40.8 Checking the Locks: Right Field

[crobillard]

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

Sure fire locks: William Wood
Trying to get in the door: Widodo Kawilarang

Our other power hitter is Wood. He's another lefty hitter and has 6/8/9/6/5 ratings against righties. He's 5/7/7/5/5 against lefties though. His 8 Speed, 9 Stealing and 7 Baserunning is pretty good, but he wont end up with Mons Raider level stolen bases or anything. His defense is good and he'll only benefit from a move to right field. Transitioning from Mitch Dalrymple is going to be a big challenge. My homeruns are definitely going to come down after he hit 31 last season. Wood has actually only been in 7 games at right field through his career, so we'll see how he does, but he certainly has the arm to cover the position. It's arguable whether I should keep Wood in center and Wilson Villanuela to right if they both start, same with Myeong-hwan Kim, but I think I'd like to see them in center to see if they can hold it down a little better than Wood has recently. My biggest issue is that his ZR has struggled down to -6.1 last season, so I'd like to see someone else there to see how they do.

Kawilarang isn't going to make the team, but like Juan Reyes I would like to see how he holds up against better pitching in case I need a replacement later in the year. Like Reyes, he can't help in the field though.He's rated 6/7/6/5/6 against RHP and ius good on the basepaths at 9/10/9. At 23 years old, he'll spend the season in AAA, but may be called up if injuries crop up.