How Bad Has Brandon Wood Been?
by mattwelch on Aug 14, 2010 3:45 PM PDT
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PrintHistorically bad. Remember that exercise I was doing earlier this year, where I was taking Angel hitters, their performances to date (the end of the 2009 season), then comparing them to players of the same age within +/- 25% of plate appearances and +/- 10% of OPS+? (If not, here's the start of the series, and here's the entry for Brandon Wood.)
Anyway, this is how bad Wood has been: I updated the numbers to reflect his awful 2010, and came up with 42 comparable lousy hitters through age 25. An embarrassing 34 of them are pitchers. I'll let that sink in.
The remaining position players are a collective sucking sound of no-hit catchers and lesser-hit middle infielders: Luis Ordaz, Frank O'Rourke, Luis Gomez, Moe Berg, former Angel Terry Humphrey, Tony Giuliani, Del Young, and Ed Connolly.
Congratulations, Brandon, you've been a marginally better hitter through age 25 than forgotten Mad Men-era swingman Don Cardwell!
NM PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO DP SB/CS BA OBP SLG OPS+
BW 421 398 37 72 7 0 10 31 11 126 9 5/0 .181 .206 .274 26
DC 321 300 24 44 7 0 10 22 7 146 2 1/0 .147 .174 .270 17
I really don't enjoy beating up on a guy when he's down, but Jesus H. Christ. For his sake I really do hope we trade him, even at pennies on the dollar, because if there's any type of hitter Scioscia/Hatcher have proven they can't coach, it's the low-average, high-strikeout power types. And right now the only scenario of him playing involves two injuries in front of him.
This Fan-Post is authored by an independent fan. Tell us what you think and how you feel.
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Aside from Morales...
I’m having a hard time finding a bona-fide homegrown hitting star that’s come out of the Angels organization in the last several years. The last one before Morales I can think of was Troy Glaus.
Can this organization produce quality hitters anymore?
Glaus was drafted 3rd overall
and Kendry was when signed out of Cuba widely regarded as the best positional player Cuba had EVER produced and Arte Moreno outbid a lot of other teams for his services.
I wouldn’t really call either of those guys being produced by the Angels minor league system.
everysingle baseball analyst on earth views it differently than you
but hey, you have a forum here, be a nonconformist with no allegiance to making sense.
ok then let me rephrase
the Angels produced Troy Glaus and Kendry Morales.
With that said I sure hope the Angels lose every game the rest of the way so they might be able to produce another hitter, and I hope Arte Moreno buys every international FA out there so they might produce a few more.
I’m just saying the Angels’ “successes” have been very close to finished products when they got them into their system. I think the Angels getting Boujos to the majors out of round 10 and getting a pure athlete like Jeremy Moore hitting righties really well in a tough hitter’s environment is far more producing hitters than simply being so bad you get a great draft pick, or buying FA’s.
Morales does not count.
He is not “homegrown”. He was a bona-fide hitting star well before he jumped Cuba.
Any organization that drafts pitcher-pitcher-pitcher-infield-pitcher-outfield-pitcher-outfield is gonna always have a hard time generating a lot of homegrown power. Good pitching is a premium, so developing good pitchers SHOULD create a trade stream in exchange for other teams’ power. But you gotta be willing to trade to make that system work.
"Wastin away again in Minor-Leaguer-Ville..."
Uh... yeah, he does.
Virtually every positional prospect in baseball was a bona-fide hitting star somewhere before they were drafted/signed. Kendry started his career in A-ball. He was by no means a finished product. He fits every rational definition of a homegrown player.
by GrichManPoorMan on Aug 16, 2010 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Not even close.
Morales was already an international star when he signed with the Angels. This ain’t some high school phenom we are talking about. He needed only 1/2 of one minor league season to reach his MLB debut, which yielded a home run in his second AB.
His time at A-ball was only 3 weeks.
"Wastin away again in Minor-Leaguer-Ville..."
yea that was far more like a rehab assignment
simply because he had problems coming into the country. I believe he homered on his first swing even in Rancho. The guy then went to AA and hit a homerun every 17 abs even though his home park is one of the worst in AA for power. But yea lets give the Angels just as much credit for getting him to the bigs as turning some tools guy in the late 1st round or later to the show…… The credit for Morales should go to Moreno. Everyone knew Morales was going to be a player in the majors, and Arte went out and got him just like he got the Top 4 FA’s on the market in 04 which helped propel the team to so much success previous to this year.
I credit Moreno for allowing Stoneman to spend Moreno's money,
at least in the scenarios you mentioned.
Stoneman!
Stoneman negotiated the deal. I’m going by memory; everyone can look it up at Cot’s.
There was a $3MM signing bonus. The Angels outbid others, including the MFY Yankees. I recall that the contract could possibly reach a maximum of $10MM.
Borassss just happened in the last 6-7 months.
(The only game I’ve ever watched in Rancho Cucamonga was Morales’ first game/AB/swing/home run. Quite a memory. Saw BWood, HKendrick, Matt Brown, Bobby Wilson, Rich Thompson….and Tom Arnold (as the first base coach) in the same game. If you haven’t seen it before, you ought to see the video…(from futureangels.com). There are lots of links in the links that give some pretty interesting information….in hindsight.)
Wood
Has Brandon Wood’s hitting ability suffered since coming to the Major’s? Or has his hitting ability been poor all along? He had high strikeout numbers in AA and AAA but also had a lot of HR’s. I have to admit I overlooked the stirkeouts in hopes of putting a power bat in the line-up.
On the other hand look at all of the guys that have come through the system who have stopped hitting in Anaheim. McPherson, Kotchman, Quinlan, Kendrik, and Aybar all had great AAA batting averages or huge power numbers. Does that say something about Hatcher, the PCL, or is it just bad luck?
Angel prospects
McPherson actually did what he was supposed to do in Anaheim. He hit .247 in parts of three seasons, with a ton of strikeouts, and a homer every 20 at bats for a .461 slugging percentage. He played acceptable defense. That is well within what should have been expected given his minor league numbers. He got hurt, and that’s why he failed as a prospect.
Kendrick was never going to be a walk taker. He hit around .300 for his first 4 seasons, playing decent defense. He’s a disappointment because he couldn’t stay healthy early on, and now the average has dropped to .270, which is pretty useless since Howie depends on BA.
Kotchman became the player he should have been, hitting .290 with a high OBP and .450 range slugging, plus great D. His failure to develop is really about him falling apart ever since we traded him. He was a useful player in July 2008. If he’s not now, blame the coaches for Atlanta, Boston, and Seattle, not our guys.
Aybar has hit as well as we should have expected given his minor league track record. Mathis stopped hitting when he got to AA Arkansas.
Wood really is an outlier as an utter, complete failure to hit. With the game on the line I would prefer to see the bat in Dan Haren’s hands before Wood. And that is no exaggeration.
"That boy is our last hope" - Obi Wan Scioscia, as Francisco Rodriguez left for the Mets. "No, there is another" - Yoda Reagins.
And Napoli has exceeded expectations
Still, you stack up enough talented guys in their mid-20s, you expect someone to jump. The only one who has—at least in a good direction—is Kendry. Howie is a big disappointment, not because he isn’t good, but because he isn’t great.
Especially when you compare the current crop to the young hitters tutored by Rod Carew. Tim Salmon, Garrett Anderson, Jim Edmonds and JT Snow. All had long, productive careers. Edmonds is still hitting enough to help a pennant contender.
I recently reread Matt’s post on Tim Salmon written four years ago. Matt made an offhand comment that he was dreaming of a McPherson, Wood, Kendrick, Kotchman infield. If you have that dream these days, you wake up in a cold sweat.
Before you get on that Carew bandwagon
Keep in mind that we had plenty of young guys who floundered under his tutelage and thrived elsewhere, beginning with J.T. Snow, and moving on to Damion Easley, Bobby Rose, and Lee Stevens. Gary Gaetti’s career died under Carew, revived when he left. Luis Polonia hit before and after Carew’s coaching, but not during.
But yeah, that infield is definitely a nightmare. And didn’t I include Mathis, too?
No love for Chad Curtis?
the carew era had the benefit of drafting high because we were awful
Think the modern texas rangers- a decade of cellar dwelling should build a pretty impressive crop of young talent.
by Balls and Strikes on Aug 16, 2010 8:34 AM PDT up reply actions
The Carew hitters were not 1st round picks
Salmon: 3rd round; Anderson: 4th round; Edmonds: 7th round; Snow: 5th round from Yankees.
I just feel sad when I think of B Wood now.
Any time you think you have the game conquered the game will turn around and punch you right in the nose.
Mike Schmidt
Don't feel too sad. He is a millionair at the age of 25
by Wally's World on Aug 14, 2010 7:49 PM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, no, not even close.
Beating up on this guy is ridiculous. Obviously he’s mentally fucked in the head so lets all just shut up and cheer for him or wish him good luck elsewhere.
What do you need a fancy suit for, Charlie, you ain't got no job to wear it to.
by clover_black on Aug 14, 2010 8:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Great post, Matt.
After I read this tonight, I checked the game on my iPhone and saw that B-Wood pinch hit for Callaspo – and he popped out on an attempted bunt.
