Projections From Those Smarter Than I: Right Field

Dayan Viciedo is somebody we can hang some hopes and dreams on. He hasn’t yet had a full opportunity to dash our optimism about his ceiling. In the short time we’ve seen him play live baseball we’ve witnessed a lot of opposite field pop, the ball jumps off his bat in a way that makes you think he can develop some serious power. We’ve also seen a learning curve. His first MLB experience was accompanied by a running joke about his complete inability to take a walk. Last year he showed us that he actually does know what a walk is, and is interested in taking one from time to time. He was originally slated for third base, but that got scrapped rather quickly. I was perfectly willing to have 2011 be DHayan time before the money appeared for Adam Dunn. Now he finds himself learning the outfield. Needless to say that’s a work in progress. 2012 from Dayan Viciedo could bring us…well pretty much anything.

AVG

OBP

SLG

HR

RBI

SB

R

Bill James

0.275

0.324

0.455

21

67

3

61

RotoChamp

0.261

0.320

0.374

11

55

5

55

PECOTA

0.265

0.306

0.419

17

60

2

58

The systems again are in relative agreement, but I’d expect the power numbers to go up. If he can’t ramp up the HR count to 25-30 I’d at least like to see a whole lot of doubles from that strength launching some gap shots. When looking at what we should be getting as production from our corner outfield spots and realizing that most projections see us as falling short on both sides is a little bit depressing. If Carlos Quentin was a sure thing to play his share of games it’s almost enough to wish for him to be back. I do think that Dayan is under-projected, though. If I’m right, we’ve got a RF putting up RF numbers.  In 2013, when asked who the 5 best Cuban right fielders in the game are, I’d like to be able to respond, “Dayan, Dayan, Dayan, Dayan and Dayan.”