wes hodges vs josh rodriguez

by scooter on Aug 15, 2007 9:01 AM EDT

The Kinston Indians 3Bman vs their SS. Read in the prospect diary below that the Indians have moved Rodriguez over Hodges in their 3B ranking (on the assumption that Rodriguez won't stick at SS, I guess), based on his superior hitting.

That's kind of contrary to the numbers, as i see them:

year of birth: 1984

experience: Rodriguez is in his 2nd year as a pro, his first year in A- was okay, with an .802 OPS and a .337 OBP. Hodges had an extra year of college. Coming into the season, John ranked Hodges as the Indians 6th best prospect, and Rodriguez as their 20th best.

defense: Rodriguez as a SS convert would presumably be good so long as he has the arm. On the other hand Hodges was voted best defensive 3Bman in the Carolina Lg in the recent BA poll, so would seem to have answered any questions about how he'd come off of his injury.

offense: Hodges is at .378/.478 vs .338/.458 for Rodriguez.

To me, none of this gives me a sense as to why the Indians would like Rodriguez more than Hodges. Rodriguez has been red-hot in August with a 1.261 OPS -- but a hot streak of 14 games doesn't seem to make up for an otherwise solid but uninspiring resume. Hodges, on the other hand, in his first pro season seems to have the better bat and, at a minimum, the defense you'd want.

What am I not seeing that the Indians reportedly do see in Rodriguez over Hodges? Or is that report just bogus?

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Who said anything about

Rodriguez moving to 3B? Tribe brass are excited about his ability at SS and said they were working with him on his ability to go to the right which they felt was his biggest weakness. The evaluation I read from Atkins was that he has passed Hodges in the Tribe's eyes as a hitting prospect and had nothing to do with position.

As for the difference in rankings at the beginning of the year, things change. Both players are way overdue for a move to Akron IMHO. Instead of moving players up to get an extra bat at Akron, the Indians move Barton back to Akron after two weeks of mashing IL pitching. It seems like management is choking right along with the players.

by sdtribefan on Aug 15, 2007 10:01 AM EDT reply actions

focus

how does a 2 week hot streak that takes his numbers from far inferior to just, merely, inferior make him a better hitting prospect? In particular Rodriguez's secondary numbers are bad, so nothing there. Maybe it's just based on scouting/bat speed, that sort of thing?

really doesn't compute.

and didn't realize they'd sent Barton back down to AA. that's just weird, too.

by scooter on Aug 15, 2007 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah

my impression of the comment was that it was made by a coach based on having watched both of them hit all year. so, that's what it means.

by wily mo on Aug 15, 2007 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions

It was made by a Kinston coach

originally but I understand it was confirmed in an interview with Atkins.

by sdtribefan on Aug 15, 2007 6:31 PM EDT up reply actions

I believe it is based on evaluative

criteria such as bat speed but if you look at his seasonal numbers, Rodriguez started to turn it around in July. Those seasonal numbers are not just the result of a two week hot streak but I agree it has been quite a hitting stretch. BTW, a lot of people thought he would be a quality hitter while in college but he dropped due to injury and the Tribe took a chance.

by sdtribefan on Aug 15, 2007 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

he just said that rodriguez was going to be a better hitter than hodges. nothing about rodriguez moving to third. if he can't stick at short i expect rodriguez will probably wind up at second, although they're also using goedert over there.

by wily mo on Aug 15, 2007 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions