GROTE TOTALLY MAXIMIZED HIS TALENT
From a website called Card Corners, written by Bruce Markuson about Jerry Grote (known for his true grit and defensive acumen) regarding his hitting:
Grote would struggle with the Colt .45s. Yet, it wasn’t because he lacked commitment or effort.
In fact, Grote built his own batting cage at his parents’ home in San Antonio. He constructed the cage out of chicken wire and old carpeting, and spent hours during the winter taking practice swings against an “Iron Mike” pitching machine.
As much work as Grote put in, he continued to flail against live pitching, hitting .181 with a .240 on-base percentage and little power for Houston (by now renamed the Astros).
By the end of the 1965 season, the Astros gave up on the light-hitting Grote and traded him to the Mets for a pitcher named Tom Parsons…..
(Brennan note: He slowly improved as a hitter with the Mets)
Grote still wanted to improve his profile as a hitter. He hit above .300 over the first half of 1968, earning selection as the starting catcher in the All-Star Game. He became only the second Met in history to earn a starting place on the National League All-Star team, joining second baseman Ron Hunt in a selective group.
Grote would finish the season at a solid .282, but instead of taking kudos for the improvement, he credited new manager Hodges with helping him shorten his stride and quicken his swing.
I recall he also held his hands with his bat completely differently at the plate than he had previously.
He never had much power, and the hand positioning, batter’s stance, and swing changes maximized his hitting skills. The changes helped him with his contact.
Francisco Alvarez?
He is still very young, with lots more power than Grote had.
But so far, in a not-insignificant 779 career MLB plate appearances, he is not translating that prowess into becoming the next Salvador Perez, with Francisco hitting 37 HRs, but just .221 for a career average so far. And a bad post season.
He still might become the next Salvador Perez as he matures.
Perez remarkably at ages 21-22 hit .310 in 430 at bats spanning 2 seasons. Very unusual.
Alvarez will only be playing next year at age 23. Bear in mind that Mark Vientos’ breakthrough 2024 season at the plate occurred at age 24. And Pete Alonso’s debut season was at age 24 also. Heck, Mike Piazza hit .232 in limited action at age 23, before the great Mike Piazza first showed up at age 24.
So, Alvarez comparatively has time to adjust and greatly improve at the plate.
What do you readers think Francisco has to do to tap into his power and lightning bat? Is there a Grote adjustment he can make, or will improved hitting just come with maturity? Or will he remain a hitting enigma? He was hitting .295 in late July in 2024, seemed he had arrived, then went into hitting freefall.
Maybe he will be another Gary Sanchez (184 career HRs, but just .224 lifetime)? His last two seasons, in 485 at bats, Sanchez hit 30 HRs, knocked in 84 runs, and hit .220. Would you be OK with that in the future from Alvarez? (And why, again, did the Mets let Sanchez go?)
BUT...I WAS HAPPY TO SEE FRANCISCO ADJUST HIS HITTING TO A MORE GROTE-LIKE APPROACH LATE IN THE PLAYOFFS...PROMISING.
Thoughts?
OTHER CATCHERS IN THE SYSTEM?
Joe DeMayo came out with his top 30 list. Where do catchers fall?
24. Gaiverson Gutierrez
25. Yovanny Rodriguez
26. Ronald Hernandez
27. Kevin Parada
Two thoughts?
a) Not good to have no catcher ranked higher than # 24.
b) As I have said many times with Parada, TOO MANY STRIKEOUTS.
- 152 Ks in 454 PAs in 2024 (AA). Need to reduce by 1/3 or more.
- His plummet is due to that and that alone. Can he fix it?
I suggested recently to Mark Vientos (not directly, of course, but in an article) to be more aggressive on "Strike Zero" to cut his Ks, in order to go from being a very good hitter to a great hitter.
My guess is Parada needs to do the same.
Do not let hittable strikes pass by. And choke up on two strikes.
The clock is ticking. Fix that K problem, Kevin.
Smart Jerry Grote fixed his own swing.
I had Kevin out of my top 30 list for that reason alone...High Ks.
Before I go, though, it got me wondering if the home park was a big part of the problem for Kevin.
It sure seems to have been:
At home, 218 plate appearances? .155/.275/.241, 87 Ks. Abysmal.
On road, 236 plate appearances? .265/.331/.465, 66 Ks. Quite good.
Binghamton team in 2024, at home? .211/.299/.316. Awful.
Binghamton team in 2024, on road? .239/.327/.393. Decent.
Morale of that story?
Get Kevin to AAA Syracuse, a hitters' league. He may suddenly rake.
BLOCKBUSTER
I dunno about you, but I used to rent VHS movies at Blockbuster.
Forget rentals, that’s old news, let’s sign us some superstars!
Blockbuster Superstars.
HOT IN ARIZONA
The team the Mets players are on will wrap their season up this week. The team has won 10 of its last 12.
15 comments:
If you want to talk trades, FA acquisitions, etc. here, which are outside the topic of this article, feel free to do so. Construct your dream roster for 2025 if you'd like.
I expect Alvarez to have a monster year in 2025.
Ray, I would have disagreed in early October. By late October, I too think he will have a monster year. He learned much. Vientos learned much in his struggles of 2023, then catapulted in 2024.
I am very excited about Ronald
Bingo is usually a hitters park over the years. I recall reading a story about a catcher, but I can’t remember right now who it was. The catcher worked so hard on his defense all the time, that he was too tired by game time to hit effectively, and his numbers sucked. Once he started getting to the upper levels, he eased off of the defense and his offensive numbers started improving.
Until Alvarez stops swinging for the stars on every pitch, he won’t improve.
The AFL’s last regular season game is tonight. A total failure for the Mets hitters, IMHO. Why did the whole system suck offensively? I mean, the entire system? That cannot be a coincidence.
David Stearns has completely gained all the trust of the fan base, after they wanted to sling him up in early June. Hope he can keep it forever…
Gus, our AFL guys did walk a lot. Of course, the league's pitchers walked a lot overall. There is a guy, the # 9 Tigers prospect, 20 year old 6'4" lefty slugger, Josue Briceno, who is just demolishing the AFL. As in .442/.515/.884 with 10 HRs in 24 games. We NEVER get a guy like that in the AFL, or even close to it.
Alvarez is a lot stronger power-wise than Grote. I'd take .290 with 18-20 HRs from Alvarez, rather than .225 with 25 HRs.
Gus, including Briceno, the top 3 Scottsdale hitters are 85 for 208 (.409) with 32 XBHs. If those 3 made outs in their next 217 at bats, they'd still be hitting .200.
Now tell me again about our hitters. And please compare our top two position prospects to the Tigers #9 prospect. I’m kind of wanting to see your thoughts.
I heard Alvy is building a hitting cage out of chicken wire as we speak. LOL can you even imagine a player doing that today or for that matter remember when players had off season jobs. The main question with players is are they teachable and from what I heard Alvy is.
Gus, the gulf between ours and those 3 is very great - Paul will be doing an AFL update soon, so I will say no more.
Gary, shorten that CF fence from 408 to 400 and tell Alvarez to hit straight away. Problem solved.
Don't stop there
LOWER HEIGHT.OF WALL so the Mets CF prospects can jump over the top
They used to have 3 foot fences in old Yankee Stadium…perfect.
I loved watching Grotesque behind the plate. I would love to see Alvarez there if he gets off a knee and starts blocking balls in the dirt. He used to do it well in AA. He also used to have a shorter swing.
It appears Jett Williams was injured in today’s finale. He left the game in the 1st inning. No details.
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