is shocking to say the least.

by JSB on Apr 26, 2011 10:53 AM CDT up reply actions

It is

but his performance in the majors and especially in 2009 when he actually got to play AND bat in a reasonable number of games should have been enough to earn him a spot on the bench. I don’t want to rehash the whole thing and were some complex issues that kept Fuld off the major league roster, but I think we all agree that what is his best at (defense, plate discipline & speed) are things the Cubs simply don’t put a high value on. I think even Fuld is surprised by his current hitting. The most frustrating thing to me is the 10 stolen bases. More than anything it shows how one organization uses a skill that another does not. I don’t Fuld is any faster or smarter on the basepaths now than he was with the Cubs.

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry
Me either

by Doggie Stalker on Apr 26, 2011 12:10 PM CDT up reply actions