Reggie Willits

by Trenchtown on Oct 13, 2007 5:17 AM EDT

I am a Mariner fan and hate all things Angels with a passion, but I am intrigued by Reggie Willits. His contact and plate discipline were excellent, but his power was non-existent. At 26 his power potential is pretty much fulfilled, but can a hitter really succeed with his skill set? I mean, at some point don't you just have pitchers throw it right now the pipe a la Sean Burroughs strategy knowing the worst that can happen is a single? I was just wondering if anyone thought he could could have a prolonged career hitting .290/.390/.340 or something similar. Just guess searching for comps using BR the best I could really find was Julio Cruz. Their secondary skills are pretty similar, but Cruz rarely hit .250 let alone .290; What do you all think?

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Biggest question is BABIP

Looking at his track record, his speed might just allow him to outrun a bunch of groundballs safely.

He fixes one of the major problems with the Angel lineup (OBP), while unfortunately exacerbating their lack of power. In general he could be very productive if they can replace that kind of power elsewhere - although in general you'd prefer to have more power from a corner guy.

Todd Frazier for President

by FrazierFan on Oct 13, 2007 7:01 AM EDT reply actions

Play Index

I searched play index to try and find hitters who have a batting average over .280 an OBP over .380 and a slugging under .350. That search returned me Reggie Willits, and Roy Thomas. Roy Thomas was an outfielder for Philadelphia in the early 1900's. So needless to say not many people have had such an awkward line.

However if you bump that Slugging up to the low 400's you get a lot more players and you get some good hitters like Tim Raines. If Willits an get his power to a point where he can post a slugging of like .420 I think he could be really valuable. If he can't do that I think pitchers will just start throwing fastballs by him.

by Kanst42 on Oct 13, 2007 9:28 AM EDT reply actions

4th OF

He can't play CF well, and at 26 is unlikely to develop a lot more power. I am amazed he was able to post an OBP that high, but he did seem to wear down from playing every day. Hopefully they can pick his spots well.

by elricsi on Oct 13, 2007 10:50 AM EDT reply actions

Willits LIVES in a batting cage in the offseason

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/sports/01cage.html

I don't think there is any more power to tap into. His approach is to be a pesky gnat. That can work when you have speed, but Burroughs had none. Basically, I think it's possible Willits could repeat the success of this 2007 campaign. But it's also possible that if he doesn't get off to a hot start he could start losing PT, then w/o game reps his swing could get rusty and suddenly he's back in the minors. Therefore, I don't think any playoff caliber team should enter a season pegging him as their plan A for an OF spot.

by McLovin on Oct 13, 2007 2:01 PM EDT reply actions

What about Brett Butler

Seem it could be a decent comp, depending on how he adjusts in the next few years. Butler had a career .290/.377/.376, and had a relative late start to his career (his first full season was at 26 also). It wouldn't take too much more power growth for Willits to reach this level. And by the way, when I was younger, Butler was one of my favorite players...and I am a Yankees fan.

by cookiedabookie82 on Oct 13, 2007 5:04 PM EDT reply actions

+1 not bad,

Butler only had 2 real "Willits" seasons in hit career (1991 & 1997) but overall I think that is a fair comp since the 1990's and now are pretty similar era's (if anything Butler should be the one lacking because of the big time offensive boom of the mid 90's)

It would still seem to me that this if Willits compared to Butler that 2007 would be the fluke year in incredibly low slugging rather then the rule for Reggie. Butler seemed to be the much better hitter in the minors contact-wise then Willits, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything either

thanks for the input

by Trenchtown on Oct 13, 2007 7:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Power is a luxury

A few contact hitters have always been able to succeed when given the chance.

Pete Rose
Rod Carew
Tony Gwynn
Juan Pierre
Luis Castillo
Eric Young

and, to a lesser extent, Jason Kendall (hard to tell whether his low-average years have anything to do with his hitting skills with all of those minor catching injuries).

There are way more than that, and I don't mean to suggest that these players are otherwise similarly valuable or skilled. Still, it's a fair question: why not throw strikes to any of them? I suppose most pitchers threw strikes thinking there would be no damage, but since everyone needs some margin for error, many of them were wrong eventually.

by Stat Ninja on Oct 15, 2007 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions