Off Topic
Is Elvan Masûkî a real major leaguer?
This was the topic of some heated conversation in a recent fan cast that was circulating among Nine fandom. Now, some of you might say “hey, the Nine shortstop has been in the league for two seasons, that says YES.” Those of you saying that can leave the room now. It’s a serious question.
No one doubts Masûkî’s glovework.
While not yet having acquired a Zimmer award, the still young Turk (he’s from Sultanbeyli) has dazzled, posting a 10.5 ZR in 2047 and a 14.9 last. His career DEFF sits at 1.073, which is to paraphrase any pitcher within sight “pretty damned good.” So, yes, he’s a pitcher’s best friend and a seriously fun guy to watch catch and throw baseballs.
The age-old question stands, though. Can he hit?
Because if he can’t hit, he can’t play, and to be honest he just doesn’t look good up there, especially against left-handed pitchers. I mean, technically he’s a switch hitter—but what that seems to mean is that he stands in the batter’s box against lefties. It’s bad enough that the team enacted a rotating platoon last year, moving Dong-po Thum to play short against LHP, and employing Dian Sartika at second base. This looked good for awhile, but fans are not stupid. On the whole it was a disaster.
Yes, Masûkî himself hit “better” last year (.220/.275/.306), but holy cripes Batman, that’s bad. And the presumably better Sartika managed only .190/.277/.297 with the platoon advantage. So … yeah … the question stands: Is Elvan Masûkî a real major leaguer?
Well?
Is he?
Given that he’s in the last year before arbitration hits, and given that the team has no real options inside the system (and no cap space to find an alternate) we assume we’re going to find out.
The answer may go a long way to saying what the team looks like in 2050.
