Off Topic
Travelblog of Thom S. Hunter
Editor’s Note: Dammit. Far as I can tell this idiot idea of a beat reporter is going to stick. Guess he’s got low friends in high places. Or at least high friends. And I like to eat, and I got a wife and three kids (that I know of) who need clothes and sneakers. So I got nothing to do but to let the guy write whatever he writes. Good luck reading it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
October 28, 2057: Kamloops – Look, I know they call Kata Ishibashi a switch hitter. But believe me when I say he ain’t that. Dude hits left handed or he don’t hit.
Want proof? Here’s his splits:
Vs RHP 407 AB, 35 HR, 96 RBI, .277/.372/.576, .404 wOBA, 151 OPS+
Vs LHP 154 AB, 6 HR, 21 RBI, .212/.250/.378, .284 wOBA, 66 OPS+
Good things add up for Ishibashi, though. I mean, shit-far, man, the kid hits like his name says he should. Ishi-bashi. Sounds like a call name to me. The kid has a power stroke on him, that’s for sure, and it seems like he’s kinda come to it.
I’m getting ahead of myself, though. So let me take a deep breath, pull down on this tall cold one that Gelisa, my newest favorite server just set down afronta me, and dig into this kid’s story a bit.
Like before, let me reprint what the base numbers out of the nerd crew say.
You read those and you think “Sturdy kid. Gets on base a bit. Nice uppercut of a swing. Ball Go Far.” That kinda sums Ishibashi up.
- - -
OFFENSIVELY: After a nice enough season in single-A last year (11 homers and a 102 OPS+), the Krill front brass sent Ishibashi to Kamloops AA with the intent to see what he could do. At 23, it was time for the Japanese slugger (who the club found in the international market) to show if he was a real prospect or not.
A season later, I’d say he’s done better than that.
As I said above, the cat is a platoon player, but a really solid platoon guy if you need a left-handed batting third baseman who mashes righties. It just so happens that the Krill have a brilliant right-handed third baseman (Run-ming Gui) who struggles against right-handed pitching. Calling all Nora Ephron clones. Or, in other words, this is what Rom Coms call the “meet-cute.” I’ll have what he’s having.
There will be some who say he needs to cut down on the strikeouts, and that’s not wrong. AA pitchers struck him out 149 times this year. A-ball pitchers sat him on the pines 148 times. So he’s got a bit of an air conditioner on his back.
But his K0rate against lefties was 32.7%. Against RHP it was only 28.2%. Still high, but you get the idea. The scouts say he can get better, and I understand the team is going to send him to some kind of development school to see if they can get his head screwed on tight enough to drop that a bit further in the off season.
Bottom line: the kid projects to hit as long as you can keep him away from dastardly southpaws.
- - -
DEFENSIVELY, As a fielder in the hot corner he’s a shade below borderline, but you can play him if you don’t mind telling your pitchers to keep right-handed pull hitters from … um … pulling. In other words, in a Alice in Wonderland world of true choices, you’d rather he play first base. Arguably he could play a little left field.
Still…
Add up the cost/benefit and we’ll see.
- - -
DEVELOPMENT: I noted the “head screwed on” thing earlier. Ishibashi has the reputation of not putting his heart in it all the time. But that could change. And it should change. The cat would make some real money in this game. You can tell because these days scouts have bumped him to the 55-65 level, depending on the scout.
Bottom line, pretty much everyone is falling over themselves to push his ratings up, bumping contact, power, and even his plate discipline numbers up over the past season. He’s added a few pounds of muscle, too. Put all that together with 35 homers at AA, and you can understand why there’s some excitement brewing.
- - -
PERSONALITY: I’ve pinged Ishibashi’s approach a few times, but in reality most everyone loves him, it’s just that they’d like to see a little motivation.
- - -
2058 Projection: He’s 23, and I admit I don’t ever see him doing anything against lefties. It all adds up to say he’s ready. Given team needs, don’t be surprised to see Ishibashi get lots of reps in the major league camp come spring training. He’s a serious candidate to skip AAA.
