Ichiro
Posted 05-02-2010 at 03:22 AM by His Own Bad Self
Ichiro is just interesting. He's the most successful player to cross over from Japan to the United States, he started his MLB career at 27, he was both the AL Rookie of the Year and the MVP for a 116-win team, he's been an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner in each of his nine full seasons so far, but I don't know what to make of him.
Ichiro is... well, not exactly one-dimensional. He can field well, and is an excellent baserunner. He does lack power, though, or if he can hit for power (as I've heard), he chooses not to employ it. And while I can't say he doesn't have a good batting eye, it would seem that he'd rather trade walks for hits. Tony Gwynn, to whom I often compare him, had more power, more walks, and fewer strikeouts (and yes, I know batting strikeouts aren't indicative of much).
Ichiro just comes across as one of those players who's so good at the things he does well, and who's so well-loved by his fans, that it becomes easy to overlook his weaknesses, and to understate the impact of those weaknesses on his overall productivity. There are three other right fielders whose careers perfectly overlap Ichiro's (same ages in the same years): Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordonez, and Jermaine Dye. Ranked by Batting Wins, Ichiro is ahead of Dye, but behind the other two. Does his fielding make up the difference? I don't know. Being worse than Bobby Abreu or Magglio Ordonez isn't exactly a mark against, but... I don't know. Ask any baseball fan who the best player is of the four, and I suspect a plurality would say Ichiro. I just wonder if that's the "right" answer.
Anyway, Ichiro's a fine player, regardless of what I think, and it's been fun watching him. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what he does with the rest of his career.
Ichiro is... well, not exactly one-dimensional. He can field well, and is an excellent baserunner. He does lack power, though, or if he can hit for power (as I've heard), he chooses not to employ it. And while I can't say he doesn't have a good batting eye, it would seem that he'd rather trade walks for hits. Tony Gwynn, to whom I often compare him, had more power, more walks, and fewer strikeouts (and yes, I know batting strikeouts aren't indicative of much).
Ichiro just comes across as one of those players who's so good at the things he does well, and who's so well-loved by his fans, that it becomes easy to overlook his weaknesses, and to understate the impact of those weaknesses on his overall productivity. There are three other right fielders whose careers perfectly overlap Ichiro's (same ages in the same years): Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordonez, and Jermaine Dye. Ranked by Batting Wins, Ichiro is ahead of Dye, but behind the other two. Does his fielding make up the difference? I don't know. Being worse than Bobby Abreu or Magglio Ordonez isn't exactly a mark against, but... I don't know. Ask any baseball fan who the best player is of the four, and I suspect a plurality would say Ichiro. I just wonder if that's the "right" answer.
Anyway, Ichiro's a fine player, regardless of what I think, and it's been fun watching him. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what he does with the rest of his career.
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