40.6 Checking the Locks: Left Field

[crobillard]

This is a series where I will evaluate the options in each position leading into Spring Training. This is the sixth of eleven parts. I will be taking a look into the left field position in this post.

Sure fire locks: John Garcia
Trying to get in the door: Jose Salas and Juan Reyes

Man, am I excited about this position this year. The biggest question after Spring Training is should we call up Jose Salas, so let's dissect this decision completely. First, he's an old 20 years old. He'll be 21 by the end of April. He's rated 8/9/4/7/7 right now with 10/10/6/8/9 potentials. He hits left handed pitchers a lot better than right handed ones with 9/10/4/8/7 ratings against lefties and 7/9/4/7/7 ratings against righties, so he can definitely hit against lefties right now and he could do well against righties too. He runs well with 11 speed, 9 stealing and 7 baserunning. The issue with him is his outfield defense at 4/7/7 and his 5 rating in left field. He will definitely be better suited for DH, but if we do have to put him in the field, it's probably best to pair him with a center fielder with excellent range. More on that in the next post.

So Salas is definitely ready for the majors, he can hit, steal bases, draw walks, etc., but the other question is do we need him? Garcia is the starter in left field now replacing Luis Costello after the trade with Hawaii last year. I've wanted to get a full season out of Garcia for a long time now as I believe he has what it takes to finally get over 40 homeruns in Edmonton, a feat that no batter has been able to do in Edmonton. In fact, the most homeruns that have been hit in a single season by an Edmonton batter is 35 back in 2030 by Mario Murillo and his 7 power rating. We've had a lot of great hitters in recent years though, so we keep getting closer and closer. Last year for instance, Cruz had 34 homeruns, so close to the franchise record. Garcia is rated 6/5/9/7/5 and since he hits lefty he is a little worse against LHP at 5/4/7/6/4. Although, he hit pretty well against lefties last season, so I'm not sure how much I should lean on the ratings. I also have plenty of options in the outfield to replace Garcia against lefties with, so I don't NEED Salas right now at all.

Reyes is far outside of the bubble right now. I might take a look at him in ST, but he's more of a DH. With 1/3/7 outfield defense ratings, I'll never put him in the field. He hits RHP well though at 7/7/7/6/6, so I'd like to see him against some better pitching to see if I can consider calling him up if I am in a jam during the season.