If you never saw a guy play then how are you able to have an opinion on him and compare him to another player unless your just using stats?Those would be casual fans
I’m 28 and I know who Jim Kelly is. Never saw him play obviously. I just think Russ is in a higher tier.
I'm assuming he's done. So 225 wins, 3.49 era, 6 all stars, cy young, 2 era titles, 6 gold gloves. I would think he'd be a guy who gets in on like the 6th or 7th ballot.
Stats and accomplishments*. Not seeing someone play doesn’t exempt them from a comparison. That would be a ridiculous sentiment
love a "doesn't hustle" a year after stealing 70+ bases. horrendous attitude but teammates love him. out 2 of 4 years* (that first year he was on a 9 fwar/162 pace). Not a winner but they've literally never not won the division in his career. no "rumor" of his "career threatening" elbow injury listed anywhere. not on google, not on a twitter search, not on reddit, etc.
Yea I was only bringing those guys up as an example you can't just look at numbers. Even within the history of MLB, strikeouts and caught stealing are obviously bad, but strikeouts are "less" bad whereas being caught stealing is "more" bad now compared to 70 years ago. Guys would sit out to avoid that 100th strikeout on the season but going 70/100 on steals was just the cost of doing business in an agressive running era.
Honestly the HoF voters are going to have a tough time with starters in the near future. If Greinke isn't in within the few few ballots, how many starters under 30 will actually make it? Below is a link of all active pitchers. The highest guy on the list is Sandy Alcantara who is 28 and has 20.3 career WAR. I don't want this to turn into a conversation about WAR vs traditional stats. I'm just using this as a reference point. Who under 30 as a starter would anyone feel reasonably confident on making it? Actually looking at this list makes me feel like guys like Sale/deGrom/Cole have much better chances at making it than I previously thought.
I hope to one day love anything half as much as you love what if sports
I don’t think he’ll make it but not because of those numbers. Reggie Jackson hit .262 and struck out 2,597. Now he’s obviously a HoF but if Stanton was healthier during his prime or didn’t fall off as much as he did and could string together a few decent seasons he’d be right a good candidate despite the average and Ks.
Watch a game before you comment on hustle. Never runs out grounders, never. Was benched several times for not hustling early in career. You won’t find the elbow issue online. That tidbit was learned from people i know that manage money for a multitude of professional athletes. His contact was always below market and that is the reason. Freddie freeman tried to mentor him and acuna would have no part of it. Since then he has regressed. Could bat 30 points higher if he ran out grounders. He is a cancer.
He’s really close to 3K Ks so he might not be done. Don’t forget 2 silver sluggers. His quirkiness is what will put him over the top.
This is by far the dumbest post in the thread, which is a tough feat in a thread where someone claimed Mike Trout isn't a Hall of Famer
I watched 120 games last year and own over a million in team stock. Your post is the dumbest post of the year.
Watch a game, he is the most talented but does not hustle. I live in Atlanta. Watch some tape instead of quoting stats. He would have hit .370 is he ran out grounders. Watch some tape
You think he'd get another 21 hits by running a little harder on routine ground balls? That's asinine. There's a reason coaches don't want guys running out routine ground balls, there's zero upside
100 percent wrong, puts pressure on defense and causes pressure and errors. How many games did you watch last year. Zero!
You’re comparing him to Mr October??? That’s laughable
I literally said Jackson is obviously a HoFer and that I don’t think Stanton will make it. I was just saying the stats you used as a reason he wouldn’t make it don’t make sense since those two are very close to what Jackson did. But sure, read it that way.
Maybe the Braves don't want Acuna Jr playing with abandon like he did his first couple of years before he ripped up his ACL and missed 100+ games between '21-'22. They have an investment to protect. Much like many of the complaints about Manny Machado, it could simply be there is "selective hustle" vs "laziness" as a long term plan agreed to by both team and player in order to ensure his continued playability. It doesn't take much for a damaged knee to get reinjured, as you saw last week.
or maybe be he is just lazy, has exhibited a lack of hustle since his rookie year. In fact, was. Benched multiple times for lack of effort. Cost them playoff series by not running out deep fly because he thought it was a homer. Stood at plate and was watched and took a single. Cost braves game and series. His new injury is the other leg.
Obviously I know my own team best, and can say that the biggest hustle guys on the Rays don't dig out routine grounders as much as they used to. I consider Kevin Cash to be a very sober manager and have been looking for some retribution when Randy doesn't hustle out a grounder. But it never comes. I don't know if the Braves purposely advised RAJr to slow it down as @Fan1978 denies. But it seems that guys are prioritizing health over all out hustle- as contrary as it is to all the advice we've been hearing since childhood.
