Quote:
Originally Posted by Balticfox
The problem then may therefore be precisely that he's trying to obliterate those pitches instead of hitting the ball where it's pitched.
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Um, obliterating a center cut fastball IS hitting a center cut fastball where it is pitched. If you aren't trying to obliterate that pitch, you probably shouldn't be playing.
And Elly has some of the top exit velocities in the game. He absolutely has the skill set to be a home run hitter, and he shouldn't abandon that off the charts power tool he possesses trying to stretch singles into doubles. There are few human beings in the history of baseball with the skill set Elly possesses. Not even the aforementioned Mays/Aaron. And no one told Mays to stop hitting homeruns. If his hit tool is good enough to hit low line drives consistently, then it's good enough to hit homeruns consistently, given his power. The problem isn't trying to hit for power, it's the bat to ball skill in the hit tool that needs a little work. Once it's there, watch out. But no manager in his right mind will be trying to restrict that prodigous power. Elly's ceiling is so far above Lou Brock, it isn't even funny. And Rickey wasn't Rickey without the power. It's his power/speed combo that made him legendary. And Elly has Rickey speed, but Mantle power. His ceiling is even above Rickey if he continues to develop. He's 22 after all and put up power/speed numbers even Rickey never achieved. It would be foolish to stifle that now. Let him grow into what he can be.