Roche: Torn On Jose Iglesias
BOSTON (CBS) - I am torn on Jose Iglesias. I understand how the Red Sox feel more time in the minor leagues will help develop his bat.
However, I thought Nick Cafardo made a stellar argument for keeping him at the big league level. Nick's column got me thinking about how some of the all-time great defensive shortstops fared offensively in their rookie seasons. Take a look:
Ozzie Smith, San Diego, 1978 (13 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 23: 159 games .258 BA .311 OBP .312 Slg 69 runs 17 doubles 6 triples 1 HR 46 RBI 40 SB
Omar Vizquel, Seattle, 1989 (11 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 22: 143 games .220 BA .273 OBP .261 Slg 45 runs 7 doubles 3 triples 1 HR 20 RBI 1 SB
Luis Aparicio, Chicago WS, 1956 (9 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 22: 152 games .266 BA .311 OBP .341 Slg 69 runs 19 doubles 6 triples 3 HR 56 RBI 21 SB
Read: Dan Roche's Sports Blog
Mark Belanger, Baltimore, 1967 (8 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 23: 69 games .174 BA .224 OBP .217 Slg 19 runs 5 doubles 0 triples 1 HR 10 RBI 6 SB
Dave Concepcion, Cincinnati, 1970 (5 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 22: 101 games .260 BA .324 OBP .317 Slg 38 runs 6 doubles 3 triples 1 HR 19 RBI 10 SB
Derek Jeter, NY Yankees, 1996 (5 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 22: 157 games .314 BA .370 OBP .430 Slg 104 runs 25 doubles 6 triples 10 HR 78 RBI 14 SB
Tony Fernandez, Toronto, 1984 (4 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 22: 88 games .270 BA .317 OBP .356 Slg 29 runs 5 doubles 3 triples 3 HR 19 RBI 5 SB
Alan Trammell, Detroit, 1978 (4 time Gold Glove winner)
Age 20: 139 games .268 BA .335 OBP .339 Slg 49 runs 14 doubles 6 triples 2 HR 34 RBI 3 SB
Most of these players came in and played full seasons in year one. Vizquel, Smith, and Aparicio all played 143 games or more.
Concepcion played in 101 games and was on his way....
Trammell (19) and Jeter (15) played just a few games in their first year up and then played a full season after that.
And then, Fernandez played 15 his first year, 88 his second, and then 161 in his third year while Belanger went 11 games, 8, then 69 and 145 in his 4th season.
As for Iglesias, he played in 10 games last season at the age of 21, but only went 2-for-6 at the plate.
It will be curious to see just where this Iglesias story takes us, but it would be fun if he was the starting SS on opening day, wouldn't it?
Follow WBZ-TV's Dan Roche on twitter @RochieWBZ
