Posted May 5, 200618 yr Thinking about Joe Borchard tonight as he's 3-4 so far got me to thinking... (not to suggest Borchard will be one of these but I can sure hope so.) Who are some really good cases of "early bust, but late bloomers"? Guys who were highly rated prospects & didn't seem to figure it out until much later in their careers. Phil Nevin comes to mind, he didn't start hitting well until around 28 I think, although I'm not sure if he was a highly regarded prospect. (I probably shouldn't really include pitchers here either, as it's not uncommon at all for a pitcher to hit his stride in his 30s.)
May 5, 200618 yr Hmm, Andruw Jones really hit his stride last year, so i'd say him. Barry Bonds didn't start hitting until like his 3rd or fourth year. That count?
May 5, 200618 yr Hmm, Andruw Jones really hit his stride last year, so i'd say him. Barry Bonds didn't start hitting until like his 3rd or fourth year. That count? You cant be serious with either of those, are you? Andruw Jones has been an awesome all star caliber player for aout 8 years now. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5681/c...tNuNtWgmcmFCLcF Barry Bonds was a run and steal machine early on in his career. His power numbers came later. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/3918/c...tNuNtWgmcmFCLcF
May 5, 200618 yr Hmm, Andruw Jones really hit his stride last year, so i'd say him. Barry Bonds didn't start hitting until like his 3rd or fourth year. That count? You cant be serious with either of those, are you? Andruw Jones has been an awesome all star caliber player for aout 8 years now. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5681/c...tNuNtWgmcmFCLcF Barry Bonds was a run and steal machine early on in his career. His power numbers came later. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/3918/c...tNuNtWgmcmFCLcF :mischief
May 5, 200618 yr Hmm, Andruw Jones really hit his stride last year, so i'd say him. Barry Bonds didn't start hitting until like his 3rd or fourth year. That count? You cant be serious with either of those, are you? Andruw Jones has been an awesome all star caliber player for aout 8 years now. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5681/c...tNuNtWgmcmFCLcF Barry Bonds was a run and steal machine early on in his career. His power numbers came later. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/3918/c...tNuNtWgmcmFCLcF Jones posted one OPS over .900 before last season. He was a good player, but he really entered elite level last year. Bonds struggled a bit, although he was a good player for his first 4 years as well. I was just pointing to two players who really hit their stride a few years in. I wasn't saying those are the definitions of them.
May 5, 200618 yr How about Jim Thome or David Ortiz? I was thinking David Ortiz too, but wasn't sure if he counted. I wasn't sure how well regarded he was as a young'n. Jim Thome seems to have been hitting for years. He's over 400 career jacks.
May 5, 200618 yr How about Jim Thome or David Ortiz? Hmm Thome started at 23, pretty standard and Ortiz wasn't an uber-prospect with the Twins. Borchard was a #1 two consecutive years. Also, because I never really looked at the Ortiz numbers before, but how do you give up on a 26 year old who's left-handed, a .270 hitter with 20 homerun power as is? I'll never get that move...
May 5, 200618 yr How about Jim Thome or David Ortiz? Hmm Thome started at 23, pretty standard and Ortiz wasn't an uber-prospect with the Twins. Borchard was a #1 two consecutive years. Also, because I never really looked at the Ortiz numbers before, but how do you give up on a 26 year old who's left-handed, a .270 hitter with 20 homerun power as is? I'll never get that move... Because they had Doug Mient-however the heck you spell it and thought he was a safer bet. It can be tough for an organization with two prospects at a position, neither whom are lighting the world on fire, to pick which player to go with. Obviously, the Twins made the wrong choice.
May 5, 200618 yr How about Jim Thome or David Ortiz? Hmm Thome started at 23, pretty standard and Ortiz wasn't an uber-prospect with the Twins. Borchard was a #1 two consecutive years. Also, because I never really looked at the Ortiz numbers before, but how do you give up on a 26 year old who's left-handed, a .270 hitter with 20 homerun power as is? I'll never get that move... Because they had Doug Mient-however the heck you spell it and thought he was a safer bet. It can be tough for an organization with two prospects at a position, neither whom are lighting the world on fire, to pick which player to go with. Obviously, the Twins made the wrong choice. AL has the DH though, and both were only keeping the position warm for Morneau.
May 5, 200618 yr One good late bloomer offensively was Ozzie Smith. He was always a great shortstop defensively, but he only really started hitting well after he turned 30.
May 5, 200618 yr Contract-wise, Tom Glavine. The first 2 years of his contract he was terrible. This year and last year the guy has been great again.
May 5, 200618 yr Travis Hafner is a fine example, most people don't realize he's actually 29 right now.
May 5, 200618 yr chris carpenter was the first to enter my mind when I read the thread ... bret boone? but he might have been helped along the way Vinny Castilla, Dante Bichette, Gary Sheffield, Jason Izhringhausen (sp?)
May 5, 200618 yr Going way back, Hank Sauer was 31 years old during his first full season. 4 years later he won the MVP. Another late bloomer was a name that's near and dear to Marlin fans - Bill Robinson. He didn't do much of anything until he was 30 and then he had about 7 years in which he was a solid hitter, though not All-Star level.
May 6, 200618 yr Carpenter (as many have stated) is prob the best recent example. Not only was he pretty bad through out his 20's but he missed an entire season in 2003 (or 2002, not sure) on top of it.
May 6, 200618 yr Hmmm, Konerko has always been decent but he developed into a big time power hitter the past two seasons. Maybe D. Lee can be put into that category also.
May 6, 200618 yr Author Travis Hafner is a fine example, most people don't realize he's actually 29 right now. but was he a highly rated prospect, or did he just come out of nowhere?
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