How bad is Josh Hamilton?

[Passthrough]

It's fun to watch. But mark my words...before the season is over he will get a hit to beat the Rangers.....and it will make us all insane.

I could very easily see this happen too!

[dragonsdaddy]

A lot of us know that after an incredible April-May 2012 Josh really tailed off last year. It's gotten no better this year.

In fact, Josh is now leading the league as the worst player in baseball when it comes to plate discipline:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/josh-hamilton-isswinging-himself-into-oblivion/

Some will say these are "baseball nerd" stats but they aren't hard to understand. His O-swing % (percentage of pitches he swings at out of the strike zone) is over 40% and worst in the league. Translation: throw Josh something out of the strike zone and the chances are almost 50-50 he'll take a swing at it.

So why would anyone throw Josh a strike? Pitchers have clearly figured him out and his plate performance is just falling falling falling.

He's the biggest hack in baseball - super aggressive at the plate, always swings at the first strike, but no one is giving him anything to hit so ... he's striking out a ton.

If you're a fan of JH it's easy to say "just keep at it, Josh, you'll break out of this slump." um, it's not a slump it's a season's worth of data now and whether you think these stats are just for nerds or not opposing pitchers clearly know how to pitch him.

The Fangraphs article says "This isn’t a situation where Hamilton just needs to wait for inevitable regression to the mean to come iron out his bad luck. Josh Hamilton needs to take charge of the rest of his career and make significant changes to his approach at the plate. "

The more I watch this train wreck in progress the more I am thinking the Rangers really dodged a bullet here.

that is how i see him too. i don't wish failure on what is purported to be a good Christian man, but i can't stop staring at what could very well be the biggest bust free agent deal, ever. we were worried about years 4 and 5 of a long term deal. the angels are now wondering about months 4 and 5. his club house cancer act last season will be but childs play to how the angels psyche will suffer sans a return to good josh soon. josh has 2 options as i see it. change his approach at the plate or get vlady to be his hitting instructor.

[lab man]

He will bounce back at some point but it has been gratifying to see him struggle in front of his "baseball town" crowd and watch them boo him.

I heard on the radio this morning that if strikeouts were hits, Josh would be batting .308.

Napoli has him beat though. 46 strikeouts in 123 at bats.

[Bear82]

At least he is in a baseball town now.

[Dale Moser]

At least he is in a baseball town now.

Nope, they are booing him too.

[Dale Moser]

that is how i see him too. i don't wish failure on what is purported to be a good Christian man, but i can't stop staring at what could very well be the biggest bust free agent deal, ever. we were worried about years 4 and 5 of a long term deal. the angels are now wondering about months 4 and 5. his club house cancer act last season will be but childs play to how the angels psyche will suffer sans a return to good josh soon. josh has 2 options as i see it. change his approach at the plate or get vlady to be his hitting instructor.

If it keeps up Poo Holes will start chirping. By all accounts he's the worst clubhouse drama queen in baseball. Oh how sweet it would be for that clubhouse to implode, get Soscia fired, and send the wheels flying off that thing.

[Dale Moser]

He will bounce back at some point but it has been gratifying to see him struggle in front of his "baseball town" crowd and watch them boo him.



Napoli has him beat though. 46 strikeouts in 123 at bats.

Nap is also hitting .268 with 6 taters and 31 knocked in!

[Smart]

The good news is that this attitude is back and still going strong...

[mikemorvan]

If it keeps up Poo Holes will start chirping. By all accounts he's the worst clubhouse drama queen in baseball. Oh how sweet it would be for that clubhouse to implode, get Soscia fired, and send the wheels flying off that thing.

A. Moreno's head has to be about to explode. If they're 10 back at the end of the month i think there could well be blood shed. Most likely Scoscia's. That team does have more than it's share of head cases.

Random note: I'm glad Jonny Gomes doesn't play for the A's any longer.

Yes - Mitch Moreland is killing it. Hopefully a sign of things to come. That broken bat single off the wall Saturday night was awesome.

[ShockValue]

The good news is that this attitude is back and still going strong...



[

Love it!

Did you see the Andrus on Beltre head rub after the win last night? Greatness.

[Johnny]

Just put a dang dip in your lip boy and be done with it!


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPCd5K9iNYw"]Josh Hamilton Home Run Derby 2008 Recap - Michael Dean Chadwick Ministries - YouTube[/ame]

[BigRacks7]

I heard on the radio this morning that if strikeouts were hits, Josh would be batting .308.

yea an the Astros would win the world series


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[Grayson]

The good news is that this attitude is back and still going strong...

I have actually been impressed with the PUK this season. Yes, the PU is still a part of his game, but it looks like he's minimized it so far. Most importantly, it appears he's hustling, doing the little things, and being much more of a team player this year.


Now I need to go take another shower, I feel filthy!

[Mark44]

Josh Hamilton had entirely too much talent to not come back around. Everyone has slumps in baseball. It going to happen. I'm confident that he will come back and be the josh Hamilton that we knew from the rangers.

It's not a slump. It's a season's worth of data now. It started here last year and is getting worse. If you go look at the fangraphs article he is trending up in all the bad plate discipline categories. In other words, what you are seeing now is not the Josh Hamilton we loved back 2008-2010.

If he doesn't change his approach at the plate things are going to get really ugly.

But he probably will make some changes. You have to know he's a got a bunch of coaches working on him. This isn't someone playing Saturday night softball - the Angels have a lot of money tied up in him hitting and hitting a LOT better than he is now.

The question probably isn't "will he change his approach at the plate" but instead "when and how much will it help?"

Until then it's fun to watch and GM Daniels has to be smiling somewhere...

[NelsonV]

You might not get many takers on that bet but offer up some odds of him falling off the wagon again and getting busted in a So Cal drinking establishment with whipped cream on his nipples and nookie girls on his arm...then you'll get some action.

And what is wrong with this?????^^^^^^