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3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:48 amAgree... as good a hitter as he is this year he's not elite bc he doesn't have the power (yet?), and he's only worth 1.5 WAR. Maybe as a DH he can push that to 2.5-3 WAR.

IMO he has played himself into one of the team's best trade chips, and they should sell high on him. His hitting skills are redundant with Donovan and Nootbaar, and he doesn't have Gorman's power.

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:42 am

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:48 amAgree... as good a hitter as he is this year he's not elite bc he doesn't have the power (yet?), and he's only worth 1.5 WAR. Maybe as a DH he can push that to 2.5-3 WAR.

IMO he has played himself into one of the team's best trade chips, and they should sell high on him. His hitting skills are redundant with Donovan and Nootbaar, and he doesn't have Gorman's power.

Yea, if the guy had some power I'd be higher on him, but you're right. His skill set is more in like with what I'd like to see from a slick fielder and/or a guy who can run a little bit. But for a guy who needs to be at 1B or DH, that's typically a position where you want more of a power hitter.

Credit to Burleson for doing what he's doing, but he's gotta hit for more power.

Melville wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:10 am

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:05 am

Lloyd Braun wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:58 am

RamFan08NY wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 07:39 am No doubt he is proving to be a true major league hitter. Every part of him, including physique, continues to remind me of Burkman. Always puts the bat on the ball, can go with the pitch, and showing decent power.

I've been calling him Baby Berkman since last year. If he can get into that 30 homer territory, he could be Burley Berkman. Breath of fresh air, in a league full of .230 hitters.

Really shows you how much BA is worth when he still only has 1.5 WAR as a .300 hitter.

Actually, it shows how worthless the fiction of WAR is.

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:05 am

Lloyd Braun wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:58 am

RamFan08NY wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 07:39 am No doubt he is proving to be a true major league hitter. Every part of him, including physique, continues to remind me of Burkman. Always puts the bat on the ball, can go with the pitch, and showing decent power.

I've been calling him Baby Berkman since last year. If he can get into that 30 homer territory, he could be Burley Berkman. Breath of fresh air, in a league full of .230 hitters.

Really shows you how much BA is worth when he still only has 1.5 WAR as a .300 hitter.

ClassicO wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:58 am I don't know how a "star" can be a horrible baserunner and defensive player. Is he a good hitter? Yes. Not even great, just good.
Our standards have fallen.
He's 5th on a bad team in fWAR and bWAR, and Herrera would be ahead of him with more ABs.
He's barely ahead of a floundering Nootbar in bWAR - 1.8 to 1.6.

hugeCardfan wrote: ↑25 Aug 2025 21:47 pm Helluva game.

The dude can hit!

Cranny wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:51 am

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:42 am

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:48 amAgree... as good a hitter as he is this year he's not elite bc he doesn't have the power (yet?), and he's only worth 1.5 WAR. Maybe as a DH he can push that to 2.5-3 WAR.

IMO he has played himself into one of the team's best trade chips, and they should sell high on him. His hitting skills are redundant with Donovan and Nootbaar, and he doesn't have Gorman's power.

Yea, if the guy had some power I'd be higher on him, but you're right. His skill set is more in like with what I'd like to see from a slick fielder and/or a guy who can run a little bit. But for a guy who needs to be at 1B or DH, that's typically a position where you want more of a power hitter.

Credit to Burleson for doing what he's doing, but he's gotta hit for more power.

24 home runs in 154 games at AAA. 21 home runs in 152 games with the Cards last season. 16 home runs in 119 games so far this season.

How many do you want him to hit?

swatski wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:10 am Reminds me of a young Schwarber. Needs to get in better shape.

Lloyd Braun wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:57 am

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:05 am

Lloyd Braun wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:58 am

RamFan08NY wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 07:39 am No doubt he is proving to be a true major league hitter. Every part of him, including physique, continues to remind me of Burkman. Always puts the bat on the ball, can go with the pitch, and showing decent power.

I've been calling him Baby Berkman since last year. If he can get into that 30 homer territory, he could be Burley Berkman. Breath of fresh air, in a league full of .230 hitters.

Really shows you how much BA is worth when he still only has 1.5 WAR as a .300 hitter.

WAR isn't a real stat. It's a made up metric, devised by people that claim batting average is meaningless.

Of course, it doesn't value BA. It was designed to ignore it.

Adam2 wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 10:03 am

Cranny wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:51 am

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:42 am

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:48 amAgree... as good a hitter as he is this year he's not elite bc he doesn't have the power (yet?), and he's only worth 1.5 WAR. Maybe as a DH he can push that to 2.5-3 WAR.

IMO he has played himself into one of the team's best trade chips, and they should sell high on him. His hitting skills are redundant with Donovan and Nootbaar, and he doesn't have Gorman's power.

