Julio Borbon

by tuna411 on Aug 17, 2009 1:30 AM EDT Comment 12 comments

Julio has lots of speed, a nice minor league career walk to strikeout ratio and has recently started 3 or 4 games in a row (in one game, he stole 4 bases against varitek).

Going forward, what are the prospects of him starting regularly the rest of this season (maybe texas just releases a.jones)?

Is borbon the semi-lock, he has to play himself out of the starting job in spring training, starting center fielder in 2010?

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david ortiz can steal second base off jason vatirek

by matthewmafa on Aug 17, 2009 1:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It wasnt Varitek

It was Penny. They stole those bases off the pitcher.

by alskor on Aug 17, 2009 1:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i knew someone was going to say that lol

yeah they stole bases off the pitcher too but varitek going from his crouch to when hes going to release the ball takes forever. It seems like hes going in slow motion.

by matthewmafa on Aug 17, 2009 2:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Varitek isnt good

…but Penny is the slowest delivery to the plate in the league by a wide margin. Its comical. He has the most steals against him of any starter by a similarly wide margin.

The Red Sox pitchers all are extremely slow to the plate. The coaching staff has for years told them to not worry about baserunners. Every catcher that has come through has had terrible SB/CS numbers, not just Varitek. Its really on the pitchers, but the Red Sox don’t care that much. They absolutely NEVER pitch out, and they basically rely on changing their rythym/the amount of time they spend in the set position before starting their wind up.

Most of those times in that game, Varitek knew he was dead in the water and was just making a perfunctory throw. His arm is below average, but by looking at his SB allowed totals youd think he was Mike Piazza.

by alskor on Aug 17, 2009 4:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Borbon won't start that much the rest of the year

once Cruz is healthy he will play a bit less. They’ve got Hamilton, Cruz, Byrd and Murphy. Borbon could be the 5th guy, put in for defense. Personally, I’d call up Chris Davis, dump Blalock and split DH among Jones and the OF to help Hamilton and Cruz stay healthy. Blalock is hitting worse than Davis was, a real shame given the promise he showed in 2002-03 and as a prospect.

G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....

by t ball on Aug 17, 2009 7:02 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I was kind of shocked by how long it's been since Hank Blalock was worth anything at all

Someone mentioned him as a free-agent candidate for next year, and I looked him up. By WAR, he’s been worth less than half a win per season for the last 5 years.

Linda's in the cold ground, won't see her anymore
Somewhere out on the highway tonight, the drunken engines roar
It's just one of those things, one of those things
-- Al Stewart, "Accident on 3rd St."
In memory of Nick Adenhart and all victims of drunk driving

by PaulThomas on Aug 17, 2009 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Playing time is a big part of that

His platoon split also sucks.

I think he’s a useful guy who could thrive in the right situation, but he’s a pretty limited player.

by alskor on Aug 17, 2009 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yep, a mere shadow

of his former self, and less than a shadow of his former promise.

G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....

by t ball on Aug 18, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

good prospect for next year, iffy for the rest of this year

I would say that Borbon’s chances of starting for the Rangers, leading off and having a succesful rookie season are pretty high for 2010. At least 50% chance of starting opening day, Washington says that if he starts next year he will leadoff, and his minor league numbers say he can do at least an adequate job in that role.

Rest of this year is a crapshoot, supposedly he continues to lead off against righties until Cruz returns, but that is just a few days away. My hope is that he stays put and continues to get semiregular playing time at the expense of Byrd, Murphy and especially Jones, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him shipped to AAA until roster expansion.

by Dalman on Aug 17, 2009 10:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

picked him up

in my fantasy league hoping he turns out to be jacoby ellsbury

by miraclemets on Aug 17, 2009 5:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

me too

just grabbed him after his huge game last night…could be one of those under the radar prospects…he’s put up good numbers at every stop and you can never have enough speed…could score a ton of runs in that lineup and steal 50 bases over a full season.

by Dudestl on Aug 19, 2009 1:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I picked him up last year

dropped him last winter because we’re only allowed 15 keepers (AL-only league), then drafted him this Spring on the cheap for my reserve team. Great speed, good contact, improving plate discipline (last year he barely walked; this year he has improved) and has shown the capacity to improve. And he’s on a team that has huge need for a leadoff hitter and a CF (the Rangers don’t want Hamilton there — safer and less strenuous in the corners).

The Rangers are fighting for a wildcard spot so as long as he is on this torrid streak, I don’t think they’ll send him down when Cruz is activated and I do think he’ll get some at-bats and steal opportunities.

IF he continues to play well the balance of the year his chance of starting in CF and leading off next year is better than 80%. In our league, we cut from 40 to 25 after the World Series, then to 15 a week before opening day. I have a very deep team of prospects, nearly two-thirds of the top 15 propects in the AL (Montero, Smoak, Jennings, Jackson, Saunders, Matusz, Tillman, Rondon, Holland, Aumont, Viciedo), While Borbon has never been ranked that highly (as the others mentioned), he is more of a sure thing for next year in terms of likely contributions than many prospects with higher ceilings, so he is definitely on my list of 25 and I’ll know by the time I cut to 15 if he’s made it.

by Rotofan on Aug 19, 2009 7:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs