Is Kevin Stocker Just a Fill-In?
Leif Neve
regularly lately as shortstop for the Phillies, has the job
for the rest of the season or is just filling in for somebody
who will be coming back soon?
Thanks,
Leif Neve
Jonathan Hauke
Nope. Kevin is one of the best (if not the best) rookie shortstop around.
After several other Phillies tried the position (Juan Bell, Kim Batiste,
Mariano Duncan) and failed, the Phils brought Stocker up. So far he has
been much more than they asked for as he plays the position brilliantly
and is also hitting around .380 (with 100+ at bats). I have heard that he
is compared to Larry Bowa (by Bowa himself). He is here to stay!
Jon
Charles Alpert
Stocker was either a 1st or 2nd round pick out of UWashington
and from what I heard, he was a definite candidate for the job in
spring training, but they felt he wasn't ready. Thus, the talk
in April and May (when Phils shortstops were horrible) that if they
can get to mid-season, they can bring up Stocker. And indeed, I'm
really glad they didn't trade for Walt Weiss, etc.
Chuck Alpert
Glenn Gomescasseres
He's definitely got the job. Duncan was at SS before him, but he
was too weak defensively. The Phillies were worried that Stocker
wouldn't perform well at the plate, whereas Duncan is a great
hitter. As it turns out, Stocker is batting around .380, over .150
more than in the minors. He's already an invaluable part in the Phillies
defense and offense.
For some reason Fregosi continues to bat him in the 8th spot, instead
of second, where Morandini or Duncan usually bat.
GLENN
Tim Hop Head Mavor
[Phillies previous shortstop dilemma deleted]
>I have heard that he is compared to Larry Bowa (by Bowa himself).
If I were Stocker, I would smacked Bowa for insulting me! d;)
Bowa was adequate, about average...I'm expecting more from Stocker.
In Bowa's 12 years in Philadelphia, he had a Total Player Rating (from Total
Baseball I) for those 12 years of -9.7, meaning, taking his position into
account, he was slightly below average. He WAS fairly consistent, never with
a rating less than -3.4 (his rookie year) or greater than 1.4 (in '77 and'78).
His fielding was not that great...he was good on balls he got to, but when compared
to other SS, he had less range.
Still, Bowa looks like Ozzie compared to the other SS the Phillies have been
trotting out there in the last several seasons!
-Tim
Gary Lance Blankenship BB Club Huckabay
>He's definitely got the job. Duncan was at SS before him, but he
>was too weak defensively. The Phillies were worried that Stocker
>wouldn't perform well at the plate, whereas Duncan is a great
^^^^^^
Hoooo! HA ha hee chortle giggle....
You're kidding, right? Duncan has never hit, can't hit, won't hit,
and appears to be allergic to hitting. He's posting a .299 OBP
as I write this. And this is probably a good year for him.
--
* Gary Huckabay * "Morally, ferret rhymes with republican." - D. S. Tate *
* "Living in fear * "It's a sad commentary on our society when Elvis *
* of a slavering * impersonators don't receive the same respect as *
* Clay Davenport."* Lyndon LaRouche." - Todd Cochran. *
Neal Traven
> From jona...@ravel.udel.edu (Jonathan Hauke)
> [Phillies previous shortstop dilemma deleted]
> >I have heard that he is compared to Larry Bowa (by Bowa himself).
> If I were Stocker, I would smacked Bowa for insulting me! d;)
> Bowa was adequate, about average...I'm expecting more from Stocker.
Actually, so does Bowa. His comment on the kid is actually something
more like 'he reminds me of me, but I wish I had his range.'
Stocker looks like a keeper, even after he reverts to his 'real' batting
level. I notice that he's been drawing a goodly number of walks along
with all the hits; they can't all be intentional walks.
BTW, I would take issue with a previous poster's characterization of
Mariano Duncan as a 'great' hitter -- he has surprising power, but his
lack of patience at the plate means he's very subpar at on-base ability.
He's a tremendous eater of outs.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
neal tra...@pitt.edu You're only young once, but you can be
tra...@vms.cis.pitt.edu immature forever. -- Larry Andersen
Tim Hop Head Mavor
>You're kidding, right? Duncan has never hit, can't hit, won't hit,
>and appears to be allergic to hitting. He's posting a .299 OBP
>as I write this. And this is probably a good year for him.
Although, in the past he was terrific against lefthanded pitchers.....
I haven't seen his splits for this year, though.
-Tim
Glenn Gomescasseres
>Still, Bowa looks like Ozzie compared to the other SS the Phillies have been
>trotting out there in the last several seasons!
>
Anybody remember Dickie Thon? What ever happened to him. I think he went to the
Mets for Morandini, but where is he now?
Glenn
Glenn Gomescasseres
>(Glenn Gomescasseres) writes:
>>He's definitely got the job. Duncan was at SS before him, but he
>>was too weak defensively. The Phillies were worried that Stocker
>>wouldn't perform well at the plate, whereas Duncan is a great
>>hitter. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
He's batting around .285, and 40+ RBI's I believe, which is pretty
good for a part-time SS/2b. Don't underestimate him.
Glenn
Gary Lance Blankenship BB Club Huckabay
>>(Glenn Gomescasseres) writes:
>>>He's definitely got the job. Duncan was at SS before him, but he
>>>was too weak defensively. The Phillies were worried that Stocker
>>>wouldn't perform well at the plate, whereas Duncan is a great
>>>hitter. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>He's batting around .285, and 40+ RBI's I believe, which is pretty
>good for a part-time SS/2b. Don't underestimate him.
According to USAT-BW:
Duncan: 277/299/404. 386 PA, *10* walks.
Anemic. And probably the best year he's likely to have.
>
>Glenn
Steven Thornton
>Anybody remember Dickie Thon? What ever happened to him. I think he went to the
>Mets for Morandini, but where is he now?
utility infielder for the Brewers. He's played quite a lot of SS, 3B, and
2B, plus some DH.
--
=============================================================================
Steve Thornton ste...@eskimo.com Seattle, Washington
RVES...@vma.cc.nd.edu
Blankenship BB Club Huckabay) says:
>
>According to USAT-BW:
>
>Duncan: 277/299/404. 386 PA, *10* walks.
>
>Anemic. And probably the best year he's likely to have.
last year's average nl shortstop went 251/315/340. i'd gladly
give up those 16 points of oba for 64 points of slugging.
unfortunately, though, duncan has the range of a turnip at short.
that doesn't make his offense anemic, though.
bob vesterman.
#! rnews 1285
Gus Faucher
>last year's average nl shortstop went 251/315/340. i'd gladly
>give up those 16 points of oba for 64 points of slugging.
>
>unfortunately, though, duncan has the range of a turnip at short.
>that doesn't make his offense anemic, though.
>
>bob vesterman.
>
One note: the Phils have moved Duncan to 2nd (benching Morandini) and
have put rookie Kevin Stocker at short. Stocker appears to be a
plausible solution to the Phillies' shortstop defensive woes (and is
also hitting about .350 as a big bonus!).
Gus
--
Gus Faucher
Graduate Group in Economics
University of Pennsylvania
fau...@mcneil.sas.upenn.edu