Danny Espinosa Comparisons
by mathisrocks5 on Sep 6, 2010 9:31 AM EDT
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PrintHey this is my first post here at Federal Baseball, i'm a big fan of the Nats. I'm a regular poster at Halos Heaven, as they are my favorite team but i'm pretty excited about the Nats future. I have been watching videos of your new second baseman, Danny Espinosa, and he looks like a great player and a big part of your future. I was looking closer at him and he looks a lot like Brian Roberts, both by his looks and his swing. Here are three comparisons of second baseman that Espinosa could resemble the best.
Brian Roberts: Probably the best comparison around. Both have good gloves, both have short compact swings and both are switch hitters. Espinosa has a bit more speed than Roberts, which means he could have a better overall career if he stays healthy, but look for Espinosa to have a very comparable career to Roberts.
Ben Zobrist: Zobrist might be bit of a stretch because he is a bigger guy, but has a similar kind of approach at the plate. He has the most power out of these three guys, and Espinosa could develop into a 20 HR guy as he matures, but for now he is a doubles type hitter who drives the ball to all fields. I can definatly see him becoming a 20 HR guy some day like Zobrist did.
Dustin Pedroia: Pedroia comparisons come becasue they both line the ball all over the field and have great gloves. But the most compelling thing about these guys is their grittiness. Espinosa has much more speed than Pedroia but they both hustle as hard as they can, and just play the game the right way.
Heres how I look at Espinosa 3 years down the line: Espinosa will be a an All-Star 2nd Baseman for the Nats. He will be a gold glove contender who drives the ball to all fields and develops 20 HR power. He will basically be a mix of these three guys, and a key component to the Nats making the playoffs.
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From your Fan Post to God's ears
by The Herndon Kid on Sep 6, 2010 9:34 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
No way Pedroia or Zobrist. Maybe Roberts with potential leadership and speed. Robert lost his power for some reason, I don’t see Espinosa losing his. Lack of OBP is the knock on Espinosa. It’s fallen at every level so far and most of the projections I read on Sickels minorleagueball.com are concerned about whether he’ll hit much more than .220.
From what I’ve heard, Espinosa seems to be a .240/.310/.450 kind of guy. I think that he’ll hit more than .220 as he learns the league. I do think we’ll have to tolerate a bunch of swings and misses. I’d love to believe he’s an all-star, but that’s not where my head is at given his minor league numbers.. He’s got a couple of guys to jump at that position in the NL at present, but it’s certainly possible. As always, it’s going to be tough for the Nats to get more than one all-star because of winner’s bias. For example, Zim not making the all-star this year was a crime. He’s an MVP candidate with goo gobs of national recognition on a better team.
I’m a big fan of Espinosa, but like Desmond I view him as an affordable beyond league average starter more than all-star. He’s the type of affordable piece that should allow them to spend more on some of the other missing pieces.
On a desperate search for Sunshine at Nats Park. In Rizzo and Ramos we trust.
Boo this man!
All Star! Hall of Famer! Put his name on a candy bar!
Rob
"Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection." -- Red Smith
I hate when I feel have to be the voice of reason on threads like this.
I just feel that as fans we can overvalue our own players. I’ll give you all the credit in the world for wanting to be aggressive with the promotion schedule for Espinosa and having that come up with roses, though. Hopefully, I’ll continue to be wrong and I’ll get an eeyore rep on prospects.
On a desperate search for Sunshine at Nats Park. In Rizzo and Ramos we trust.
Espinosa is special
He will hit more than .240 easily. I know we have only seen him briefly at the major league level, but there is just something about watching him play. Also keep in mind that over 90% of prospects never even see the majors and of the 10% that do only 1% of those become stars. It is much easier to be negative on a prospect. Espinosa is exciting to watch, he hits the ball hard, has good range and a strong arm, and has plus speed. I think he could be a very very good second baseman for the Nationals, and if he is and Zim keeps doing what he does, and Desmond can get the errors under control then we won’t be worrying about losers bias for much longer.
by David Huzzard on Sep 6, 2010 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
he's major league ready with the glove, to be sure
if he can raise with walk rate to go with the other parts of his offensive game he can be a good regular in the lineup. he definitly is exciting to watch and his effort and make-up will make him a fan favorite very quickly.
Your voice of doom and gloom. Read more at natsnewsnetwork.blogspot.com
by Dave at District Sports Page on Sep 6, 2010 1:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Doesnt need to be Sandberg to help the team
The Braves won the pennant with Lemke and Belliard up the middle – so we just need good defensive guy who can contribute to help the team win. I think Desmond and Espinosa will be our pivots for a long time and should be good everyday players.
Ian Desmond is my hero!
No, he doesn't need to be Sandberg.
At some point, if you want to improve you need to have above replacement guys at multiple positions. If all we have is Zimmerman, Zimmermann, and
Strasburg filling those descriptions in the long term, we’ll be a slightly
better than replacement team for a long, long time.
Espinosa probably ranks at least somewhere in the Top 5 to Top 15 at his
position so he’s got a lead for being significantly above replacement at his
position in the next 1 to 3 years. He gets a longer shot to do that given
his price and where our team is development wise, but I’m sure that his
career goal and the goal of our front office.
Nice that you could point out that just reaching his projected floor could help could help our team a bunch, though.
On a desperate search for Sunshine at Nats Park. In Rizzo and Ramos we trust.
Let's let Espinosa be Espinosa
Whatever that turns out to be. One week into his career seems a bit premature to name him a Pedroia (who is a good player, but never should have been MVP), or to name him a career .240 kinda guy. What’s the rush? He’s been up less than a week! LOL
Booo!
Whatever, d_c_buzz_kill! ;)
MVP! MVP! MVP!
"And everybody lived happily ever after. Except the Phillies and the Mets. The End." --Sasskuash
Friend of Dukes and Desmond #3
Judging by a stream of "I told you so" text messages I got during yesterday's game....
…that may be changing. ;-) Dave at Nats News and me are making a run at you there, methinks.
On a desperate search for Sunshine at Nats Park. In Rizzo and Ramos we trust.
Who would send you a message like that?
Everyone knows that one game doesn’t make a player. I would never try to hold you to your .220 prediction based upon just 16 ABs. ;-)
Rob
"Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection." -- Red Smith
Yeah, but once we get to 20 ABs, all bets are off...
;)
"And everybody lived happily ever after. Except the Phillies and the Mets. The End." --Sasskuash
Friend of Dukes and Desmond #3
So I shouldn’t have got that Espinosa Banner in my Hall of Fame tribute room? Sorry Gary and Andre, you’z guys will be lonely again.
Who brought Buzz Killington to the party?
by Andrew Davidson on Sep 7, 2010 1:31 AM EDT up reply actions
my first man crush
at 54 years of age. Well, it was bound to happen at some point.
A week in, he looks like a switch hitting, power hitting, middle infielder,
with speed, and a rifle arm. Did I leave anything out ?
That one day he will be the analyst for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and someone will make a website FireDannyEspinosa.com
by David Huzzard on Sep 7, 2010 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Ha!
Joe Morgan comps? That’s quite a billing for a 2B.
On a desperate search for Sunshine at Nats Park. In Rizzo and Ramos we trust.
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