Matt LaPorta

by DJSlam on Apr 27, 2009 2:27 PM EDT

Matt is off to a great start to the year so far. What has really impressed me is his K/BB and how he's managed to keep from striking out excessively which plagued him at the end of last year. I know before his trade last year and injury while playing for Team USA, people were saying he could be the "next Braun." That was dismissed after his horrible end to last year, but he seems to be back on track this year.

LaPorta's stats so far this year:

.400 avg 60 AB 19 R 24 H 3 2B 2 3B 5 HR 13 RBI 7 BB 5 SO .478 OBP .767 SLG 1.245 OPS

So I would ask, does anyone think he has a chance to be the "next Braun" this year? Cleveland is not getting much production out of Francisco in left, so it seems like it's only a matter of time before he gets the call.

For comparison, here are Braun's stats in 2007 while playing in AAA before his call up:

.342 avg 117 AB 28 R 40 H 12 2B 0 3B 10 HR 22 RBI 15 BB 11 KO .418 .701 1.119 OPS

They seem strikingly similiar to Matt's with the exception of Braun has double the at bats.

Thanks for reading.

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Comments

He can hit

It seems his bat will eventually force him into the lineup. Francisco is off to a slow start this year but may be given some time to come around.
It would be nice to see Matt up by mid May if Ben can’t get his bat going. He would be a nice addition to that lineup…

2009; John Lester becomes an ace?

by bodyiq on Apr 27, 2009 5:47 PM EDT reply actions

I would think he should get a shot

Defense would be the only thing that would stand in his way, and on that team, it might make a pretty big difference. The Indians don’t look like they’re going to have trouble scoring runs, so they might prefer to keep Francisco’s glove in left to help out their pitching rather than put LaPorta out there until he absolutely forces them to do so.

by Fanon on Apr 27, 2009 11:46 PM EDT reply actions

have you seen Francisco’s outfield defense? I’m pretty sure LaPorta’s glove isn’t much worse than that.

by JP_Frost on Apr 28, 2009 7:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Its really a service time issue. He’ll be up once he’s out of the woods in regards to super two status.

by hans on Apr 28, 2009 2:38 AM EDT reply actions

+1 The arbitration clock is the main issue here. His defense is every bit as good as Francisco’s. But that’s not saying much. Unless the Tribe rights the ship, they will be a seller at the trade deadline and Matt might be one of a few prospects who appear with the big club and directed by a new manager.

by shark on Apr 28, 2009 8:36 AM EDT up reply actions

not sure about the Indians being sellers if they’re out of it. There aren’t may expiring contracts and the team is built to make a run in 2010 (and beyond). Aside from some spare parts being dealt or cut (Francisco, Dellucci, Graffanino and maybe guys like Barfield, Kobayashi and DeRosa), I don’t see any major trades like last year’s CC and Blake deals.

That said, LaPorta probably won’t be up untill somewhere in May, even though Francisco is clearly not cutting it right now. My guess is that they’ll give some AB’s to Dellucci before promoting LaPorta.

by JP_Frost on Apr 28, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions