There is a region of the USA, in the state of Virginia called the Tidewater Region. It is basically any of the cities/towns east of I-95 which travels North to South on the eastern seaboard of the US through the state. It is astounding how many quality baseball players, all close to the same age who have made the big leagues in the last three to four years from that area.
Here are six of those players:
BJ Upton
Justin Upton
Michael Cuddyer
David Wright
Ryan Zimmerman
Mark Reynolds
All six of these players are major contributors on their teams. I think if you were to put together a list of the best young hitters in the game with potential to be future HOFers, at least five of the six would be on most lists.
So how do so many highly talented players come from one area? I am not sure if I have the answer, but I can speculate. My thought is that they must have a great baseball program available at young ages. That in itself does not ensure success, but having great coaching and playing against other great young players must be a major contributing factor. I am going to do some homework and see what factors I can come up with.
Today though I want to focus on Mark Reynolds, the man known as "The Sheriff" amongst his teammates. Reynolds was drafted in 2004, 476th overall. He played collegiately for the University of Virginia. It took him three years in the minors before he made his debut in 2007. He made quick impact as he drove in 14 runs in his first 15 games.
Reynolds just turned 26 years old and in his third season in the bigs. In his first year he had 17 HR and 62 RBI, last year he raised those numbers with 28HR and 97 RBI, and this year he is going to another level with 33 HR and 76 RBI. He is known as a guy that can hit the ball regularly over 400 feet but he strikes out a lot. Last year he set a record with over 200 K's on the season. He is a prototypical power hitter. In 2007 10 of his 17 HR's traveled over 400 feet.
If Reynolds can stay healthy he can hit 40-45 HR this season and have 100+ RBI. Look for him to put up big numbers the next couple of seasons as well. It seems that many major leaguers post their best numbers between 27-29 years old. Everything seems to be moving in that direction for "The Sheriff" as he is the offensive leader for the Diamondbacks. Imagine how good he will be if he gets some more protection is the lineup.
Check out this video, it represents the longest HR hit this year so far, 481 ft, by "the sheriff". https://secure.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200907295799033&c_id=ari
I watched John Smoltz struggle once again for the Red Sox. Sadly he doesn't seem to have "it" anymore. Today he was released by the Red Sox, which may spell the end of his career. I do hope that he gets picked up by someone as I think he could be a valuable asset to a young pitching staff. Surely, he is not one of those athletes that stick around too long and end up making people just wish he would retire. He is a probable hall of famer upon retirement, and I loved watching him in his prime. It isn't as much fun to watch him now.
Thoughts...
No comments:
Post a Comment