2K11: Brett Lawrie

[Don Quixote]

TORONTO - How impressive has Burnaby’s Brett Lawrie been?“

He’s going to be an impact player and soon at the big-league level,” said a National League talent evaluator, fresh from seeing Lawrie and the Las Vegas 51s last week.

“Some of the Jays scouts were comparing him to Schmidt.”

Schmidt who?

“Mike Schmidt,” he said.
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/05/01...y-be-jaysready

Poor comparison IMO. Schmidt was a terrific glove guy when he came up and could destroy fastballs, but melted at the sight of breaking pitches for his first year-plus (.196 in 1973). Then, for whatever reason, it all kicked in and he became a monster.

[revo]

two more errors for E5 tonight (at 1B no less!), bringing his league-leading seasonal total to 10 -- and keep in mind he's yet to homer. Meanwhile, Lawrie hasn't committed an error in 25 games at AAA, and is hitting .340 with 9 HRs and 9 SBs. What the dealio????

[Hammer]

two more errors for E5 tonight (at 1B no less!), bringing his league-leading seasonal total to 10 -- and keep in mind he's yet to homer. Meanwhile, Lawrie hasn't committed an error in 25 games at AAA, and is hitting .340 with 9 HRs and 9 SBs. What the dealio????

I dont think Blue Jays management reads RJ, but I could be wrong......

[Teenwolf]

Probably another couple of weeks until he gets the call. I think it's a super two issue.

Very nice to see the improved defense at third.

[Sour Masher]

This kid is going to be a beast. Sickels, who has crushed on him for years now, has a great write up on Lawrie: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/...onto-blue-jays.

If you read the comments below the article, one poster compares Lawrie to Ryan Braun with the ability to stick at 3b and Sickels agrees with the comp. He also rates him as the 4th best position player in the minors right now behind only Harper, Trout, and Machado (he lists Hosmer ahead of him too, but Hosmer has already gotten called up). He is just destryoing the ball, and these reports on his defense are very encouraging. Lawrie will bring much needed hitting to the 3b position soon.

If you have any chance to get this kid, get him now. He looks like he'll be the best Canadian hitter since Joey Votto with a real shot of sticking at 3b long term.

[Big Tymer]

This kid is going to be a beast. Sickels, who has crushed on him for years now, has a great write up on Lawrie: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/...onto-blue-jays.

I was going to post that Sickels article as well as it's hard to come away from reading that article and not be excited about this guy and his YTD performance/development. He also sheds some light into his perceived defensive deficiencies and why they may not be the long term concern they are made out to be. Always a fan of minorleagueball.com and articles like this and the engaged community are a big reason why for anyone who hasn't checked it out before.

[Sam]

Incredible Stat, per Rotoworld:

The Blue Jays' third basemen have gone an astounding 0-for-45 over Toronto's past 13 games.
Over that time-frame, Jayson Nix is 0-for-22, John McDonald 0-for-18 and Edwin Encarnacion 0-for-5. On the year, Nix is now hitting .164, McDonald .222 and Encarnacion .236. For the season, the Blue Jays' third basemen entered Saturday the owners of a combined .170/.227/.266 slash. Meanwhile, down on the farm, Brett Lawrie continues to abuse Pacific Coast League pitching for Triple-A Las Vegas, batting .341 to go along with 12 home runs, 17 doubles, three triples, 40 RBI and a .403 OBP through his first 234 plate appearances. It's only a matter of time before he gets the call to the big leagues.


Cant see him staying down for much longer

[Moonlight J]

This is why Super Two needs to go away. It affects the quality of baseball when the system in place forces smaller budget teams to hold more talented players down until some arbitrary date in June.

[Bodhizefa]

This is why Super Two needs to go away. It affects the quality of baseball when the system in place forces smaller budget teams to hold more talented players down until some arbitrary date in June.

I totally agree. I hope like hell that all parties involved do away with this in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Here's hoping.

[revo]

and Toronto is just 3 1/2 games out of first. The problem with some teams, mainly the small markets, is that they have a loser's mentality: they believe they just have no shot at winning, so why cost themselves a few extra bucks by bringing up a kid early and try to win.

And not only is TOR's third basemen offensively pathetic, they're just as bad defensively.

I can understand wanting to properly groom a player for the long-term, but when a 21-year old dominates a new level, what's left for him there?

[revo]

4-for-6, 2 more HRs for Lawrie last night.

[TranaGreg]

he's turning into a legend before he plays his first game ... mind you I think I'll be getting a Lawrie jersey as soon as he's brought up.

[virgonomic]

Incredible Stat, per Rotoworld:

The Blue Jays' third basemen have gone an astounding 0-for-45 over Toronto's past 13 games.
Over that time-frame, Jayson Nix is 0-for-22, John McDonald 0-for-18 and Edwin Encarnacion 0-for-5. On the year, Nix is now hitting .164, McDonald .222 and Encarnacion .236. For the season, the Blue Jays' third basemen entered Saturday the owners of a combined .170/.227/.266 slash.

It's painful that I own two of these guys. No wonder I'm last in BA.

ETA: EE with his first dinger today then Nix later singles. 6 ER and 51 pitch inning for Danks - the day after they use 6 pitchers in a game. Ouch.

[swampdragon]

1st in the PCL in HITS, RUNS, DOUBLES,
2nd in HRs behind (gulp) Wily Mo Pena and Anthony Rizzo
4th in RBIS
1st in total bases by a lot
11 stolen bases too

K/bb ratio is 17/40 -

looks very very good to me - but then again Wily Mo looks great too

[doc]

Incredible Stat, per Rotoworld:

The Blue Jays' third basemen have gone an astounding 0-for-45 over Toronto's past 13 games.
Over that time-frame, Jayson Nix is 0-for-22, John McDonald 0-for-18 and Edwin Encarnacion 0-for-5. On the year, Nix is now hitting .164, McDonald .222 and Encarnacion .236. For the season, the Blue Jays' third basemen entered Saturday the owners of a combined .170/.227/.266 slash. Meanwhile, down on the farm, Brett Lawrie continues to abuse Pacific Coast League pitching for Triple-A Las Vegas, batting .341 to go along with 12 home runs, 17 doubles, three triples, 40 RBI and a .403 OBP through his first 234 plate appearances. It's only a matter of time before he gets the call to the big leagues.


Cant see him staying down for much longer

With Nix's first-inning single today, the Blue Jays' third baseman upped their recent performance to a rock solid 1-for-46. This 1-for-1 torrid hot streak clearly extends Lawrie's stay in Vegas till the start of the 2012 season.