Jack Wilson and Michael Young have had pretty comparable careers so far. Mike Young is ten months older than Jack Wilson. Jack broke in at 23, Young broke in at 24. Both guys are middle infielders. Jack is currently listed as 6'0" and 192 pounds, Mike is currently listed as 6'1" and 190 pounds. They even come from the same part of California.
NM AGE AB BB H.. 2B 3B HR SB CS .BA. .OBP .SLG
JW 23 390 16 087 17 01 03 01 03 .223 .255 .295
MY 24 386 26 096 18 04 11 03 01 .249 .298 .402
JW 24 527 37 133 22 04 04 05 02 .252 .306 .332
MY 25 573 41 150 26 08 09 06 07 .262 .308 .382
JW 25 558 36 143 21 03 09 05 05 .256 .303 .353
MY 26 666 36 204 33 09 14 13 02 .306 .339 .446
JW 26 452 13 145 29 10 09 07 03 .321 .341 .489
MY 27 477 34 154 22 06 14 10 03 .323 .367 .482
The final two rows are the 2004 numbers as of tonight. If Jack Wilson finishes the year at .306, odds are he'll have a lower OBP but a higher SLG than Mike Young posted in 2003.
Mike Young provides a recent precedent in which a middle infielder without a lot of power, basestealing ability, or plate discipline suddenly blossoms into a .300 hitter. If Jack Wilson's career follows a similar path, next year will be better, not worse, than this year. What could be more fun than brazenly projecting a .323 / .367 / .482 year for Jack in 2005? That should rile up the Jack Wilson haters.
Also, if you like to translate statistics to account for the different ways that different ballparks play, consider that Mike Young has been playing half his games in Arlington, a park that extremely favors hitters, while Jack Wilson has been playing in PNC, a neutral park that doesn't much favor hitters or pitchers. Factor in this fact that Young has had an easier time posting his numbers and Jack's breakout is a bit more impressive.
That said, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Mike Young comparison will be compelling only if Jack finishes strong. He still has 50 more games to play before he can close the book on a .306 season. We'll be rooting for him to do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment