Edwin Encarnacion 2013 Season

[bomber0104]

I expect to have another huge year to be honest.. His situation is similar to Jose's where the improvements seen had a lot more to do with change in approach than plain circumstances

[Vampirate]

I expect to have another huge year to be honest.. His situation is similar to Jose's where the improvements seen had a lot more to do with change in approach than plain circumstances

Hitting in the suddenly improved lineup that was top 3 in runs scored before Bautista went out with an injury is also a plus.

[nithanyo]

It was about 2 things with Encarnasion. He always had the ability to hit but was never given a proper oppertunity.

1) He couldnt concentrate in hitting while throwing balls into the stands playing at third base

2)Health was an issue with him as well. Finally healthy and given the oppertunity we can see what he can do.

Id try and keep him off the turf and give Lind some time at first but he too has back issues.

[mtf]

What are people expecting from him in 2013?

35 HRs, .385 wOBA, .140 wRC+ ...and I don't care how many RBI's he gets.

[Kelly Gruber]

Agree with most of the sentiments here, he's always been a hitter and has a good eye, just had to get comfortable and find his place. I expect another solid season from EE.

[scaramantula]

i wouldnt be suprised if most of our players saw a bit of a power dip, just because of all the speed we added to this team, we could be scoring runs alot differently this year

having said that EE will probs hit around 25-30 hrs

[Bombtista]

I would be really disapointed if EE cant put it together again next season. He was a threat similar to Bautista the year before. I cant imagine if they are both hot at the same time... In addition to the rest of our lineup I really think we should be a playoff team.

If Lind can start to wait for his pitch like EE last season we could see a turnaround in him as well.

So much potential next season

[Farsight]

You still have to capitalize on the opportunity.

Yes you still have to capitalize. However, players with low batting averages with runners in scoring position who have many opportunities to drive in players will still have a high RBI total, where someone who has a high batting average with runners in scoring position but say hits 6th/7th or has no one infront of him will have lower RBI's. RBI's are terrible because its a counting stat, its based on opportunity, and dependent on your base runners. It does not show the value of a player offensively.

Joe Carter was a mediocre player, yet he continued to get 100 RBI's throughout the entirety of his career as he was batted in the 3 hole with great lineups infront of him. In 1990, he had a wRC+ of 80, a wOBA of 298, and a WPA of 107, yet he had 115 RBI's because of the amount of opportunities he had.

This is why RBI's are a terrible stat. I have no idea how someone can defend it as there are a abundance of statistics that actually are able to measure a players success at creating runs, not counting how many times a player was lucky enough to have a player on base when he came to bat

[KidDraco]

i wouldnt be suprised if most of our players saw a bit of a power dip, just because of all the speed we added to this team, we could be scoring runs alot differently this year

having said that EE will probs hit around 25-30 hrs

How does having more speed have anything to do with how much home runs EE hits?

[Halladay]

Yes you still have to capitalize. However, players with low batting averages with runners in scoring position who have many opportunities to drive in players will still have a high RBI total, where someone who has a high batting average with runners in scoring position but say hits 6th/7th or has no one infront of him will have lower RBI's. RBI's are terrible because its a counting stat, its based on opportunity, and dependent on your base runners. It does not show the value of a player offensively.

Joe Carter was a mediocre player, yet he continued to get 100 RBI's throughout the entirety of his career as he was batted in the 3 hole with great lineups infront of him. In 1990, he had a wRC+ of 80, a wOBA of 298, and a WPA of 107, yet he had 115 RBI's because of the amount of opportunities he had.

This is why RBI's are a terrible stat. I have no idea how someone can defend it as there are a abundance of statistics that actually are able to measure a players success at creating runs, not counting how many times a player was lucky enough to have a player on base when he came to bat

Yup, Carter is a good example, I've used him a few times to explain why RBI's are a terrible way to evaluate a hitter. Hell, Joe got HOF votes based on his RBI totals and when you look at his career numbers, it's almost embarrassing that people gave him votes. Basically, the easiest and quickest way to explain it is-

Player X gets 300 AB's with RISP

Player Y gets 100 AB's with RISP

Player X is almost guaranteed more RBI's even if his average,OBP and home run totals are average or below average. All based on opportunity and certainly doesn't give him more value than player Y. It's just a stat that's based on good or poor decision making by the manager.

[Farsight]

How does having more speed have anything to do with how much home runs EE hits?

You are correct. It might affected his RBI total, but thats a useless stat anyways ;p

[Farsight]

Yup, Carter is a good example, I've used him a few times to explain why RBI's are a terrible way to evaluate a hitter. Hell, Joe got HOF votes based on his RBI totals and when you look at his career numbers, it's almost embarrassing that people gave him votes. Basically, the easiest and quickest way to explain it is-

Player X gets 300 AB's with RISP

Player Y gets 100 AB's with RISP

Player X is almost guaranteed more RBI's even if his average,OBP and home run totals are average or below average. All based on opportunity and certainly doesn't give him more value than player Y. It's just a stat that's based on good or poor decision making by the manager.

Summarized my thoughts exactly. There's a reason why Ryan Howard continues to get so many RBI's a season ;p. Still a better player than Joe Carter though

[KidDraco]

.275/.365/.530

That would seem reasonable imo.

[Krylian]

How does having more speed have anything to do with how much home runs EE hits?

In theory, having speed in the bases helps in that pitchers might throw a few more fastballs in order to give the catcher a better shot at throwing a runner out should he try to steal. So if EE or JBau are looking dead red, there may be a few more good pitches to hit.

I don't have numbers to back it up but this is what the baseball experts will say happens as a result of having speed on the bases.

[bartron_44]

It was about 2 things with Encarnasion. He always had the ability to hit but was never given a proper oppertunity.

1) He couldnt concentrate in hitting while throwing balls into the stands playing at third base

2)Health was an issue with him as well. Finally healthy and given the oppertunity we can see what he can do.

Id try and keep him off the turf and give Lind some time at first but he too has back issues.

Actually, he got into tremendous shape and he revamped his swing/approach working with the same guy Cano does. That is what really caused him to improve so much. He has a tonne of power and his balance at the dish was amazing last year. If he woeks on his body again and comes into camp in great shape, I expect another VERY good season from EE.