Ready to Launch

[Edgy MD]

Twittering and flittering all reporting that Amed Rosario will be joining the Mets tomorrow in Denver. So, you know, don't be surprised, be ready!

[ashie62]

Bout time, best of luck Amed!

[batmagadanleadoff]

It's official. Amed up. And he'll be in tomorrow's starting lineup, ESPN reports.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20212029/new-york-mets-call-shortstop-prospect-amed-rosario-triple-a

[batmagadanleadoff]

I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but if by design, it's a smart move to have Rosario get his first licks in such a welcoming hitting environment as mile high Denver.

I remember when one of the Generation K pitchers, Jason Isringhausen was first called up. Izzy would've been scheduled to face the Rockies at Shea, but the super duper knucklehead, Dallas Green, held Izzy back a start on the grounds that the Rockies were the then, according to Green, current incarnation of Murderer's Row, not considering for a second that it was likelier that the Rockies were just an ordinary hitting team whose stats were inflated tremendously by the historical pinball machine offense environment of a pre-humidor Coors Field. Instead, Dallas had Izzy debut on the road against the Cubs, pitching in Wrigley Field, which was probably after Coors, the worst pitching environment in baseball. Things turned out okay though, in spite of the arm shredder. The Mets won, and Izzy pitched a pretty neat game. (two hits allowed over seven innings pitched).

[Lefty Specialist]

Gotta play him every day, Terry. See what the kid is made of.

[nymr83]

I like the road start to get his feet wet. Will he lead off right away, or have to prove his way up the order like the Mets did with Wright his rookie year?

Alderson also said Smith could be called up soon. It would be a crowded team with 9 guys who either need to play every day (Cespedes, Conforto, Rosario, and hopefully soon Smith) or guys who likely feel entitled to (Walker, Cabrera, Bruce, Granderson, Reyes) in the 7 non-catcher spots. You probably break the log jam by telling the last 5 that they'll all need to share - I would go so far as to fire Terry if he decides not to play the youngsters almost every day.

[Edgy MD]

I don't think that's going to be a problem.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I would have preferred to have them wait until April to call him up, thereby delaying free agency by a year, but oh well.

The big question now is, what's his uniform number going to be? I see him as a 6, but it's currently assigned to a member of the coaching staff. If it was up to me, I'd give Pat Roessler a number in the 50's like coaches are supposed to have, and give 6 to Rosario. 11 would also work. (If things work out as we hope, Rosario would be the last to wear that frequently issued number.) I see that 2 is available, but that number has too much Jeter taint to give to a player who you hope to have installed at shortstop for many years.

[Centerfield]

Looks like he wears #1 in Las Vegas.

Of course that's Mookie's number. But it's not retired. Will be interesting to see.

[RealityChuck]

Centerfield wrote: Looks like he wears #1 in Las Vegas. Of course that's Mookie's number. But it's not retired. Will be interesting to see.

Yeah. And 7 was Ed Kranepool's number. It looked strange to see Hubie Brooks with it, too. But no one connects it with Ed nowadays.

I should also point out that 3 was Bud Harrelson's number.

[Edgy MD]

"I know you! You wore seven!" — José Reyes, upon being introduced to Ed Kranepool

[Fman99]

So this isn't the Cialis thread then?

[Guest themetfairy]

Two months from now we'll be looking for the Amed Rosario debut thread and nobody will be able to find it because of this vague title.

[Ceetar]

themetfairy wrote: Two months from now we'll be looking for the Amed Rosario debut thread and nobody will be able to find it because of this vague title.

I've given up trying to find anything historically here.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

We're here in Denver! #H1story

[Centerfield]

He looks a little loose, at the plate and in the field.

Not sure how else to describe it.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Hopefully this page will fill up with many impressive numbers over the coming years.

[Edgy MD]

He seems sort of puppet-y — like his limbs are a little longer than he can control just yet. Like a not-yet-ready-for-the-medal-round figure skater.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Or like a browned, less-spastic-Muppet-y Hunter Pence.

[Centerfield]

I think what all of us are basically saying in different ways, is that he looks a little uncoordinated. Which isn't necessarily terrible. Not everyone can be Carlos Beltran pretty. I always thought Reyes did everything a little awkwardly and he won himself a batting title.

When I heard about the Gold Glove potential, I had my hopes up that he would look the part. I remember the first time I saw Rey Ordonez I knew he was something special in the field. Rosario doesn't have that. Not as smooth as I would like, not cat-quick like some of the elite fielders. We'll see about his range and consistency. Arm seems very strong.

At the plate, he is very loose. Edgy said it perfectly, like his limbs are too long for him to control just yet. Of course, this could lead to tremendous power later on as he fills out, but as of now, he swings and misses a lot, and chases some bad ones. When I saw Conforto two years ago, he just looked like a hitter. Not sure yet on Rosario. I hate to say it but he kinda seems like a right handed Fartinez.

It's very early. We'll have to see. If it's any comfort, I'm terrible at judging these things. I saw Victor Diaz and said this guy can definitely hit.

[MFS62]

Rosario was rated a top 5 prospect on every list. Being thin doesn't mean you can't hit.
Ted Williams got the nickname "The Splendid Splinter" at an early age, and scouts called a young Darryl Strawberry the "Black Ted Williams".
(When told of this Darryl did not know who Ted Williams was)
I'm sure the scouts looked at his swing and where the ball ended up (both on offense and defense), not the length of his limbs when they filed their reports.

Later

[Edgy MD]

MFS62 wrote: Rosario was rated a top 5 prospect on every list. Being thin doesn't mean you can't hit.

Nobody suggested that.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I wouldn't say "uncoordinated." More... gangly. He's just built like a tween; I wouldn't say he moves or plays like one.

[Edgy MD]

I'm relatively certain that "Splendid Splinter" referred to Ted Williams' bat and not to his thin-ness.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm relatively certain that "Splendid Splinter" referred to Ted Williams' bat and not to his thin-ness.

Nope, it was his build:
https://www.factmonster.com/sports/sports-section/origin-athlete-nicknames

Later

[Edgy MD]

Well, I don't know who Fact Monster is. These guys say otherwise: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/655028-the-splendid-splinter-and-the-50-best-nicknames-in-mlb-history

Neither has a reference.

At any rate, nobody suggested that being skinny prevents anybody from being a good hitter.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Well, I don't know who Fact Monster is. These guys say otherwise: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/655028-the-splendid-splinter-and-the-50-best-nicknames-in-mlb-history Neither has a reference. At any rate, nobody suggested that being skinny prevents anybody from being a good hitter.

That is correct, nor was my sentence meant to infer than anyone did say that.
Since there is no verification of either explanation, that means that either of us could be right. Right?

Later

[Edgy MD]

Yes, either or both.

[Centerfield]

I like him. Super fast, great arm, ball seems to jump off his bat.

Still a little loose at the plate, and no OBP to speak of. But I see a high ceiling for him. I think it will take him time to get there, and may have to bat at the bottom of the lineup for a while, but I see good signs.

I think the defense will be pretty good, recent errors notwithstanding.

[Frayed Knot]

I've been somewhat disappointed that he hasn't shown the defensive savant traits I was expecting to see.
Maybe that's partly overly optimistic expectations on my part, but when the prospect mavens were touting his 'plus-defense' as ML-ready a full year or more prior to his eventual promotion, I took that
to mean that he was a more polished defensive player. Instead, what we've seen to date has involved some backhand unsteadiness, a double-pump habit that he uses even when there's no time for it,
an occasional scatter arm (fortunately Smith's glove IS all it was touted), and just some plain old fumbles on some not too difficult balls.

Now this isn't to say I don't think he can play the position. He's certainly not a bad SS and I fully expect him to be the everyday man out there and likely improve on his first time jitters. But at the
same time, I think a lot of us looked at the Plays-Not-Made syndrome we had in the first half with Cabrera and Reyes and expected a significant step up once Rosario was promoted and the change
turned out to be not all that dramatic.