Player Review Thread

[ALLMAN93]

Figured this would be the easiest and most organized way for people to see if a players been reviewed and if so, the easiest way to get to it instead of filtering through page after page.

Player Review Index:

94 FB Rod Carew (P1)
90 FB Jim Edmonds (P1)
94 FB Matt Holliday (P1)
93 FB Ichiro (P1)
90 Adam Wainwright (P1)
93 FB Ozzie Smith (P2)
98 FB Adrian Beltre (P2)
96 Miguel Cabrera (P3), (P7)
94 George Brett (P3)
94 FB Ben Zobrist (P4)
79 Francisco Cervelli (P6)
97 FB Matt Kemp (P6)
99 NYY FB Alex Rodriguez (P8)
99 Reggie Stocker AKA Barry Bonds (P8)
98 Johnny Bench (P8)
76 Jordan Schafer (P9)

Here is a review template if you'd like to use it.

PLAYER NAME AND OVERALL

STATS:

Fielding:

Hitting:

Baserunning:

Final Thoughts:

[ALLMAN93]

94 FB Rod Carew

STATS:

99 AB l 25 H l 20 AB/RISP l 6 H/RISP l 6 2B l 1 3B l 1 HR l 11 RBI l 3 BB l .253 AVG l

Fielding:

Solid as a rock. Have had a few instances where he bobbles the ball but am yet to have it cost me. His speed allows him go cover more ground than the average Fielder so that's a plus. His arm is whatever, he's a second baseman so it doesn't really matter. - 9/10 -

Hitting:

Incredibly mediocre hitter. He has the same exact crutch 93 Ichiro has, they can't hit anything high and in. The reason this is, is because in order to produce solid hits with these two they have to be able to get on top of the ball. If they can't, it's a sure pop up. So if you decide to go for him, remember that. I think in order to do anything with high and in stuff on directional hitting you have to have some power. These two do not so instead of the ball carrying out, they send it to the warning track. He does okay with inside stuff as well as away, but his bread and butter is abusing pitches down the pipe. Those he handles exceptionally well and typically sends it up the middle for a base knock. - 6/10 -

Baserunning:

He's no Ichiro on the basepaths but that's to be expected as there's a 14 speed difference but he still does well. He's quick enough to swipe a bag here or there but I would not recommend going on a catcher with a strong arm as his stealing ability isn't great so he'll likely be toast. - 7/10 -

Final Thoughts:

Overall I'd say he's an average player. Nothing special but not bad. All things considered (time it takes to acquire, stubs it takes to get him and production) I'd say there are better, cheaper and quicker (time, not speed) options out there. I'd take Dee Gordon over him. What Carew does well (Baserunning and fielding), Gordon does better. What Carew has issues with (lack of pop and susceptible to pop ups), so will Gordon. So considering that I'd say bypass the time it would take to get Carew and opt for someone like Gordon or a cheaper option, Panik.

[ALLMAN93]

90 FB Jim Edmonds

STATS:

l 123 AB l 29 H l 26 AB/RISP l 5 H/RISP l 3 2B l 0 3B l 5 HR l 11 RBI l 41 SO l 2 BB l .236 AVG l

Fielding:

Jim Edmonds was always known for his ability with his glove along with his arm and this card represents the Jimmy us Cardinal fans grew to love. He gets great jumps on the ball and has an above average arm. In 49 games he's made 1 error and has one outfield assist for me. That outfield assist came on my opponents Rajai Davis who was tagging from third on a semi deep flyball. If he scores he wins (bottom of the 9th and tied) and Edmonds delivered a strike to gun him down. - 10/10 -

Hitting:

Now when I say us Cardinal fans grew to love Jimmy because of his glove, we also grew to love him because of his timely hitting and monster home runs. Unfortunately this card has not represented how clutch he was in real life. With 26 AB with RISP and only coming through 5 times that gives him a .192 W/RISP. Of course this is subject to user error at times but I still feel that the majority of the time he makes contact it's usually a fly out or a grounder making him incredibly shaky with RISP. This card is not completely useless offensively though. He still has pop and he can still get a good amount of base knocks but what he's lacking is the ability to plug gaps and the stats tell this story too. Only 3 doubles in 123 ABs. He's got decent plate coverage and doesn't seem to have any crutch inside the zone either. He has the power to yank a high and in fastball for a home run and most definitely has the ability to send one over the wall low and away. When he's getting base knocks 9/10 times they're ropes back up the middle so he's very solid in that sense. - 6/10 -

Baserunning:

Edmonds was never known for having blazing speed and this card shows it. He isn't slow by any means and can still swipe a bag if timed right and against the right matchup. - 7/10 -

Final Thoughts:

Overall I'd say he's worth it for me. When I think of center fielder's I think of guys who can cover ground and take base hits away. He does just that and then some. His arm makes him one of the best true center fielder's in the game. Offensively he can be very streaky but if he's on, he's on. I've had 1 multi homer game in which he accounted for my entire offense for the game (I won 4-3 online).

[ALLMAN93]

94 FB Matt Holliday

STATS:

l 140 AB l 42 H l 45 AB/RISP l 14 H/RISP l 7 2B l 0 3B l
8 HR l 28 RBI l 25 SO l 4 BB l 2 SB l .300 AVG l

Fielding:

Let's call it how it is, Holliday is not the smoothest outfielder to hit the MLB, in fact at times he's almost cringe worthy to watch. However, this card is smooth. He's got enough speed to cover his side of the field and he makes every play he should, with his glove that is. His arm is a completely different story. It almost feels broken. With 70 arm strength I didn't expect it to be as bad as it is, but it's BAD. I've seen him throw a high pop fly to the cut off man. It honestly looked like a major league pop up from around 50 feet away. I actually laughed out loud when it happened. Now granted it only happened once, it still happened. When he isn't throwing big league pop ups to the cut off, he's throwing balls in high and wide a lot. This is his crutch on defense but when you get a player like Holliday you shouldnt really be expecting much from him on defense. - 7/10 -

Hitting:

THIS. MAN. RAKES. Let me say it again. This man rakes. He is by far my most consistent hitter I've used this year. Until recently he was batting around .330 but I've had a rough stretch of games but last night he seemed to snap out of it. His contact stats show through game in and game out. His power stats however, do not. He's been very inconsistent with the long ball but i don't have him for that reason so it doesn't bother me that much because of how clutch he is with runners on. He's batting .311 W/RISP. That's huge for me. That's the reason he bats 3 in a lineup where he could easily be a 6 hole hitter. He just gets it done some way or another. - 9/10 -

Baserunning:

He's Matt Holliday. He's built like a tree and runs like Shaq. He isnt fast but he isn't really slow. Which is weird because he's only got 52 speed but it's a massive improvement over his regular card who has a lumbering 29 speed. I'd say he's somewhat slow on the basepaths but somewhat quick (I use quick very begrudgingly) in the field. He isn't going to go 1st to third on a base knock but he's rarely going to let a ball get down in the gap for a double. - 7/10 -

Final Thoughts:

I got this card because I wanted him for an all Cardinal team eventually. I wasn't expecting much as I've always had a hard time hitting with him in previous games. However, this card does it all and then some. As for alternatives to him, it's hard to say because there aren't many outfielders that are as well rounded as him so I'm not sure. I'd say if you have the time and resources he's completely worth it. However if you don't have the time to knock out the 850 innings to get him, you could always opt for a player like Brantley or Adam Jones. Brantley will give you the average of Holliday but will lack the power numbers of Holliday. Jones will give you slightly less production in both average and power, but will provide a much better fielder.

[ALLMAN93]

93 FB Ichiro

STATS:

l 147 AB l 51 H l 18 AB/RISP l 6 H/RISP l 7 2B l 5 3B l 3 HR l 30 R l 8 RBIs l 13 SO l 6 BB l 21 SB l 5 CS l .347 AVG l

Fielding:

Ichiro has always been known as one of the most dominant fielding outfielders the league has ever seen. His range, glove and arm are all second to none. This card does an amazing job showing this off. He covers more ground than Monsanto seeds. This guy is down right amazing at cutting balls down. His arm is a cannon. His catching ability is amazing. I mean there's really not much to say other than that's he's amazing in the field. In 52 games he has 2 outfield assists which is awesome. Those are outs 100% generated because of his defensive prowess. It's hard to get that. - 10/10 -

Hitting:

Ichiro again has always been known as the leagues greatest on base guy. Whether it be from him beating a throw out for an infield single or plugging the gap and running for days, point is, he gets on base. This card does it all. Considering he's batting a staggering .347 with 14 XBH including 3 home runs it's hard to argue there's anyone better than him. I know I said Holliday is my most consistent hitter, that's still true. Ichiro will have his bad games and he'll have his unbelievable games. I've had 0 for 5 Games and I've had 5 for 5 games. His hits come in bunches and if your opponent doesn't know how to beat hit, Ichiro will win 90% of the time. Ichiro isn't perfect with the bat though. He and Carew have the same crutch but Ichiro's crutch is less glaring than that of Carew's. Neither can handle the hard stuff high very well. Outside of that Ichiro can hit anything in the zone and out of the zone. His PCI is absolutely massive especially if you get down in the count and opt for the contact swing. If you do this, he's less likely to drive the ball but he'll more than likely bloop one for a base knock. Now I say he isn't perfect, but he's going to get a perfect rating because while he has a crutch on offense, it isn't a huge deal. Just lay off the high and in stuff and abuse everything else. - 10/10 -

