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Without going to far back in history Jeff Francoeur comes to mind. He was a career .808 minor league hitter and never played above AA ball. Of course he only played in the minors from ages 18-21 so that is quite different.

In his first 180ish PAs, Francoeur hit .343/.380/.651 for an OPS of 1.031

In his last 90ish PAs, Francoeur hit .212/.244/.341 for an OPS of .585

And this season Francoeur has an OPS around .730 despite despite decent HR and RBI totals.

The biggest thing Francoeur had/has going against him is that he strikes out a lot and doesn't walk at all. There are few players who are successful doing that (Soriano comes to mind and even he is walking more now).

So perhaps a more appropriate comparison for Duncan is Francoeur instead of Shelton.... and despite Francoeur's struggles, I don't think the comparison is a bad thing.

stewie13 wrote:So perhaps a more appropriate comparison for Duncan is Francoeur instead of Shelton.... and despite Francoeur's struggles, I don't think the comparison is a bad thing.

But even then, there's the huge age gap, the fact that Francoeur runs circles around Duncan defensively, has much more speed, is generally much more athletic....

I liked the Shelton comp better.

(though I know you were just talking about offense)

I don't think Duncan will ever be confused with Francoeur or Edmonds for that matter but he hasn't looked that bad the last few games in left. He's made a couple nice running catches and his throws aren't bad. He has a lot to learn but I'm guessing he will.

*Duncan makes a web gem*

WHAT I THOUGHT DUNCAN COULDN"T PLAY DEFENSE

[/knee jerk]

Kyle wrote:*Duncan makes a web gem*

WHAT I THOUGHT DUNCAN COULDN"T PLAY DEFENSE

[/knee jerk]

*Duncan botches popup*

Alright...maybe he's not quite there yet...

:wink:

EastonBlues22 wrote:

Kyle wrote:*Duncan makes a web gem*

WHAT I THOUGHT DUNCAN COULDN"T PLAY DEFENSE

[/knee jerk]

*Duncan botches popup*

Alright...maybe he's not quite there yet...

No, he's not there yet. But he is closer than folks think. That was one heckuva catch in right center.

The dropped popup will happen and has happened to veterans as well. Miles was too close to the play. Duncan lost his concentration. Miles needs to pull off and give Duncan an unobstructed path. Sure he should have caught it. But running full force and fearing a collision will disrupt concentration.

You alwyas have to be leery with diving catches. Often times they only exist because of bad jumps and poor range.

HugeCardfan wrote:

EastonBlues22 wrote:

Kyle wrote:*Duncan makes a web gem*

WHAT I THOUGHT DUNCAN COULDN"T PLAY DEFENSE

[/knee jerk]

*Duncan botches popup*

Alright...maybe he's not quite there yet...

No, he's not there yet. But he is closer than folks think. That was one heckuva catch in right center.

The dropped popup will happen and has happened to veterans as well. Miles was too close to the play. Duncan lost his concentration. Miles needs to pull off and give Duncan an unobstructed path. Sure he should have caught it. But running full force and fearing a collision will disrupt concentration.

Dropped pop-flies *do* happen, and can happen to anyone. I did not read too much into it or over-react when it happened. Not an "I told you so" moment.

But the Mets TV feed -- which is the one I saw for the game tonight -- was very, VERY clear -- Duncan never, ever took his eyes off the ball. He was not obstructed or distracted. He simply dropped it. Like you said, it happens. No excuse.

Meanwhile, in the same vein -- the "diving catch" is not something to be overly reassured by either. It was no more reassuring than the drop was damning.

That said, two more walks and another double -- very good . . .

I thought his route to the diving catch was almost humorous. He's just not that smooth, and the dive (while executed fine) was more reminiscent of my softball days than Jim Edmonds.

This is not really intended to be a slam on him. He can learn to take better routes and get better jumps. He can't learn to be "smooth", but you don't have to look good to get the job done.

Who did Duncan think he was tonight? Bobby Abreu? Working guys for walks? That's going to determine which direction Duncan goes in. When he starts looking like Encarnacion at the plate, he's doomed.