Olney’s Latest: Is Gomez Getting Bigger?
Today Buster Olney went around the league to talk to scouts, etc, and has come back to report their thoughts. Shockingly, one of them (an anonymous “AL Official”) actually had something to say about a Twins player:
Carlos Gomez of the Twins looks like he’s gained a lot of weight in the lower half of his body, to me. He’s filling out, physically, and at some point, he’s going to get bigger in his chest, too. I wonder if he’ll be able to run the same way if he keeps getting bigger.The impression I got of Gomez hasn’t been that he looks all that much bigger*, but I suppose it’s possible I just haven’t noticed. That said, isn’t this a good thing?
The lower half of his body gets bigger — and he’s able to generate more power. The upper half of his body follows — and he’s able to generate more power.
As long as Gomez doesn’t get fat, I’d say this is unequivocally a good thing.
* Has anyone else noticed anything? Does he look bigger than he did last year?
I wonder if the scout would have focused on the future possibility of Gomez getting slower if he weren’t on the Twins. Perhaps he would have pointed out the potential for increased power.
Speaking of which, here’s a little brilliance from an anonymous “AL Talent Evaluator:”
I love the way the White Sox play. Does any other organization have as consistent of an attitude from ownership through the general manager, to the manager and field personnel?Awesome. After years of the entire White Sox organization, at every level, repeating their new mantra (“We want to be just like the Twins”), this guy takes notice and singles them out as unique. I just … I just don’t know what to say about this.
Other than that I can point out at least one other organization that has as consistent an attitude from ownership through the general manager, to the manager and the field personnel. Does anyone want to guess which organization that might be?
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The Nationals!
I would have to agree that Gomez getting more muscle is a good thing. He’s already shown power this Spring, and it would be great if that translates to the regular season. I haven’t been able to watch any Spring Training games this year, but does Gomez still look blazing fast in the outfield?
He doesn’t seem to use the blazing speed as much. He looks much more effortless out there, gliding to the ball. I haven’t seen him do that and come up short on the ball.
He looks a bit more under control … or that he knows the games don’t count yet.
I don’t think that’s evidence that he’s gotten slower.
It could be that he is taking better routes to the ball, so he doesn’t have to turn on the afterburners to make up for going in the wrong direction at first. I remember last year he took some interesting routes to the ball.
That’s a good point.
For reference, I was watching the game today, and Gomez came in late in the game to get some innings in at CF.
The ball came to him on two consecutive plays. The first one was a bit of a liner, with one out and a man at third. He calmly moved forward toward the ball (not a REALLY long way, but it wasn’t near him), catching it on the move and coming up poised to throw. He kept the runner from tagging.
The second one was a deep fly ball. He turned and jogged in the direction he thought it would go, then turned around and ran backwards for about the last 15 or so feet. He caught it easily.
So he’s not running nearly as fast as he was last year. For the most part his stride is still very deer-like. But he’s moving much straighter now, so he doesn’t need to run as fast. He looks good in the field.