Nick Madrigal

[Mohoney]

Originally Posted by MeteorsSox4367

If the Sox have to rely on Madrigal for power, they're in some trouble.

I watched him play on the PAC-12 Network in college at OSU and like what I see in him.

When Madrigal comes up, if he can make solid contact, hit gap-to-gap and play a strong defensive second base - and I expect him to do all three - I'll be a mighty happy Sox fan.

It’s not about relying on a player for power. It’s about relying on a player to provide an overall body of work that is acceptable from a major league starter.

In this environment, for every home run you don’t provide, you need to provide 2.22 singles or 1.59 doubles to make up for it in your wOBA. If you can do that, there is no problem. If you can’t do that, you’re sacrificing offensive value.

Stolen bases can help make up for the difference, but you need to steal bases at a 73% clip to break even, and you need a pretty high volume to make much of a dent. In this environment, you need to provide 9.68 successful steals to make up for every home run you don’t provide. For reference, Mallex Smith leads MLB with 32 stolen bases, and he has been thrown out 7 times. All that running provided only 3.341 in surplus value to his wOBA. An extra 2 dingers would have provided 3.87 in surplus value. If he goes 3/0 or 4/1 in his next attempts, he will make up that difference.

As far as defense, the value we are getting from Yolmer Sanchez is among the best in baseball. He leads the majors in total zone runs with 11. He is tied for 3rd in defensive runs saved with 7, but adds another 3 runs to that total with double plays. He should be a finalist for 2B Gold Glove this year, if not actually win the award.