Jake Fox, hitter
Should he be in the major leagues?
Let’s start with the obvious — Jake Fox really can’t play the field except in emergencies. He’s an awful defensive catcher, has been unplayable in the outfield and at third base, and is, at best, a barely acceptable first baseman. If he’s going to be on your major league roster, he’s going to be a pinch-hitter / designated hitter / desperation defensive fill-in. The question is, is he a good enough hitter to warrant a roster spot in that role?
When I, and presumably fans of my vintage, hear Jake Fox described — good-hitting catcher who’s a defensive liability everywhere — the name “Cliff Johnson” comes to mind. Johnson was a 1970′s-era player who could really hit, but was stuck because he wasn’t mobile enough to play in the Astrodome except at catcher, and he couldn’t catch. But Johnson was, as a hitter, at least one order of magnitude better than Fox. Fox has impressive-looking minor-league numbers, but his best numbers were always when he was a little old for the league and when he was repeating the league. Johnson hit from the start in the major leagues; Fox has a career 87 OPS+ in 534 career plate appearances. So, no, I don’t think Fox has shown enough to warrant a spot on a major league roster.
That said, Fox’ 2011 at Norfolk is really impressive. Fox has signed with the Pirates; his “baseball age” for 2012 will be 29. Signing with the Pirates is good in one sense, that they can use hitters, but bad in another sense, because they’re a National League team with no DH. But if he starts off hot, and forces his way into the lineup, well who knows?
mlblogstidesstringer
Look at his stat’s in the field the last three years and tell me he is a defensive laibility. “When he was a little old for the league” is that why he tore up tripple A ball four years ago?
Give the guy a regular AB and he will not disappoint….see last years GF league and any time he has had concistant AB’s.
I have looked at his defensive statistics, and frankly I have no idea what ones you’re looking at. I suppose it’s possible that in some limited sample size he doesn’t show up as terrible, but based on the ones I see, he’s well below average everywhere. In addition, I watched him play at Norfolk quite a bit. He’s a terrible defensive catcher; he can’t throw at all and he’s poor blocking pitches. He has no range at third base. He goes on the short list of contenders for the worst outfielder I’ve ever seen; he has no range, no ability to judge fly balls, and an awful arm for an outfielder. You do have me in that I don’t remember him being much worse than anybody else at first base, but the numbers say he was.
And as far as his age goes, yes, he tore up AAA four years ago — at age 26, for a quarter of a season. Yes, age 26 is old for AAA. At age 25, he hit so poorly in AAA that he was demoted to AA. Most regular players are in the big leagues by 23, so 26 is frankly more than a little old for AAA.
I suppose you’re right that if you gave Jake Fox a regular job in the big leagues he won’t disappoint — if you’re expecting a league-average hitter with substandard defense.