Burly's negative defense as an OF'er negates any offensive upside he brings, thus his +0.1 bWAR so far this season, and that's w/o him playing in the OF hardly at all. If he had been getting JW's OF playing time and produced the same offense as he has so far, he'd once again be significantly in the negative range.hdhntr148 wrote: ↑18 May 2025 08:42 am plan for walker before season was fine as expectations were team would fall into Pirates like record. But now? Heck no he does NOT deserve so many AB's. this is historically when Burly becomes a big factor on club and he deserves the PT. Sure play walker 3 days a week but NOT every dang day! Can't stand to see him roll and easy grounder for outs or Striking out way too much.
Personally I would send him back to Memphis as this team is going places and let him develop his stroke with no pressure and everyday AB's.
Burleson is too good a player and can't be DH now with Herrera back and raking. imagine how much better an offense with him in lineup than Mr Ofer?
Oli I am sure is under orders from mgt and that was fine when they were merely planning on phoning it in. But now?
Historically? What, his one summer last year? SSS. He needs a combo of DH and 1B to have a decent chance to be more than just another guy on the fringe of MLB. Needs better plate discipline and more power, but he's currently not near the 1B Contreras is, and he's not near the DH Herrera is. He'd be an ok bench/role player, but there's guys at Memphis who would bring more value to the team right now than AB can imo.
As far as Walker, IDK, but great to see him with the big hit last night. Kinda looked like he was surprised how the ball left his bat. Maybe that moment could be interpreted optimistically as a light bulb went off. Like OK, that's what they've been working with me on.
Too many variables to make any kind of informed guess, but hoping for mid double digits. Needs to find the .700 OPS range to be a positive contributor, more like a current Arenado type bat.