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Thinking about Chase Headley

Thinking about Chase Headley

First, the book comment:

Headley is hitting .365/.448/.617 so far for Double-A San Antonio, with 10 doubles and five homers, 16 walks and 25 strikeouts in 115 at-bats. He's maintained the excellent strike zone judgment mentioned in the book comment, while adding additional pop. He's been particularly hot lately, hitting .389 in his last 10 games.

His statistical splits are interesting: he's hitting .402/.490/.671 against righthanders but .273/.333/.485 against lefties. His home/road split is strong: .306/.382/.531 at home, but .409/.494/.682 in the friendly confines of the Texas League road parks. He ranks second overall in the league in OPS, second in batting average, second in on-base percentage, and second in slugging percentage.

Well, what do we make of all this? Is it sustainable? I liked Headley going into the season but while I thought he would do well, I didn't think he'd do this. He still has time to cool down, and it's hard to hit .365 all year, even in the Texas League. But hell, even if he loses 30 points off everything as the season progresses that would still give him an OPS close to 1.000. There are no holes in the numbers indicating that it's a fluke, no poor BB/K/AB ratio or anything like that. Good luck has no doubt been on his side to some extent, but there's little question that he's hitting genuinely well.

I'd rate his rating to Grade B+ at this point. I really hope to see him in action later this month or in June to make an in-person assessment.

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Randy Ready his San Antonio manager
Ready was also Headley's manager during the Arizona Fall League and he told me out in Peoria last October that he thought Chase had the frame and leverage to hit for power.  He said it was just a matter of time.  He raved about his knowledge of the strike zone and said he fit the organization's "patient-aggressive" plan.

by sdbaseballfan on May 10, 2025 5:18 PM EDT   0 recs

without having seen him play
but based on his statistical profile, he looks to me like a joe randa or jeff cirillo type. (which is not a bad thing.)

by jpahk on May 11, 2025 12:01 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Bill Mueller
Switch-hitting 3b w/ modest power who gets on base a lot. Reminds me some of mueller. Also, not a bad thing.
casedog

by casejud on May 11, 2025 1:22 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Yeah...
Might be hard for him to pump some out of petco, but with the anemic production the Pads are getting from 3B this year, the kid might get a cup o' joe.
"I'm not arrogant, I'm good." - Barry Bonds

by Azantor on May 11, 2025 10:02 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

More Power
Headley has put on 15 lbs. of muscle this season. I don't think he can sustain .365/.448/.617, but something in order of .300/.400/.550 isn't without question. Keep in mind, last he hit .295/.392/.438 overall but .328/.416/.510 on the road, and .261/.368/.365 at home.
-peter

by PeterF on May 11, 2025 2:35 AM EDT   0 recs

sabermetrics vs high ceiling
If you take a look at that 2005 draft, you'll see that right before the Padres selected Headley in the 2nd-round, the Phillies picked Mike Costanzo, who is whiffing a ton in AA and struggling big-time. If you go back further and look at both their college stats, you'll see the same thing and that Headley was clearly the better player. And against better competition in a tougher, more powerful conference. It's no wonder the Phillies are where they are.

by HumboltThunderbolt on May 11, 2025 2:38 PM EDT   0 recs

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