speaking of Altuve...

[Controller Jacobs]

...speaking of Altuve, has he met Joe Morgan? Two guys listed below 5'8" who have started at 2B before they turned 22.

And speaking of Altuve and Morgan, is there any sentiment that perhaps shorter kids should be steered towards baseball, rather than away from it? I am making an assumption there, but it seems backed up by simple observation - players are bigger and bigger. We want Carlos Gomez to draw walks to take advantage of his speed, but he's listed as 6'3" - his strike zone must be much larger than Altuve's. Conversely, perhaps it is significantly harder for a short player to generate bat speed?

[TranaGreg]

Jose Altuve, winner of the worst sports commentator of the year, years 2040-2060.

[The Dane]

...speaking of Altuve, has he met Joe Morgan? Two guys listed below 5'8" who have started at 2B before they turned 22.

And speaking of Altuve and Morgan, is there any sentiment that perhaps shorter kids should be steered towards baseball, rather than away from it? I am making an assumption there, but it seems backed up by simple observation - players are bigger and bigger. We want Carlos Gomez to draw walks to take advantage of his speed, but he's listed as 6'3" - his strike zone must be much larger than Altuve's. Conversely, perhaps it is significantly harder for a short player to generate bat speed?

As a short guy who played baseball, I can speak to a few things.
• Defensively, it's a real disadvantage. To have average range, you gotta be a frakkin gymnast. If you are lucky enough to have a strong arm, you can probably survive in the MI, because the stress on lateral movement and your quick feet will be less of an impediment. (I have no arm, strong or accurate.)
• Even with the quicker jump you probably get, SBs aren't as plentiful as you think. I doubt Altuve will ever steal a ton of bases regardless of his outstanding speed. Remember how frightening Furcal was on the basepaths? I've never seen any player so intimidating in just the WAY he ran. He only topped 40 SBs twice, but was always fast and had good instincts. I think you get less stretch on the slide to second and shorter limbs for the times when your momentum is pulling aside the bag.
• You do have a tougher strike zone. If you have some bat control and patience to lay off pitches outside, you'll get meaty pitches in your wheelhouse that are outside and away for a taller hitter. Couple that with a generally shorter wing, and I think this is the one real advantage a shorter hitter has. I was never a great player, but I could tell after the first pitch if this pitcher could consistently keep the ball down into my strike zone. I could walk all day long. And if he had enough control to keep it down, I had a quick enough bat to turn on pitches I could hit. I rarely struck out, hit for high average and power and took a lot of walks. If only I could field ANY position half as well as a blindfolded and drunk Jack Cust, I might have actually been worth something other than a DH/pinch hitter. Even before my eyes started going and I was playing fast-pitch softball, I could regularly loft them over the fence, even when much burlier guys would peter out at the wall.

There are some advantages to being a smaller hitter, but on the whole, I do not think they come even close to outweighing the disadvantages. This is why I have a real soft spot for the Altuves and Giles Brothers' of the world.

[TranaGreg]

As a short guy who played baseball, I can speak to a few things.
• Defensively, it's a real disadvantage. To have average range, you gotta be a frakkin gymnast. If you are lucky enough to have a strong arm, you can probably survive in the MI, because the stress on lateral movement and your quick feet will be less of an impediment. (I have no arm, strong or accurate.)
• Even with the quicker jump you probably get, SBs aren't as plentiful as you think. I doubt Altuve will ever steal a ton of bases regardless of his outstanding speed. Remember how frightening Furcal was on the basepaths? I've never seen any player so intimidating in just the WAY he ran. He only topped 40 SBs twice, but was always fast and had good instincts. I think you get less stretch on the slide to second and shorter limbs for the times when your momentum is pulling aside the bag.
• You do have a tougher strike zone. If you have some bat control and patience to lay off pitches outside, you'll get meaty pitches in your wheelhouse that are outside and away for a taller hitter. Couple that with a generally shorter wing, and I think this is the one real advantage a shorter hitter has. I was never a great player, but I could tell after the first pitch if this pitcher could consistently keep the ball down into my strike zone. I could walk all day long. And if he had enough control to keep it down, I had a quick enough bat to turn on pitches I could hit. I rarely struck out, hit for high average and power and took a lot of walks. If only I could field ANY position half as well as a blindfolded and drunk Jack Cust, I might have actually been worth something other than a DH/pinch hitter. Even before my eyes started going and I was playing fast-pitch softball, I could regularly loft them over the fence, even when much burlier guys would peter out at the wall.

There are some advantages to being a smaller hitter, but on the whole, I do not think they come even close to outweighing the disadvantages. This is why I have a real soft spot for the Altuves and Giles Brothers' of the world.

good post. much better than mine, altho I did put a lot of thought into it.

I can also say, as a guy played competetive ball at SS at 5'9", it was so disheartening the year I shared the position with a guy who was 6'7". I was noted for having great range, esp. to my right; the first time I saw the other guy get a ball in the hole by taking one large step to his right and just reaching, it really sucked. I held my own, but it definitely is a case of the smaller guys having to be be that much faster & better. I agree with having a soft spot - for me it's Dustin Pedroia tho.

[Controller Jacobs]

It would be interesting to see how opposing pitchers feel about facing the guy after Altuve - today it's Justin Maxwell, listed at 6'5". Is it a breather to suddenly have that huge zone?

[The Dane]

It would be interesting to see how opposing pitchers feel about facing the guy after Altuve - today it's Justin Maxwell, listed at 6'5". Is it a breather to suddenly have that huge zone?

Yeah, that would be interesting. I think it would have a lot to do with where a pitcher likes to locate. Remember how Maddux used to like to climb the ladder on guys? He'd drag them way out over the plate and then pitch them inside. He did it all day and was practically the only trick in his bag at the end of his career. ANY hitter that made that difficult to execute would give him fits (as much as anyone could give Maddux fits). I imagine any guy that has a pitch that he really counts on to get guys out, if there is a hitter that makes it hard to throw -be it size, handedness, or whatever- he is probably less comfortable.

[TranaGreg]

I also wonder if there's an opposite effect for pitchers who like to pound the ball low in the zone - tall hitters, esp. those with long legs might give the perception that the bottom of the zone is a bit higher for them. As a pitcher I would want to keep the ball as low as possible to most hitters ... for those tall guys I wonder if they have to bring it up a bit more than they'd like.