Lastings Milledge

by jeck on Apr 19, 2006 6:00 PM EDT

After today's game, he's hitting .404/.525/.638 with 9 walks against 7 strikeouts through his first 47 ABs. Just a hot start or does the plate discipline indicate something more?

Milledge isn't exactly a prime candidate for "The Leap" given that's he's already a great prospect, but I'd love to see him make it. It would be fantastic to see one of these players with all the tools in the world actually put it all together for a change.

Definitely something to keep an eye on.

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Tools guys

A lot of guys with great tools have put it together. Chipper Jones, Griffey Jr., Vlad Guerrero, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Andruw Jones are a few that come to mind.

by PolkCountyRay on Apr 19, 2006 6:10 PM EDT reply actions

of course

But plenty more never live up to the hype. The players you listed are more like Delmon Young than Milledge, I think. They didn't require very much refinement.

by jeck on Apr 19, 2006 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Damon

I wouldn't put him near that list with those guys

by JD Sussman on Apr 19, 2006 8:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Milledge

Why would you consider them more like Delmon than Lastings?

by PolkCountyRay on Apr 19, 2006 6:23 PM EDT reply actions

delmon

i think delmon's skill set is actually more similar to lastings' older brother, penultimos milledge. (too bad about him.)

by wily mo on Apr 19, 2006 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Whoosh

That's the sound of a joke sailing over many heads on its way out of the park.

by Flynn Blake on Apr 19, 2006 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions

HELP!

right over mine......

"Chuck Lamar, you're fired"- Stuart Sternburg.

by Tyler on Apr 19, 2006 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Glad we have prodigies like you to point it out :D

by limozeen on Apr 19, 2006 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Heh

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=penultimate

I actually didn't learn it until I was out of college and at my first newspaper job. The guy who sent me the IM-type message saw me reaching for the dictionary, and practically yelled, "Next to last."

by Flynn Blake on Apr 19, 2006 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions

</sarc>

forgot to close my sarcasm tag :D

by limozeen on Apr 20, 2006 1:24 AM EDT up reply actions

I thought that...

was the best joke in this thread "</sarc&gt."

And why would they name a child Lastings because he was the last child? What would have happened if they had a kid after? Would they change his name? What to? (And no one say Penultimate! That was a bad joke the first time around lol)

by Boxkutter on Apr 20, 2006 5:08 AM EDT up reply actions

no, not 'penultimate'

penultiMOS. c'mon.

by wily mo on Apr 24, 2006 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions

I got it.

And cracked up. But I know how he got his name and am enough of a geek to know the word "penultimate".

by abbreviatedman on Apr 19, 2006 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions

well

i can second that, im a geek and knew the word but never heard any story about how lastings got his name...can i assume its because he was the last child?

by Rob Castellano on Apr 19, 2006 10:03 PM EDT up reply actions

that's correct.

sorry everybody. i could see my fingers typing it, but i couldn't stop them!

by wily mo on Apr 19, 2006 11:33 PM EDT up reply actions

re:

In addition to tools, those players already had all the skills the needed to succeed at the MLB level as they did. I'd put Delmon in that category also. He doesn't need to improve on anything to be a superstar.

Milledge, on the other hand, has to improve his plate discipline and translate raw power to game power if he's going to be a star. The players you listed were "can't miss" elite prospects like Delmon. There's more questions with Milledge and I don't consider him to be quite on that level.

by jeck on Apr 19, 2006 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions

cute

that made me chuckle.

but, all the same, it's worth noting that Milledge is simply not making outs these days. i know it's early in the season, and perhaps this is a streak -- but this is a significant upgrade on performance for a guy who was already considered a top prospect. Another month of anything close to this and he'll be up there in the Delmon range of prospects.

by scooter on Apr 19, 2006 6:40 PM EDT reply actions

Milledge v Delmon

To be fair, coming out of high school there was some debate about which of these two was the better prospect. I believe Milledge was considered more highly his junior year, and then questions about his plate discipline and power (combined with a nasty incident involving a 15 year old) put him behind Delmon. I, for one, am not surprised to see him succeed.

by eshca on Apr 19, 2006 7:57 PM EDT reply actions

yeah, the "nasty incident"

I believe he was either 16 or 17 and she was 15. I KNOW that no one who posts on this board fooled around before the legal age (i.e. in HS). If he were legal and she were not, then it would have been an entirely different matter.

The above is of note, as he was considered a top 7 talent, who fell because of this incident. The Mets took a "flyer" and are being repaid nicely.

by akk99 on Apr 19, 2006 11:44 PM EDT up reply actions

No

He was 16 and she was 12.

by ian on Apr 20, 2006 2:03 AM EDT up reply actions

no

Please don't slander the guy.

Who is "she"? There was no girl who ever accused Milledge. His high school got an anonymous letter that claimed he was having sex with girls as young as 12. No girls ever came forward and that charge was never substantiated by the school, the police, or to my knowledge, the Mets. He got expelled for having relations with his girlfriend who was 15.

by jeck on Apr 20, 2006 7:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Sure

I'll give you the name of the 12 year old he was accused of having sex with.

Are you kidding?

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/107109p-96861c.html

The charges aren't public because of the age involved. Just because you like him as a player doesn't mean I'm going to sweep something under the rug.

by ian on Apr 20, 2006 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions

ok

I never read that particular article, so I didn't know the girls had been identified. I wasn't trying to sweep something under the rug, I just knew that there were accusations based off an anonymous letter but that he was never charged, the school said he could come back, and the Mets were fine with signing him after the investigation mentioned in the article was completed. I'm not saying he didn't do it, you just shouldn't treat it as settled fact that he did.

by jeck on Apr 20, 2006 12:15 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

I was only aware of the last one. Nice use of a document reference.

by akk99 on Apr 20, 2006 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I was thinking the same thing

Lastings was a well known amatuer player even as young as 12 years old playing in the Little League World Series. He was in all the big national showcases and on Team USA. I saw him about 5 different times in high school and it was amazing how he was able to hit the ball hard in almost every AB. I think in some circles there is a perception that if a player has speed and looks "athletic" he can't hit.

by PolkCountyRay on Apr 19, 2006 8:12 PM EDT reply actions

Milledge

His power will come. You can see it in his bat speed, he has very quick hands. But i don't think he is at Delmon's level yet. Maybe its because everyone hypes him up, but he seems to have much more raw power than Milledge. The ball pops off both of thier bats, and i think Both will be superstars. The Difference is that Milledge is in NY and Delmon is in Tampa. I also thing Lastings wont be rushed as fast because the mets look Soild this year. Delmon might come up soon and that could hurt him, but i doubt it. Both of these guys are going to top of thier class players.

by JD Sussman on Apr 19, 2006 8:12 PM EDT reply actions