I miss old school Eddie Murphy. It pains me to think about the Dr. Dolittle movies he made. Anyways, I give thanks everyday that I live in the day of YouTube so that I can re-watch his classics. I still cry myself into the fetal position when I load up Raw. In particular, the part where he talks about seeing Johnny Carson in a tabloid magazine with the look of a man that’s struggling to take a shit. Why does he have that look? Because he’s getting divorced and the wife is taking half. Now Eddie is like F that. I’m going to Africa to get me a bush woman. But as his new African queen gets friendly with the native women of America, they teach her about rights and power (NSFW)…
Which brings me to Eddie Rosario (26.6% owned – increase of 21.4%) of the Minnesota Twins. Dude has been straight balling. Is he worth half?
Since the start of the month, Eddie is batting .356/.388/.756 with five home runs, 11 runs scored, 12 RBI, and one stolen base. For the season, he’s at .296/.337/.503 with 16 home runs, 53 runs scored, 46 RBI, and five stolen bases. On the Razzball Player Rater, he’s the 48th outfielder and owned in 49% of RCLs.
The first thing regarding Eddie is that he’s 25 years old and, while he’s been a professional for eight years, this will be his third year of big league experience. In his two prior trips to the majors, his average was around .268, walk rate was 3%, and strikeout rate was 25%. The BABIP was also in the .335 range. This year, the BABIP is .332, walk rate is up to 6%, and strikeout rate is down to 19%. Things are looking good so far.
Looking at the batted ball profile, the only change is that he’s hitting fewer ground balls and more fly balls. The difference is only 2% but it’s translated to a 3% increase in the HR/FB rate.
The plate discipline numbers are where we can see the most dramatic differences, which makes sense since he’s walking more and striking out less. The swinging strike rate is down from 15% to 11.8%. He’s chasing fewer pitches outside the strike zone (36.6%, down from 40+%) and all the contact rates have ticked up, with the most dramatic on balls outside the zone (65.5% to 72.2%).
Now, he has some obvious splits. 15 of his 16 home runs have come against right-handed pitching and 12 of 16 have come at home. With that said, he’s been competent against lefties and on the road, just without the power. He’s also been entrenched in the five-hole, even against LHP. While he’s stolen five bases, he’s been caught six. I wouldn’t expect too much in that department.
There are 65 batters in all of baseball with an ISO over .200. Of those 65, there are 22 with a strikeout rate under 20%. Eddie is one of those players.
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