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My Take on Cedric Hunter


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shoot
I live in Decatur, GA.  I could have gone and seen him play.

by sabernar on Jan 12, 2007 3:13 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Decatur
Do you now? Me too. Where at?

by aCone419 on Jan 13, 2007 5:43 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Could You Do something like this on...
Cole Gillespie. I'm not even a brewers fan but wow this kid looks good from his stats. In 190 ABs the guy hit .344 with a .464 OBP, .548 SLG, 8 HRs, and 18/22 in SB attempts. He seems to be heading for a bright future, what is your take

by was385 on Jan 12, 2007 3:16 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Two HUGE differences
Hunter:

Born: 03/10/1988
BB/K: 41/25

Gillespie:

Born: 06/20/1984
BB/K: 40/34

-peter

by PeterF on Jan 12, 2007 9:32 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

RE: Two HUGE differences
While Gillespie isn't as good a prospect (for the age reason you mention among others), do keep in mind that he was seeing a decent number of college pitchers in the PIO versus the predominantly high school pitching of the AZL, and that offensive numbers out near the Bitteroots are supressed compared to Arizona.
check out the latest on the Padres' minors at www.madfriars.com and the Angels' system at futurehalos.com

by davidinsd on Jan 13, 2007 11:52 AM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Power
I think too much is made of his lack of power. In high school he showed big power crushing some very long homers in the Georgia state playoffs. He also batted 3rd for powerful East Cobb Tournament team.

Right now he is a 6'0", 175 pound kid that is getting used to wood bats, professional competition, but still dominated in his first season. I can easily see him developing into a 6'0", 200 pounder with the ability to hit 20 homers as well as the batting titles you mentioned

by ScottAZ on Jan 12, 2007 3:23 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Beamon
I have never seen Hunter play, but your description sounds vaguely reminiscent of a guy I thought would be the next Tony Gwynn (i.e., future batting average champ, low power, good plate discipline, corner outfielder):  Trey Beamon.  After for high averages in the PCL as young as 21 (when he hit 334/387/454), Beamon struggled in brief MLB trials has been playing indy ball since age 26.  Hunter sounds exciting, but guys of his description always make me think of Beamon.

by Mario66 on Jan 12, 2007 3:39 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Until
Beamon was relegrated to Indy-ball, he never had more BB than SO, Hunter had roughly TWICE as many walks as strikeouts & still hit .364!

Hunter's no Beamon.

-peter

by PeterF on Jan 12, 2007 9:36 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Gwynn
Tony actually hit for power in low A and double A the year he was drafted out of college at age 21. He also didn't walk so much.

Hunter sounds like a taller and less electrifying version of Tim Raines.

by Mike Green on Jan 12, 2007 5:09 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Speed but no doubles?
Tons of singles, very speedy, but only 13 doubles??  The lack of 2B's is concerning.
What does he do bunt 1 out of every 2 AB?
2nd year in the league might catch up with that game plan.

by ByANose on Jan 12, 2007 5:59 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

WHATEVER...
Alonso hit 17 doubles and Downs hit 16, those were the ONLY Arizona League players to hit more than 13...

And Alonso's 20 and Downs is 22... Oops.

-peter

by PeterF on Jan 12, 2007 9:39 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

not speedy
Not very speedy. He has some, but its not his game. His speed rates as above average, but probably only a 55 or 60 on the scouting scale

by ScottAZ on Jan 16, 2007 12:55 PM EST to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Please tell me Mr. Sickels
that you weren't going for a Rickey Henderson comparison here.

by grover on Jan 12, 2007 6:24 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I keep thinking of...
Derek Jeter in LF...

Jeter wouldn't be a MVP candidate if he was a left-fielder. He'd "merely" be a multi-time All Star.

-peter

by PeterF on Jan 12, 2007 9:43 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

He should be happy he's with the Padres
He does look good and he is lucky he's with the Padres organization who most likely will not change his swing to get more HR because of their park.

If he was drafted by another team (say Texas), they would try and get him to pull the ball and hit HR.  That would mess with there head too much.

I had one minor league manager tell me about one hot prospect (as to why he is suddenly struggling with his swing) - "We just changed were he puts his feet and widened his stance a little - his swing should not have changed!".

To say the least, I was floored by the studipity of the comment comming from a minor league manager.

"... I'd wish both of those wretched, horrible, corrupt, sniveling, craptastic parties would shut the hell up already." - Basil; www.federalball.com

by kmcsql on Jan 13, 2007 9:39 AM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Not so sure
I'm just not feeling it with Hunter.  I was just goofing around looking for guys with similar stats and I came across this player:
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/D/Lance-Downing.shtml

Check out that 18 year old season in 1997, almost an exact match for Hunter.  If Hunter doesn't develop more power, the walks will simply disappear at the higher levels.

by Kemp on Jan 13, 2007 1:36 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

+1
I was thinking the exact same thing.  Sure a .365 batting average is always nice and he did walk almost twice as much as he struck out, but an Isop of nearly .100 from a left fielder is just horrible and there's no way he keeps up a 15% bb rate once pitchers start going after him.  Also, a .404 BABIP is pretty ridiculous, especially since he wasn't hitting a ton of line drives (18%).  I don't have a ton of information on his tools or projectability, but I just don't see what the big deal is based on his stats.

by neutralluke on Jan 14, 2007 10:03 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

re: Dave Roberts or Bip Roberts
I think John may be referring to the Roberts?

Bip If I recall had zero power, but good speed; but I don't think his strike zone judgment was any good.

Dave didn't have good power coming up either, and still doesn't.

Perhaps my guess is incorrect?

"Ah, if I were only left-handed, I'd be rich in baseball."

by feslenraster on Jan 16, 2007 12:25 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

re: ahhh, Bip
I just took a look at baseball reference.com for Bip's and Dave's stats. I'm stupified how similar they are.

I was shocked how decent Bip's plate discipline was early in his career.  I guess I didn't remember seeing him when he was young, my memories of him were of him flailing away at pitches in the dirt or over his head (ie: Rey Ordonez style).

IF Cedrick Hunter can field better than the two Roberts' than the Pads have something there. Every team seems to be desparate for a defensive CF these days

"Ah, if I were only left-handed, I'd be rich in baseball."

by feslenraster on Jan 16, 2007 12:29 PM EST reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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