http://resultsdisoriented.blogspot.com/2008/06/delmon-young.html

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Delmon Young

While hanging out with some friends tonight, I casually suggested that Delmon Young might be the worst everyday player in the majors. I was overstating the case a little--Tony Pena is the clear choice, had I remembered him--but man, Delmon is bad.

Once projected as a perennial 30-HR threat, Young currently has zero homers in 60 games. He only has ten doubles, so it's unlikely this is a fluke--he seems to have simply stopped hitting for power.

Young ranks only 17th in lowest VORP this year, but almost all those behind him bring great defense to the table (Jason Bartlett, Willy Taveras) or are good hitters that are going through a rough patch (Paul Konerko, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano). One is both (Khalil Greene). One--Bill Hall--is no longer an everyday player, in spite of his whining.

Additionally, Young carries baggage that goes beyond his poor hitting. He plays the easiest defensive position on the diamond and plays it very poorly; perhaps only Manny Ramirez and Jack Cust are worse with the leather. His personality issues are well-known: there's the bat-throwing incident, obviously, plus every now and then he pops up in the news to complain when his coaches bench him or encourage him to change his style.

Delmon Young still has a chance to be a star, but the odds have turned violently against him.

McGee was up in the zone quite a bit. In the first inning he surrendered a homer and a double. His curve ball has very little break and is more effective because of the speed (low 70’s) than the motion. He also leaves that pitch up. The highest he hit all day was 94. For the Fish, Maybin showed his athletic ability legging out an infield single then drawing a wild pickoff throw. He also took a McGee offering completely out of the park. Decent game overall.