- - -
October 28, 2057: Kamloops – Look, I know they call Kata Ishibashi a switch hitter. But believe me when I say he ain’t that. Dude hits left handed or he don’t hit.
Want proof? Here’s his splits:
Vs RHP 407 AB, 35 HR, 96 RBI, .277/.372/.576, .404 wOBA, 151 OPS+
Vs LHP 154 AB, 6 HR, 21 RBI, .212/.250/.378, .284 wOBA, 66 OPS+
Good things add up for Ishibashi, though. I mean, shit-far, man, the kid hits like his name says he should. Ishi-bashi. Sounds like a call name to me. The kid has a power stroke on him, that’s for sure, and it seems like he’s kinda come to it.
I’m getting ahead of myself, though. So let me take a deep breath, pull down on this tall cold one that Gelisa, my newest favorite server just set down afronta me, and dig into this kid’s story a bit.
Like before, let me reprint what the base numbers out of the nerd crew say.
| LVL | Player Name | POS | B | T | OVR | POT | ConP | GapP | PowP | EyeP | AvKP | Con | Gap | Pow | Eye | AvK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-AA | Kata Ishibashi | 3B | S | R | 45 | 55 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
| Source | Age | Ht | Wt | SPD | STE | RUN | CAB | CAR | IFR | IFE | IFA | TDP | OFR | OFE | OFA | |
| Disc | 23 | 6'1" | 200 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
You read those and you think “Sturdy kid. Gets on base a bit. Nice uppercut of a swing. Ball Go Far.” That kinda sums Ishibashi up.
- - -
OFFENSIVELY: After a nice enough season in single-A last year (11 homers and a 102 OPS+), the Krill front brass sent Ishibashi to Kamloops AA with the intent to see what he could do. At 23, it was time for the Japanese slugger (who the club found in the international market) to show if he was a real prospect or not.
A season later, I’d say he’s done better than that.
As I said above, the cat is a platoon player, but a really solid platoon guy if you need a left-handed batting third baseman who mashes righties. It just so happens that the Krill have a brilliant right-handed third baseman (Run-ming Gui) who struggles against right-handed pitching. Calling all Nora Ephron clones. Or, in other words, this is what Rom Coms call the “meet-cute.” I’ll have what he’s having.
There will be some who say he needs to cut down on the strikeouts, and that’s not wrong. AA pitchers struck him out 149 times this year. A-ball pitchers sat him on the pines 148 times. So he’s got a bit of an air conditioner on his back.
But his K0rate against lefties was 32.7%. Against RHP it was only 28.2%. Still high, but you get the idea. The scouts say he can get better, and I understand the team is going to send him to some kind of development school to see if they can get his head screwed on tight enough to drop that a bit further in the off season.
Bottom line: the kid projects to hit as long as you can keep him away from dastardly southpaws.
- - -
DEFENSIVELY, As a fielder in the hot corner he’s a shade below borderline, but you can play him if you don’t mind telling your pitchers to keep right-handed pull hitters from … um … pulling. In other words, in a Alice in Wonderland world of true choices, you’d rather he play first base. Arguably he could play a little left field.
Still…
Add up the cost/benefit and we’ll see.
- - -
DEVELOPMENT: I noted the “head screwed on” thing earlier. Ishibashi has the reputation of not putting his heart in it all the time. But that could change. And it should change. The cat would make some real money in this game. You can tell because these days scouts have bumped him to the 55-65 level, depending on the scout.
Bottom line, pretty much everyone is falling over themselves to push his ratings up, bumping contact, power, and even his plate discipline numbers up over the past season. He’s added a few pounds of muscle, too. Put all that together with 35 homers at AA, and you can understand why there’s some excitement brewing.
- - -
PERSONALITY: I’ve pinged Ishibashi’s approach a few times, but in reality most everyone loves him, it’s just that they’d like to see a little motivation.
- - -
2058 Projection: He’s 23, and I admit I don’t ever see him doing anything against lefties. It all adds up to say he’s ready. Given team needs, don’t be surprised to see Ishibashi get lots of reps in the major league camp come spring training. He’s a serious candidate to skip AAA.
- - -
