Player Interrogation: David DeJesus
I had a hard time deciding on who suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous criticism in the first of what will be a recurring piece on this blog. I figured the leadoff hitter made .. some sense.
Once a career in peril after badly injuring his throwing arm, the former fourth-rounder out of Rutgers began his minor league career at Double-A, and moved swiftly to Triple-A Omaha in 2003, where he hit .298 with a .412 OBP in 59 games. After posting a .315 average and .400 OBP for another 50 games at Omaha in 2004, DeJesus was on his way to the parent club, where he's been ever since. His consistency between 411 plate appearances in 2004 and 519 plate appearances in 2005 is astonishing. He hit .287 in '04 and .293 in '05, with OBPs of .360 and .359, respectively. However, his slugging percentage jumped from .402 to .445 in 2005, where he stroked 16 more doubles.
While those numbers are respectable, DeJesus does have a modest ceiling. His contact-minded swing and stance will never allow him to put up more than 15 home runs, if that, and his 'leave it all on the field' approach to the game results in wreckless play that will keep him knicked up most of the time, and probably make him no stranger to the DL. Save for an appearance as a defensive replacement on September 21st, DeJesus didn't play in a game after August 28th last year, sidelined with another shoulder injury.
To go along with the bum arm, DeJesus doesn't possess the burst or top speed most centerfielders have in their employ. He tends to make up for it by getting excellent first reads on flyballs, particularly going to his right, which could end up with him developing into a Jim Edmonds-type defender, relying more on anticipation and reacting than pure ability. Still, he would need nimble corner outfielders around him (which Matt Stairs, Emil Brown, Matt Diaz, and Aaron Guiel certainly aren't) to keep him from turning 15-25 flyballs a year into doubles.
Overall, DeJesus is a polished hitter, which is evidenced by the fact that he needed very little minor league experience to get to his current level (he already has more at-bats in the majors than he did in the minors), but save for hopefully raising his OBP another 25 points, there isn't much room for improvement with the bat, and he's a candidate to miss 20-100 games, annually. Is he the foundation of a respectable outfield, or a player who will deterioriate prematurely?
Up next: Mark Teahen
Once a career in peril after badly injuring his throwing arm, the former fourth-rounder out of Rutgers began his minor league career at Double-A, and moved swiftly to Triple-A Omaha in 2003, where he hit .298 with a .412 OBP in 59 games. After posting a .315 average and .400 OBP for another 50 games at Omaha in 2004, DeJesus was on his way to the parent club, where he's been ever since. His consistency between 411 plate appearances in 2004 and 519 plate appearances in 2005 is astonishing. He hit .287 in '04 and .293 in '05, with OBPs of .360 and .359, respectively. However, his slugging percentage jumped from .402 to .445 in 2005, where he stroked 16 more doubles.
While those numbers are respectable, DeJesus does have a modest ceiling. His contact-minded swing and stance will never allow him to put up more than 15 home runs, if that, and his 'leave it all on the field' approach to the game results in wreckless play that will keep him knicked up most of the time, and probably make him no stranger to the DL. Save for an appearance as a defensive replacement on September 21st, DeJesus didn't play in a game after August 28th last year, sidelined with another shoulder injury.
To go along with the bum arm, DeJesus doesn't possess the burst or top speed most centerfielders have in their employ. He tends to make up for it by getting excellent first reads on flyballs, particularly going to his right, which could end up with him developing into a Jim Edmonds-type defender, relying more on anticipation and reacting than pure ability. Still, he would need nimble corner outfielders around him (which Matt Stairs, Emil Brown, Matt Diaz, and Aaron Guiel certainly aren't) to keep him from turning 15-25 flyballs a year into doubles.
Overall, DeJesus is a polished hitter, which is evidenced by the fact that he needed very little minor league experience to get to his current level (he already has more at-bats in the majors than he did in the minors), but save for hopefully raising his OBP another 25 points, there isn't much room for improvement with the bat, and he's a candidate to miss 20-100 games, annually. Is he the foundation of a respectable outfield, or a player who will deterioriate prematurely?
Up next: Mark Teahen
posted by KC Luke @ 1:59 AM
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