But if he doesn't get his walks up a little, it won't matter much. He doesn't really project to be a high enough average hitter to cover for a low walk rate.

And just because you're the best player on a team of mediocre hitters doesn't mean you're exceptional.

Barry Zito can't find the strike zone with a map early, and the Twins are swinging early in the count, they could have strolled around the bases at will but kept on swinging at Zito's slop. Ended up losing as Zito eventually got his control back but even then they were constantly making first or second pitch outs.

Stupid Twins.

If he hits, say, .270 with 40-50 walks this year, it's a success. That'll let him steal 50 bases and probably get close to 100 runs scored. Considering the lack of time he's had in the minors, I think the Twins would take that.

I think he looks good through 2 games.

So far tonight he's only 1 for 4 but he hasn't K's as of yet. He had a nice base hit, and he had 2 sharply hit outs.

He's not getting overmatched at the dish, thats forsure. He looks a hell of a lot more confident at the plate then morneau right now, I know that much....he looks awful.

Here's the thing about comparing every toolsy young guy who comes down the pike to Hanley Ramirez: it is, for lack of a better word, irresponsible. Ramirez is, if not unique, so unusual as to make comparing minor leaguers to him essentially worthless. You could say "he reminds me of Hanley Ramirez" of 15-20 guys in the minors, and there would be no way to test whether you were wrong or right -- but the odds would be fantastically against your being right. No matter the player. The odds were astronomical against the idea that Ramirez would do what Ramirez did; the odds remain astronomical against any player doing it. It's like comparing every power hitter who doesn't walk to Sammy Sosa: you've proved that it's possible that player X will become a huge star at a late date, but you haven't really convinced anybody that it's likely -- because a player who is exactly the same as Sammy Sosa does not become SAMMY SOSA at least 9 times out of 10, if not more. The idea that Gomez will excel at the major leagues immediately after being a poor hitter in the minors is not impossible, but the mere existence of Hanley Ramirez does not make it even remotely likely.

Note what I am not doing here: I am not denying that Gomez may one day be a very good player, though I have to say that I will remain skeptical until such a time as he has demonstrated the ability to do anything other than play defense and hit for a modicum of power. I am not saying that is impossible for Gomez to be a worthwhile regular this season, or even that there is the barest possibility that he will be a star this season. But equally I refuse to be swayed by four games in which Gonzalez has gotten a few hits and managed to draw a walk in 17 plate appearances. For reference:

Player A: .575/.575/.724
Player B: .529/.556/1.059
Player C: .375 /.412 /.438

Player A is Yuniesky Betancourt. And just so we don't get worked up about the fact that he's a youngish sort of player who could be breaking out, player B is AJ Pierzynski. Player C is Gonzalez.

As far as a ceiling of being the best player in baseball? I guess I don't know enough to comfortably handicap that, but if you check out the minor league performances of a selection of the best players in baseball, you'll find that almost every single one of them had performed better than Gomez at some level by the age of 22, some of them in the major leagues. Carlos Gomez may be tallish and incredibly fast, but his learning curve has been nothing like that so far, and he doesn't even have the Hanley Ramirez excuse, "He was bored in the minors." Just checking the top of last year's VORP list, the closest thing to an exception were Magglio Ordonez, who was a late-ish bloomer who had already displayed greater home run power than Gomez has, and the aforementioned Ramirez, who is essentially useless as a comp for anybody, in my mind.

To be the best player in the majors, Gomez will have to develop significantly in every phase of the offensive game that does not involve his speed. He does not walk, he does not hit for power, his career high in batting average is .281. It is not impossible that all of these tools develop; it would be an improbable outcome if at least one, possibly two of them did not. That is what gives Gomez a good shot of becoming a major league regular. It strikes me as wildly unlikely that he will ever consistently get his OPS over .900, which is what would be necessary for a good-fielding CF to be in the "best player in the game" territory.

I'll gladly admit that I'm wrong if I turn out to be wrong, but it sometimes strikes me that people get more than a little unreasonable when it comes to Carlos Gomez, who strikes me as likely to be a respectable ballplayer, perhaps occasionally sliding into star territory because of his defense, and a thousand-to-one shot at being a superstar.

Whew. That was long.

You guys do realize that even with today's game, Gomez has had a BABIP of .563 so far this year, right? Before today, in 20 ABs he's had 5 strikeouts to 1 walk. Including today's game, in 24 ABs he's had 8 strikeouts with still 1 walk and 2 doubles. I'm not denying that he's talented or that he could be a very good player or maybe even a star, but wow do these expectations need to be lowered.

and So much for Ellsbury being better now, Ellsbury can't even draw a walk and hit a fluke HR.