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| Reyes has stolen 60 bases the last two seasons and should do the same in '07 |
1.
Jose Reyes, New York Mets
Jose
Reyes improved ten-fold over his first full season in 2005. He stole 60+ bases for the second year in a
row and vastly improved each of his rate statistics. His OPS climbed from a paltry .686 up to
.841, good for second in the NL among all lead-off hitters. His big power surge was mostly due to 66 XBH
(up from 48 the year before), ranking 3rd among all NL Shortstops in that
regard. There wasn't much to be unhappy about in 2006 for him. He runs at will, so he'll continue to steal
about 80% of his bases successfully. If
there's one area I'd like for him to improve upon, it's common sense. Dear Jose Reyes, please don't slide head
first into first base ever again.
Thanks.
Jose Reyes 2007 Projections
|
G
|
AB
|
Runs
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
BB
|
RBI
|
SO
|
SB
|
CS
|
E
|
AVG
|
|
155
|
642
|
114
|
184
|
26
|
19
|
14
|
41
|
68
|
73
|
63
|
15
|
17
|
0.290
|
2.
Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia
Phillies
He
ranked first in all NL Shortstops in XBH, and had what many would consider his
best season. His SB rate is still
incredibly high for someone who steals 30 bases consistently, he plays
everyday, and managed to tie his career high in walks while keeping his K rate
down considerably. He also had a
tremendous second half, which would suggest that he'll have a very good 2007,
but I just don't believe his 2007 will be much better than his 2006. He still
just doesn't get on base enough. We
wouldn’t be having this discussion if he hit sixth in the lineup, but since
there's nobody in front of him, he needs to get on base to have a big
impact. His career high OBA is .348,
which was 3 years ago, and marks the only time his OBA has peaked over
.340.
Jimmy Rollins 2007 Projections
|
G
|
AB
|
Runs
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
BB
|
RBI
|
SO
|
SB
|
CS
|
E
|
AVG
|
|
149
|
610
|
100
|
170
|
38
|
7
|
16
|
50
|
75
|
70
|
32
|
5
|
10
|
.280
|
3. Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
A
big trade landed him in a premier starting role in 2006, and he cashed in. Starting off slow, he eventually learned how
to hit pitching at the big league level, as is evidenced by his .931 OPS in the
second half. He stole over 50 bases, and
had an OPS pretty close to that of Jose Reyes (.833). I'm really expecting big things out of him,
and if he can get on base regularly, which he did a good job of last season;
he'll certainly score a lot of runs with Cabrera and Willingham behind him. He
ended up striking out a little over 18% of the time, and only had a .719 OPS
with RISP, but other than that, it looks like this kid is going to blossom into
a Reyes/Furcal type probably with better power numbers. Will the SB continue? They should for at least for another few years.Hanley Ramirez 2007 Projections
|
G
|
AB
|
Runs
|
Hits
|
2B
|
3B
|
HR
|
BB
|
RBI
|
SO
|
SB
|
CS
|
E
|
AVG
|
|
153
|
598
|
94
|
163
|
36
|
10
|
13
|
53
|
60
|
110
|
41
|
14
|
26
|
.270
|
