2010 DRB Player Profiles: Kelly Shoppach, Andy Sonnanstine, Rafael Soriano, Matt Sweeney, Dale Thayer, B.J. Upton, Dan Wheeler, & Ben Zobrist

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 17, 2010 4:12 PM EST

And this concludes the series.

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Shoppach is a steal is he puts up 2007-2008ish numbers.

A few other observations, 2009 Sonnanstine really makes you appreciate 2008 Sonnanstine, and more 2009 Zobrist please, I don’t see why he couldn’t post a .900 OPS season again, he has the on-base skills and enough power to do it.

by twenty5psi on Feb 17, 2010 9:38 PM EST reply actions

It's a means of tempering expectations

there’s little in Zo’s track record to suggest he’ll OPS over .900 again this year. However, as detelled by the open-ended comment, there’s certainly a chance he can OPS that well again.

by FloridaownsFSU on Feb 17, 2010 10:32 PM EST up reply actions

If Zobrist has an OPS of .875 that's still a great season.

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by Tommy Rancel on Feb 17, 2010 10:45 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I'm almost as curious to see what kind of player he really is defensively

as whether his offensive transformation is legitimate. Even so, he seems like a pretty good bet to be one of the better players in the game again.

And I saw somewhere that Dioner Navarro is still the team’s starting catcher going into 2010. Obviously Shoppach will get his playing time, but is this true? It can’t be easy to post a wRC+ of 54 (!!) in 410 plate appearances and keep an everyday spot.

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I write for Beyond the Box Score and The Hardball Times Fantasy

by Satchel Price on Feb 18, 2010 9:40 AM EST up reply actions

It's being billed as "open competition" but Shoppach was targeted in a trade and then handed an extension.

The Rays wouldn’t do that just because. Shop is the better player, making more money. That doesn’t mean he’ll be the “opening day” starter, but if he doesn’t get 100+ starts I’d be surprised.

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by Tommy Rancel on Feb 18, 2010 9:51 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

That's what I was thinking too

But maybe Tampa Bay has reason to believe that Navarro’s 2010 will look more like his 2008 season than his 2009 one. Certainly, Shoppach’s power and solid ability to get on base would make him appear to be the better bet going forward.

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I write for Beyond the Box Score and The Hardball Times Fantasy

by Satchel Price on Feb 18, 2010 10:45 AM EST up reply actions

I agree

He didn’t seem very fluid turning two last year, I hope he’s worked on his foot-work.

Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Feb 18, 2010 1:52 PM EST up reply actions

I'm not so much wondering whether he can be above average at second

as I’m wondering whether he’s even close to being the elite fielder that his 31.7 UZR/150 at second base indicates, although it’s in only 755 innings as the position.

His UZR data is truly whack at this point, so that’s one thing that I’m fascinated to see about Zorilla going forward.

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I write for Beyond the Box Score and The Hardball Times Fantasy

by Satchel Price on Feb 18, 2010 1:56 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think Ozzie Smith would be +31.7 at 2B

Obviously, he will regress, hopefully he can maintain around 15<x<20

Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.

by Andy Hellicksonstine on Feb 18, 2010 2:58 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, I mean 31 runs above average defensively is almost incomprehensible

Nobody could really maintain that kind of performance. I was merely asking the same question as you: “Does his 31 UZR/150 from last season indicate that his true talent level as a fielder is actually an elite 15-20 runs above average?”

I’m very interested to see what the metrics say about his defense going forward.

I like baseball.
I write for Beyond the Box Score and The Hardball Times Fantasy

by Satchel Price on Feb 18, 2010 3:25 PM EST via mobile up reply actions