Most overlooked active player?

[familytoad]

Maybe people are hearing about Charlie Blackmon now?

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by familytoad

Maybe people are hearing about Charlie Blackmon now?

Crazy overrated, and frankly a little suspicious, guys don't usually hit their peak at 29-30 years old. Forget that for a moment though, until he tests hot let's just assume he is a very late bloomer.

He is hitting .270 on the road with zero HR's this year, tell me again Coors Field isn't ludicrous. If you think that's too small a sample size for his career he's a .339 hitter at home and a .262 hitter on the road. OBP .393 vs .304, Slugging .528 vs .423. Do I want him on my fantasy team? Sure do, even more so if I can platoon him. Do I want him on my favorite team? Hell no.

Arenado's 2017 splits are actually pretty equal, but when you look at the career numbers he too comes crashing back to earth. Avg .306/.264 OBP .354/.311 and SLG .578/.468 So he's still a decent player away from Coors, but nowhere near the stud he is when he's home.

Until they figure out a way to normalize Coors (they claim to have done so a few times over the years, the evidence doesn't back them up) it's going to be hard to take any Rockies stats seriously.

[packs]

Corey Dickerson was able to make the transition. He's having a pretty ridiculous year so far for Tampa Bay after leaving Coors.

[familytoad]

Many great players have had favorable home park advantages since the beginning of the live ball era.

That's not to say a player is good/bad or indifferent, it's what he's faced with.

The Rockies players certainly have to deal with the perception that their home park somehow diminishes their accomplishments.
Seems they get penalized for their home park, but good hitting parks have always existed.
Polo Grounds, Right field in Yankee stadium, Fenway short distance fences, Baker Bowl, old Tiger Stadium, Houston's Minute Maid , Arizona's Chase field and dozens more both modern and vintage...

Sometimes it works in reverse, Dodgers parks ( for just one example ) sure tend to make LA pitchers look better...yet that advantage seems to not be important to compare historical or statistical discussion. Are all the Dodgers award winning pitchers exactly the same on the road?

I think it is what it is...if all you have to do to get great stats is to play for the Rockies everyone should be doing it.

Back to Blackmon.
He can run, hit,throw and field. Precious few players do that anymore. The 3 game series I watched recently was in Phoenix and he didn't hit a home run. He was clearly the most complete player on the field. Pollock was a close second. I don't know what other ballpark these teams should have been playing in , but even though they are both hitters parks, I didn't dismiss their talents. In game three, the score was 0-0 after 12 innings, Blackmon finished 0-6 and I still saw him as the best player.

Full disclosure, I don't have Charlie on my fantasy team, I am not a Rockies fan either.
I live for the deplorable Phillies.
I have been an avid baseball fan since I was a 8 yr old in 1970. I have read a hundred Baseball books about older players. I don't think less of Mel Ott or even Sandy Koufax for accomplishing what they did in their era or their ballpark. It just " is what it is " for me!

[1952boyntoncollector]

Carlos Martinez is always drafed after the 'Aces' in NL only 5 x 5 fantasy leagues. He continues to get better. After Scherzer, Kershaw, Baumgarner, to me there was no safer option on results/injury risk. Yet hes usually considered after 10 or so NL pitchers when to me hes top 5 in NL. Top 5 versus Top 10 is probably 100 million dollars difference in salary..

[packs]

The other guys on your list are strike out machines though. Martinez averaged less than a K per inning last year.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by packs

The other guys on your list are strike out machines though. Martinez averaged less than a K per inning last year.

Hence he is overlooked, plus if there isnt an innings capped, you are rewarded with Ks if a player is healthy all year...number of ks is what matter...not k's per inning. He has more K's than Kershaw right now this year and 6th in NL in K's....only getting better as well, 2 years ago he did have 184k in 179 innings..

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by packs

Corey Dickerson was able to make the transition. He's having a pretty ridiculous year so far for Tampa Bay after leaving Coors.

So you're going to ignore the full season in which he hit .245 in favor of the less than 1/3 of a season where he's tearing it up? Call me at the end of the season, at least, maybe after the end of two good seasons in a row before I'm a believer.


__________________________________________________ _____

Of course there's a noticeable home advantage in many parks, and lots of players perform better at home, but Coors is a different beast entirely. It's not just the power numbers either. How many .280 hitters became batting champs at Coors? They moved the outfield walls out due to the thin air, so there is a ton more room for balls to drop in for hits. Historically nothing like the consistent disparate home/away splits exist in any park to the ridiculous degree they are present at Coors.

[packs]

He hit 24 homers last year, the same number he hit while with the Rockies. I don't know what you mean by that.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by packs

He hit 24 homers last year, the same number he hit while with the Rockies. I don't know what you mean by that.

He hit 24 home runs, sure, while batting about 60 points lower than his Coors norm with a slugging also about 60-70 points lower. If you're happy with 24 home runs and an OPS of .761 there are a LOT of guys who can provide that, especially in the outfield. If you want 24 home runs and an OPS of .900+ like he had with the Rockies, that's a lot harder to find.

[packs]

He's posting the highest OPS of his career right now and leads the league in runs, hits, and total bases. What more does he have to do to show he can hit outside of Coors?