Baserunning:

He's Ichiro. Everyone knows what he can do once he's on base and this card does exactly what you're thinking. He steals bags for fun and rounds the bases like a gazelle. If you see I've added how many runs he's scored. I didn't do that with anyone else because it's not that impressive with anyone else. He's scored 30 times. He's been on base 57 times. So that means he scores 53% of the time he gets on base for me. That is something that simply can not be replaced. Sure the hitters behind him are responsible for driving him in but there isn't a single player I've used with a run to on base ratio anywhere close to his. Just think, anytime you get a base hit or walk with him you can pretty much assume 50% of the time he's going to come around and score. That's amazing. - 10/10 -

Final Thoughts:

I got this card because I grew up watching Pujols and Ichiro tear the league up as rookies and throughout their careers there after. His stats also looked nice . He's played well beyond my wildest dreams of a right fielder and I'm more than happy to have gotten him. As for replacements, there are none. Sure you can find guys with the speed of him who can fly around and steal bases and get run like him, but there isn't a single player who can do everything he does. He's got the hitting, speed and glove. There is no one that's got all three of these weapons so I say you simply can't replace him with anyone.

[ALLMAN93]

90 Adam Wainwright

STATS:

l 15 GS l 4 CG l 1 SHO l 8 W l 5 L l 36 H l 15 R l 15 ER l 9 HR l 3 BB l 57 SO l 2.46 ERA l

Command:

Wainwright has always been known as a guy who doesn't have any overpowering stuff but he can spot his pitches. This card does a very good job at representing that. He has an incredibly smooth motion making his pitches easy to time which makes it easy to nibble the corners. While his curveball is what he's known for, it's also his demise. I've had times where his curveball is the 58 foot curveball Vasgersian always speaks of, but I've also had his curveball hang over the middle of plate and if your opponent can wait on it, it can go for a ride. - 8/10 -

Hitability:

Unfortunately just like last year Wainwright can be very hittable at times. Because he doesn't have anything that's overpowering, mistake pitches typically get crushed. With a player like Carlos Martinez who can throw 100 mph, he can get away with a fastball down the middle because unless your opponent is sitting dead red fastball, he isn't going to be able to catch up to it in time to really crush it. Wainwright doesn't have this so he depends on you hitting your spots perfectly or else both of you are in for a bad time. Also, while his motion is smooth and deliberate which makes him a joy to pitch with, this is also the reason he's easy to hit at times. With a fluid motion it's easy as the hitter to time his delivery perfectly which makes him a bit more easy to hit as opposed to someone like Tanaka who's real herky jerky and slow to the plate. - 4/10 -

Effectivness:

If you can get 2 pitches going early he is incredibly hard to hit. Those are his sinker and cutter. If you can locate that sinker low and away it's next to impossible for your opponent to really drive it resulting in a ton of ground ball outs. His cutter is his 1 strike pitch for me. If i can get that pitch going and can get that second strike, it makes pitching that much easier. His curveball is very hittable if hung, nearly impossible if executed properly. Because he's Wainwright and everyone knows about his curveball, it's a very predictable put away pitch. Meaning if you continuously go to it with 2 strikes against your opponent they'll start sitting back on it which you don't want. I try and mix in a fastball high and tight along with this curveball so if they're guessing the wrong one, they're screwed. - 7/10 -

Final Thoughts:

Because I'm a Cards fan I always want Wainwright to be good but he's not a very good online pitcher. Usually you want someone who can throw heat and has a changeup to really get your opponents off balance but he just doesn't have that. Wainwright also seems to be great until hit. If you can strike batter's out or get them to roll over on his sinker you're golden. However, if anything gets squared up its going to get crushed. He's given up 9 home runs in just 15 starts which is pretty terrible. I'm not going to make any recommendations on different pitchers because I don't feel that that's fair. Every pitcher has a different arsenal and motion which makes for very different results so I'll just leave it with this; for 10k I think there are a ton of better alternatives. However, if you want to pitch to contact and try and go the distance, Wainwright is a very solid option.

[Chuckatommy]

Awesome job with the reviews, I enjoyed reading them. I just got Ichiro so your review has me excited lol.

Did you get Ozzie Smith? I'm thinking of aiming for him as my everyday SS.

[RLebron12]

Nice reviews man, I've heard a lot of good things about Ichiro thinking about possibly going for him after I go for 95 Bautista. Any reviews on him?


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