Way to go Scioscia – bring in your power hitting prospect to bunt. Let’s make sure we put the guy in a position to succeed and ask him to sacrifice a runner over.
Sometimes Scioscia drives me fuckin’ nuts. As much as I try to give him the benefit of the doubt he just doesn’t seem to get it sometimes. Mathis over Napoli? Bullpen usage this year? Aybar leading off for 100 games? The inane idea of batting Napoli 8th when he does play? Starting McAnaulty over Napoli. Ever.
This is a lost season for lots of reasons – one of which is Scioscia’s dumb ideas finally starting to cost the team games…
RIP Nick...
Jim Scully
Jim Scully Home
Only 7.5 back baby!!
Season is never lost! And as Torii said, the fat lady has not yet sang!
Big Bats, We Don't Need No Stinkin Big Bats!
by angelskid2210 on Aug 14, 2010 9:06 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Joe West?
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
"I'm just like you, but 10 times better"
by SportsChicken on Aug 15, 2010 2:04 AM PDT up reply actions
You weren't paying attention...
Aybar popped up a bunt earlier in the game. Woody sliced a pop-up. I believe it was a first-pitch hack as well.
I love this team.
by Downing Rules on Aug 14, 2010 9:14 PM PDT up reply actions
When are we going to put the humidor in SLC?
At least this way, we might have a better idea of what we have in AAA before we clear a spot for them to play in the majors. I think it’s great that Bourjos is playing every day, so this offseason we will know if we need another OF or not. Usually the rookies don’t see the field enough under Scosscia to know what we have.
Put the humidor in SLC and the place might actually help develop our players instead of having them swing for the fences, all or nothing, far too often. I don’t see how it could hurt to do it.
Wood...
Has a very bad swing. Since he can’t get any worse, break his swing down and try something else. That loop has to go! .250 and 20 HR’s is a realistic goal!
Gimme a cigarette
I do believe
that his current swing is the direct result of MLB team coaching, breaking down the swing he had as a minor leaguer and replacing it with the current version. The thinking was that his minor league swing was too long and Wood was going to be carved up by pro pitching. So they lowered his hands and shortened his trajectory and turned him into a mess.
This may be a case of the coaching theory being exactly right, and the results being exactly wrong.
"Wastin away again in Minor-Leaguer-Ville..."
I don't feel like he got a fair shake
once Bourjous dips under .100, I’m sure he’ll get Wooded too.
Take a guy like Wood, and then play him sporadically for a year or two … and you end up with Jeff Mathis.
Somewhere, right now, Mickey Hatcher is ruining a swing.
by Quinlan's Goofy Swing on Aug 15, 2010 12:52 AM PDT reply actions
Bourjous plays some amazing defense
I feel that alone is worth keeping him in the lineup.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
"I'm just like you, but 10 times better"
by SportsChicken on Aug 15, 2010 2:06 AM PDT up reply actions
Finally, proof the BWood is an undercover CIA agent.
Another WIN! for Sabermetrics.
Captain, there are doubt's...
Should this turn out to be true,
Brien Taylor is going to throw Wood one helluva party.
"Wastin away again in Minor-Leaguer-Ville..."
Long time, no see, Duck!
Your pessimism about the Angels developing hitters seems to have gained the upper hand on my optimism….
Well, it's not like I WANTED this outcome
But it’s what you get when you focus on guys with contact skills.
Witty .sig goes here.
On the bright side...
Wood’s 100% career stolen base rate is better than Ricky Henderson’s at the same age.
by GrichManPoorMan on Aug 16, 2010 10:38 AM PDT reply actions
Brandon Wood
Scosia is talking about having him go to winter ball? For what? C’mon front office give it up. The scouts blew it on this one. BW is abysmal. Whoever identified him as the next Mike Schmidt should be fired on the same day that they cut bait er I mean Wood. Put him out of his misery.
This will probably be his last opportunity with the Angels.
At this point, what harm is done? The worst case possibility is he fails in Winter Ball and is then shown the exit door.
The best case is he re-discovers how to hit a baseball and becomes a productive member of the 2011 Angels. Yeah, the odds are about 30-1, but why not take the chance?
He'll get a chance in spring training
To show he can help the 2011 team more than Frandsen, Sandoval, or Trumbo. If somebody beats him out for the last spot on the roster, he’ll be gone.
Then he’ll have to prove he can actually contribute some during the season, in sporadic playing time. If he somehow succeeds in that tough role, and somebody else gets hurt, then he could have one more shot at starting.
The odds are pretty long against him.
"That boy is our last hope" - Obi Wan Scioscia, as Francisco Rodriguez left for the Mets. "No, there is another" - Yoda Reagins.
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