Matt Dominguez pulling out of the nose dive?

by davidsabin on Jun 4, 2009 1:46 AM EDT Comment 7 comments

Dominguez has to be one of the early dissapointments as far as offensive production in the early going as far as pre-season top 50-ish guys go, but he is hitting .333 in his last 10 games with 2 dingers in the last 4 days.

I am interested to see where this little hot streak ends up. We all remember that he started slow last year, albeit with mono.

has anyone watched him lately, any have any observations?

0 recs | Comment 7 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Personally, I’m not sure elite power hitting is really Dominguez’ calling card, though his sub-.700 OPS is certainly pretty unacceptable. Keep in mind, though, that’ll he be 19/20 for the majority of the year in Hi-A, which, while not Angel Villalona level youth, is still pretty young.

I’m much more troubled by his K rate (which he seems to have better control of now) than anything else. As I posted last season, his numbers were heavily skewed by the fact that he dominated at his home park, and struggled on the road.

He may also be warming up with the warmer weather.

by WrenFGun on Jun 4, 2009 8:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

dominguez

jupiter is my home park so i see him quite often. dominguez is a plus-defender IMO (the guy can really pick it) but he’s not filling out and i don’t know if he ever will. From watching him in games, from talking to people at games, and from reading as much as I can about him, I’m off the Dominguez bandwagon. I hope he picks things up because I’m a Marlins’ fan, but I just don’t see it happening.

from looking at his numbers, three things really jump out at me:

1. OBP currently at .291, which is rather disappointing
2. hitting .226 vs. righties
3. played all of last season in Greensboro, an extreme hitters’ park if i recall (it seemed to be, at least, when i was there for last year’s SAL all-star game)

by psugator on Jun 4, 2009 9:07 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

To elaborate on your last point

1. Dominguez slumped pretty badly at the plate in his senior year of HS, with a lot of buzz suggesting that scouts had serious reservations about the guy’s bat
2. He didn’t hit at all in his rookie ball stint
3. He hit last year, but only in Greensboro (which, as you mentioned, is VERY hitter-friendly) . . .his home/away splits were pretty extreme, he was a sub-.700 OPS player outside of his home park
4. He’s not hitting this year

So over the last three years, the only time he’s actually hit at a level commensurate with his prospect standing is in a park that dramatically inflates offensive numbers.

by mrkupe on Jun 4, 2009 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well..

I’m not really a fan of Dominguez, but going to do a half-assed job of defending him here.

Just as Greensboro is a big-time hitters’ park in a hitter-friendly league (1.06 R, 1.23 HR – 3yr weighted 2006-2008), Jupiter is a big-time pitchers’ park in a pitcher-friendly league (0.96 R, 0.83 HR).

However, given his road splits last year, this is probably a case where you can’t simply wish away his poor season with park and league context, especially given last year’s road splits. He’s not this bad, and is 19 in high-A, but he is definitely not the player that people saw in looking at his full-season line from 2008.

http://rswanzey.blogspot.com

by rswanzey on Jun 4, 2009 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Indeed

Jupiter is a really bad place to hit, and it was natural to expect his rate numbers to drop somewhat . . .but he’s been so bad this year, it’s taken a hot streak to get his OPS to .630.

You’re probably right in saying that he’s not this bad, but . . .he had a .429 OPS in 57 ABs in 2007. A .688 OPS away from Greensboro in 2008. He’s got a .630 OPS this year. So the body of evidence suggests that he might not really be all that much better at this point.

He still has plenty of value . . .he gives value with his glove and he hits LHP decently. I guess you can dream on the bat a bit (he was projected to take a while to develop as an amateur).

by mrkupe on Jun 4, 2009 10:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Give the kid a break

First off if hitting .493 with 13 home runs in his senior year in HS is a bad slump I then I guess you are right he had a terrible year.
Yes he is hitting .244 right now in High A at age 19, but Russell Martin at age 21 in the same league, (Florida State League) hit a whopping .250 and is now a 3 time all-star and silver slugger in the bigs, so lets not jump to conclusions here. Grady Sizemore at the same age as Dominguez, 19 in the same league hit .258 with 0 home runs and the guy hits 25 to 30 HR every year in the bigs. He did well last season in a hitter friendly stadium in Greensboro. Jupiter is a hard park to hit in and if you watch Dominguez hit he is a gap to gap guy and the dimensions are 381 and 375 in the alleys where just for comparisons the Florida Marlins Stadium is 361, so that is an extra 15 to 20 feet. also if you watch him everyday he hits the ball hard every game but right at people and stats do not show that.

by baseballfan1 on Jun 15, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs