The odds are that this is just a prolonged funk that Kotchman is going through. Combine a change in coasts, a change in cities, a change in teammates, a change in leagues, a change from a contending team to a non-contending team, and one or more of these factors is bound to be distracting him or causing him grief at the plate.

Bingo

We should not forget to take into account the fact that he wasn’t good to begin with.

yeah anybody givin up on him is flat out crazy. I find it very funny that everybody wanted Connor Jackson and when we got Kotchman thought it was an awful trade. Is Jackson a better hitter than Kotchman? Yes he is no doubt about that. Is Kotchman a better defensive First baseman than Jackson? HELL YES!!! Everybody says defense at first is not important but your a fool if you believe that. I will admit if you ONLY play great defense and have ZERO offense then yes you are not doin much for the team. But the thing is Kotchman is a good young hitter that I like. I think Kotchman is capable of a .290 average, 15 homers, 75-80 RBI’s, .370 OBP for next season with GREAT defense. What is Jackson gonna put up next season? maybe .300 average, 20-25 homers, 90 RBI’s, .350-.370 OBP and a guy that will play BELOW average defense at first or play in LF next season. If you really look at it Kotchman is not nearly as bad as most think he is. But of course if I had to pick Kotchman or Jackson I would pick Jackson BUT I am very happy to have Kotchman on my team.

he is definately capable of a .370 OBP. He doesn’t strike out much and he usually walks more than he has this year. I expect at least close to .370 OBP next season.

Offensively, he reminds me of Kelly Johnson. By that I mean:

Left hand hitter. Potential to be guys who have a decent batting average and have some pop. Both seem to go through spells where they can’t hit a lick. Neither will never be dominate offensive players but can be okay.

Defensively Kotchman is a gold glove first basemen. Kelly Johnson is a defensive liability.

Nope. I don’t have the stats to back it up. Just my eyes. Here’s what my eyes see when I watch Kelly play second:

A guy who is not a smooth fielder. He tries hard, but he’s not that good. The stats say he is middle of the pack? Because he has average range? Last time I checked there was more to playing second than getting to a ball. How does he look turning a double play? Awkward. Watch Prado and Escobar work together. You can look at the stats later. Watch them. Ask yourself which pair looks smoother (KJ and Escobar or Prado and Escobar).

You know, I don’t hate stats. Really I don’t. I think they are often very useful in determining the worth of a ballplayer. My problem is that I don’t think they tell the whole story. Let me give an example. Maybe you guys can help me get it.

Mark Lemke. I imagine there were lots of guys who had better range. Here’s what my eyes saw: A linebacker could run over Lemke at second and Lemke would still turn the double play.

Some of you may dig what I’m saying.

Rain Delay: He is new to 2nd base. I think he may have played some other infield positions in the minors. To be fair I think he has gradually improved. He just doesn’t do it for me defensively.

Victor W: Thanks for the info. Interesting comments on the double plays. Let me set aside the range issue (good argument, I may have to concede that one). Double plays may be 10 to 20% of a 2nd basemen’s plays, but they have a powerful effect. Two outs in one play is huge! Runners on 1st and 3rd one out. Turn it and the run doesn’t score. Bobble it and just get the runner at 1st? Not only does the run score, there is a runner at 2nd base. The next guy gets a single (another run). Hits a bomb (2 more runs).

I enjoy talking with you about this stuff. Gotta go and put my daughter to bed. Later

Victor: You’ve convinced me that liability was a bit harsh.

Rain Delay: Question- Is that 64 DP’s that he started, or 64 where he was the the second fielder to touch the ball (or is a total for both)?

the front office envisioned him being a power replacement for Tex. He is an above average first baseman by MLB standards; he certainly is much better defensively than quite a few first basemen in the league who are making a ton more cash. I think they probably saw him as a very serviceable stop-gap measure for a year or two. At least they obviously considered him better than future draft choices.

Reading between the lines from the few short interviews he’s given, he seems to be in shock that he got traded. His father is in the Angels org and he has been there all his career. He seems to be a pretty withdrawn guy.

I’ve watched a lot of his at-bats. As a rule, he isn’t making pathetic outs. He hits the ball, but there are a lot of routine ground balls, and when he does hit the ball hard, he seems to hit it right at someone. His foot speed is pretty poor, too.

I think he will be fine next year, but he seems to be totally thrown off right now. His stats are pretty consistent over the years, so his explanation that he’s just in a slump seems believable.