AngelsWin.com Today: At what point do we take Eric Young Jr. seriously?

[AngelsWin.com]

By @Scotty@AW, AngelsWin.com Staff Reporter

Sample Size.

It seems just about every single major leaguer is capable of being a superstar for short periods of time.  The great ones take what’s been so good, and extend it over longer periods of time.  This is a fairly simple concept.  But even Major League Baseball has a way of convoluting things.  For example, if a 30-something year old minor league journeyman has a good month in the majors, it’s a hot streak, but if a 22 year old does it, it’s a breakout.  Then there’s the post-hype sleeper every team has, that manages to put it together later in their career than expected.  This season we’ve seen Justin Smoak and Yonder Alonso both breakthrough, just five years later than anyone thought.

But at what point do we start taking a performance seriously?  At what point has a player turned the proverbial corner and become a legitimate starter in the major leagues?

I ask this specifically in the case of Eric Young Jr.

Young wasn’t supposed to be that good.  He wasn’t drafted until the 30th round in the draft, and even then his performance in Rookie Ball left a lot ot be desired.  The most notable thing about him was that his dad was a good ball player.  But then as a 21 year old, Young stole 87 bases in A Ball, and he was on the map.  Three years later, he found himself in the majors.

But Young never got a full shake in the majors.  He’d spend the majority of his career in a bench or platoon role, never fully settling into an everyday role, with the exception of his 2013 season, when he stole 41 bags.

Enter 2017, and Eric Young is a 32 year old signing with the Angels on a minor league pact.  Not just that, but Young has signed with a team that has Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun, Cameron Maybin and Ben Revere on the major league roster as outfield options.  Young was buried on the depth chart, and it would take more than one injury for him to get any degree of consistent playing time in the majors.

So he started the year in AAA, and it wasn’t a short stint.  It was a solid 44 games, more than a third of the way through the minor league season before he got the call.  But over those 44 games, Eric Young Jr. hit .354 with a .419 OBP.  Sample size?  I think not.  That’s an extended hot streak, which reflects a player that’s fully ready for an everyday job in the major leagues.  If we were to extrapolate his numbers across a full year in AAA, Young would’ve finished with 30 doubles 9 triples 15 home runs and 45 SB.

But alas, he got the call to Anaheim, and was initially expected to serve as the 4th outfielder behind Ben Revere.  But Young has taken advantage of his time.  Over 16 games, he’s hit .333/.429 with 3 doubles 3 home runs and 6 stolen bases.  16 games still comes with the same size stigma, but when combined with the 44 games in AAA and we suddenly get the picture of a player that can hit over .300 at the major league level.  He’s leap frogged Shane Robinson and Ben Revere on the depth chart, and while Cameron Maybin has been highly productive as the starting LF this year, we have to wonder if Young may start to take at bats away from him as well.

I surmise that it’s time for the Angels to be the team that gives Eric Young Jr. a chance at everyday at bats.  Find a way to get his bat in the lineup everyday.  When Trout returns, he’s the starting CF, bar none.  In fact, Maybin should be the unquestioned starter in LF as well, and Calhoun’s track record speaks for itself in RF.  But Pujols hasn’t done enough at DH to guarantee at bats, regardless of pay check.  Moreover, Danny Espinosa hasn’t done nearly enough at second base to prevent Young from replacing him there.  Young hasn’t played second since last season, but it’s time the Angels considered sacrificing defense at 2B to keep Young in the lineup.

I believe that it’s time we took Eric Young Jr.’s 2017 line seriously.

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[AngelsLakersFan]

I think you have to take him seriously. I know its only 16 games but he's already put up over 1 WAR. His stats are all down from his Salt Lake numbers, so you can say he's been playing at this level for the entire year so far.

[Troll Daddy]

His playing time tells the story. Looks like they're already taking him seriously. 

[totdprods]

When Trout comes back. 

Until then, enjoy it for what it is, whatever it is.

[Chuck]

7 minutes ago, totdprods said:

When Trout comes back. 

Until then, enjoy it for what it is, whatever it is.

We need to get him some reps in at 2B and kick Pennington to the curb once  Trout is back. 

[Angelsfan1984]

14 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

We need to get him some reps in at 2B and kick Pennington to the curb once  Trout is back. 

I agree with this. I would really like to see if he can give serviceable 2b duties. If he can provide something like Giavotella while putting up his current batting ability I would be fine with that. If we can get a lineup of:

 

Maybin

EYJ

Trout

Pujols

Calhoun

Cron

Simmons

Maldonado

Escobar

[Ohtaniland]

19 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

We need to get him some reps in at 2B and kick Pennington to the curb once  Trout is back. 

Umm EY is a better LF'r than Maybin so what's the question?

[Chuck]

Just now, CALZONE said:

Umm EY is a better LF'r than Maybin so what's the question?

No he's not.... 

The point is, we need to keep Maybin and EY in the lineup once Trout returns. 

In case you haven't been paying attention at home, Maybin is second on the team with a .377 OBP and is 4th in the entire MLB in stolen bases, even though he's played in just 49 games. Hamilton the league leader with 28 steals has played in 10 more games. 

Maybin's defense in LF has been superb and so far he's looking good in CF as well.

[AngelsLakersFan]

24 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

We need to get him some reps in at 2B and kick Pennington to the curb once  Trout is back. 

I agree with the people who are saying, the dude isn't a second basemen, it's not a discussion worth having... but I just can't let it go. He's played second base before - poorly. Espinosa is terrible. You'd think this would be like a Mark Trumbo third base situation, meaning let's just see how bad it actually is before we rule it out entirely.

[Chuck]

Just now, AngelsLakersFan said:

I agree with the people who are saying, the dude isn't a second basemen, it's not a discussion worth having... but I just can't let it go. He's played second base before - poorly. Espinosa is terrible. You'd think this would be like a Mark Trumbo third base situation, meaning let's just see how bad it actually is before we rule it out entirely.

I honestly have no idea how well he played 2B in the past, but I know he spent the majority of his minor league career at 2B, including at Colorado before they had a bigger need for his speed to run down balls in CF.

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 minute ago, Chuckster70 said:

No he's not.... 

The point is, we need to keep Maybin and EY in the lineup once Trout returns. 

In case you haven't been paying attention at home, Maybin is second on the team with a .377 OBP and is 4th in the entire MLB in stolen bases, even though he's played in just 49 games. Hamilton the league leader with 28 steals has played in 10 more games. 

Maybin's defense in LF has been superb and so far he's looking good in CF as well.

The offense quite literally has been Maybin, Young and Calhoun since Trout went down... You have to at least ride that as long as it last, a la Reggie Willits back in... 08, 09?

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 minute ago, Chuckster70 said:

I honestly have no idea how well he played 2B in the past, but I know he spent the majority of his minor league career at 2B, including at Colorado before they had a bigger need for his speed to run down balls in CF.

I really don't know how his defense was at second... I only know that he's been moved to LF, which means someone liked his offense more than his defense.... which isn't a good sign in his case.

[Second Base]

The Rockies moved him off 2B to create more opportunity to get him in the lineup. The fact that he has done well in The OF has kept him out there. As of three years ago, he was still an average 2B. But at age 32, passable would be adequate for this team. Whatever you have to do to keep his bat in the lineup.

[Chuck]

19 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

I agree with this. I would really like to see if he can give serviceable 2b duties. If he can provide something like Giavotella while putting up his current batting ability I would be fine with that. If we can get a lineup of:

Good point about Giavotella. I doubt he can be any worse than Johnny and quite honestly, Pennington hasn't been all that great defensively this year either. 

[Troll Daddy]

I'm in favor of replacing Revere with EYJr ... have no interest in seeing EYJr playing second base. 

Keep Espy at second for now. His season stats have no meaning imo. I'm focused on June stats for now. 

[Angelsjunky]

If they were considering 2B for Young, he'd be getting starts there now.

I like the idea on paper, but it could be disastrous on the field. 

[Chuck]

8 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

If they were considering 2B for Young, he'd be getting starts there now.

I like the idea on paper, but it could be disastrous on the field. 

Not really.. That would mean you're starting Revere over Espinosa, which as bad as he's been, Espy at least plays good D and has been hitting better of late. 

[Ohtaniland]

48 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

No he's not.... 

The point is, we need to keep Maybin and EY in the lineup once Trout returns. 

In case you haven't been paying attention at home, Maybin is second on the team with a .377 OBP and is 4th in the entire MLB in stolen bases, even though he's played in just 49 games. Hamilton the league leader with 28 steals has played in 10 more games. 

Maybin's defense in LF has been superb and so far he's looking good in CF as well.

EY has a better arm and breaks for the ball much quicker than Maybin. EY has a lot more LF experience than Maybin. 

EY is also a switch hitter and that makes him even more valuable but Maybin makes all the big bucks so EY will probably ride the pine or get sent packing before the deadline. 

[Angelsjunky]

One thing I didn't realize is that Young played 2B as recently as 2016, in AAA. That's quite different than what I thought people were saying, that its been a few years.

Sure, give him a shot at 2B. But give him a few starts, at least. I don't mind sitting Espinosa for Revere...they both suck, so what's the difference?

 

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, Angelsjunky said:

One thing I didn't realize is that Young played 2B as recently as 2016, in AAA. That's quite different than what I thought people were saying, that its been a few years.

Sure, give him a shot at 2B. But give him a few starts, at least. I don't mind sitting Espinosa for Revere...they both suck, so what's the difference?

 

One of them can mistake his way into a HR -- the other, less so.

[Inside Pitch]

10 minutes ago, CALZONE said:

EY has a better arm and breaks for the ball much quicker than Maybin. EY has a lot more LF experience than Maybin. 

EY is also a switch hitter and that makes him even more valuable but Maybin makes all the big bucks EY will probably ride the pine or get sent packing before the deadline. 

Remember when you argued that Revere was better than Maybin but that Maybin would keep the job cause of money -- Is Revere still better??   The names may change but your agenda remains the same...  

[halomatt]

I believe it's still a small sample size issue.  I'd be happy to be wrong though. Dude brings some serious energy. 

[Slegnaac]

Having EY start at 2nd, once Trout is back, could make some interesting late game decisions.  1 run lead in 7th, do you bring in Espinosa for defense with EY spot due up in the 8th?

[Chuck]

19 minutes ago, CALZONE said:

EY has a better arm and breaks for the ball much quicker than Maybin. EY has a lot more LF experience than Maybin. 

EY is also a switch hitter and that makes him even more valuable but Maybin makes all the big bucks so EY will probably ride the pine or get sent packing before the deadline. 

[Adam]

His last few weeks are not normal when you look at a rather extensive history. Ride the lucky streak until it runs out wherever he has to play.