Yea, if the guy had some power I'd be higher on him, but you're right. His skill set is more in like with what I'd like to see from a slick fielder and/or a guy who can run a little bit. But for a guy who needs to be at 1B or DH, that's typically a position where you want more of a power hitter.

Credit to Burleson for doing what he's doing, but he's gotta hit for more power.

24 home runs in 154 games at AAA. 21 home runs in 152 games with the Cards last season. 16 home runs in 119 games so far this season.

How many do you want him to hit?

If he's at first minimum 25-30. Cards don't have that player though

rbirules wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 10:11 am

Adam2 wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 10:03 am

Cranny wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:51 am

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:42 am

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:48 amAgree... as good a hitter as he is this year he's not elite bc he doesn't have the power (yet?), and he's only worth 1.5 WAR. Maybe as a DH he can push that to 2.5-3 WAR.

IMO he has played himself into one of the team's best trade chips, and they should sell high on him. His hitting skills are redundant with Donovan and Nootbaar, and he doesn't have Gorman's power.

Yea, if the guy had some power I'd be higher on him, but you're right. His skill set is more in like with what I'd like to see from a slick fielder and/or a guy who can run a little bit. But for a guy who needs to be at 1B or DH, that's typically a position where you want more of a power hitter.

Credit to Burleson for doing what he's doing, but he's gotta hit for more power.

24 home runs in 154 games at AAA. 21 home runs in 152 games with the Cards last season. 16 home runs in 119 games so far this season.

How many do you want him to hit?

If he's at first minimum 25-30. Cards don't have that player though

Pretty much this. If he's a starting 1B or DH, he needs to hit for a lot more power than 20 HRs per season, especially given his lack of walks. He's a player with great bat to ball skills unfortunately that skill is stuck in the body of a player that has to play a corner spot (and ideally 1B or DH) which requires a higher baseline of hitting performance. Alec is going to struggle to exceed that baseline without hitting for more power (or again, walking more). If we had some stars up the middle that could ease the burden on corner players he might be able to be a 1B hitting 6th in the lineup as a 125-130 wRC+ hitter with moderate power, but we don't have that right now. As is, he's ideally a part time player, or rather role player, on a really good team.

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:45 am

moose-and-squirrel wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:28 am

swatski wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:10 am Reminds me of a young Schwarber. Needs to get in better shape.

this is a tired angle.. dude is in better shape every year and is hardly fat. he's just a big dude

schwarber, otoh, is hardly svelte

*That's* the reason you think they're not similar? Cause Burleson is skinnier than Schwarber?

Besides that it's a ridiculous point of difference (the real difference is Schwarber's elite power and BB rate), it's not even correct. Have you seen Schwarber in the last few years? The guy is like a pillar of muscle. I bet he weighs 20-30 lbs. more than Burleson just bc he has muscle and not fat.

Shady wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 10:17 am

rbirules wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 10:11 am

Adam2 wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 10:03 am

Cranny wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:51 am

Ronnie Dobbs wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 09:42 am

3dender wrote: ↑26 Aug 2025 08:48 amAgree... as good a hitter as he is this year he's not elite bc he doesn't have the power (yet?), and he's only worth 1.5 WAR. Maybe as a DH he can push that to 2.5-3 WAR.

IMO he has played himself into one of the team's best trade chips, and they should sell high on him. His hitting skills are redundant with Donovan and Nootbaar, and he doesn't have Gorman's power.

Yea, if the guy had some power I'd be higher on him, but you're right. His skill set is more in like with what I'd like to see from a slick fielder and/or a guy who can run a little bit. But for a guy who needs to be at 1B or DH, that's typically a position where you want more of a power hitter.

Credit to Burleson for doing what he's doing, but he's gotta hit for more power.

24 home runs in 154 games at AAA. 21 home runs in 152 games with the Cards last season. 16 home runs in 119 games so far this season.

How many do you want him to hit?

If he's at first minimum 25-30. Cards don't have that player though

Pretty much this. If he's a starting 1B or DH, he needs to hit for a lot more power than 20 HRs per season, especially given his lack of walks. He's a player with great bat to ball skills unfortunately that skill is stuck in the body of a player that has to play a corner spot (and ideally 1B or DH) which requires a higher baseline of hitting performance. Alec is going to struggle to exceed that baseline without hitting for more power (or again, walking more). If we had some stars up the middle that could ease the burden on corner players he might be able to be a 1B hitting 6th in the lineup as a 125-130 wRC+ hitter with moderate power, but we don't have that right now. As is, he's ideally a part time player, or rather role player, on a really good team.

"As is, he's ideally a part time player, or rather role player, on a really good team". You are reaching there. Burleson's bat would play regularly for any current team.