So how about Daniel Nava?

[VA Sox Fan]

Nava has been a lot of fun to watch. And his OBP is still at the sick level.

 

Yeah, but what about his BABIP?

 

He's a joy to watch. He CARES.

[Bellhorn04]

Yeah, but what about his BABIP?

 

He's a joy to watch. He CARES.

 

Caring is great. Caring and providing is even better. :thumbsup:

[VA Sox Fan]

Caring is great. Caring and providing is even better. :thumbsup:

 

I like how he is caring AND providing! :thumbsup:

[mvp 78]

How do strikeouts affect his caring though?

[Bellhorn04]

How do strikeouts affect his caring though?

 

[Dojji]

Well look who's back. Back at the top of the order and 3 for 4 again despite the layoff. Average back up to .327.

 

Keep it up kid. Do everything in your power to be hard to bench.

[Palodios]

Just a .444 OBP. No big deal.

[Dojji]

And it's beginning to lose that small sample size feel too. It's been what, a month and a half now? Closing in on the 150PA mark at any rate.

[SoxSport]

Sox no. 2 in hitting with no CC, Ells; plus Youks and AdGon not hitting. Pedey slow start.

 

How's that? Salty, Nava, Papi, Aviles, Ross, MBrooks, Sweeney have taken up the slack.

[SoxSport]

Nava has talent, all right. He's a switch hitter with a helluva swing. And he has had some impressive years in the minors. You don't judge a hitter on pure power. Besides, this kid looks like he might improve his power numbers in time, as Youkilis did. Granted he's 29, but he started in the minors at 24, and has only had about 3 full years.

[Dojji]

More to the point, power is in decline around the league. You aren't going to get 30 HR hitters in every "power" position anymore. There's definitely a place in the league for a doubles expert with an extreme OBP. Yes, even in left. After all, we paid Crawford $20M with the expectation he'd hit less than Nava's hitting right now.

[Bellhorn04]

Nava up-to-the-minute...333/449/520...that's sick!

[Dojji]

The league has'nt seen many .450 OBP's since the days of Teddy Ballgame.

[kapsis21]

4-5 night.. man he belongs. do hell with Crawford. when was the last time he did that..

[a700hitter]

4-5 night.. man he belongs. do hell with Crawford. when was the last time he did that..

Crawford went 4-4 last August 6th. In back to back games in May he went 4-4 and 4-5.

[mvp 78]

The league has'nt seen many .450 OBP's since the days of Teddy Ballgame.

 

How about we let him play a full sesson before you crown his ass.

[jung]

I think just the fact that we are comparing Nava to CC is to funny. No wonder JH tied a knot in the purse strings for a year. He is probably thinking "I don't know what exactly is wrong but something is wrong and I am going to put a lid on this thing until LL or Tom or I figure it out."

[kapsis21]

Crawford went 4-4 last August 6th. In back to back games in May he went 4-4 and 4-5.

 

damm i knew he did that .. but he still sucks.

[Dojji]

He's been getting better as he goes on too. .900 OPS May, over 1.000 June.

[SoxSport]

.340 and counting. The hit machine.

[SoxSport]

I think just the fact that we are comparing Nava to CC is to funny. No wonder JH tied a knot in the purse strings for a year. He is probably thinking "I don't know what exactly is wrong but something is wrong and I am going to put a lid on this thing until LL or Tom or I figure it out."

 

I think Nava is a better hitter than Crawford.

[FredLynn]

I think Nava is a better hitter than Crawford.

 

He seems much more selective. Nava always seems to have good ABs. Not sure how long this can continue for him, but its been a fun ride.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Of all MLB players with at least 125 PA, Nava is...

 

9th in Average (.340)

3rd in OBP (.455)

13th in OPS (.973)

 

Notable players behind him:

 

In Average: Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton, Prince Fielder, Robinson Cano, Albert Pujols.

 

In OBP: Matt Kemp, Josh Hamilton, Ryan Braun, Albert Pujols

 

In OPS: Andrew McCutchin, Robinson Cano, Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera

 

Look. I love Nava for what he's done for this team, I really do. He's been an absolute spark plug at the top of the order. He's come through clutch. His defense out in LF has seen a tremendous improvement. He's changed my mind and I now see him as a true starting OF for a lot of teams.

 

But let's be a little realistic here. He's not going to live on a .405 BABIP all season, and Carl Crawford is a better player than Daniel Nava. I mean come on guys. I know we all like to pump these guys tires until they pop when they're playing this well, but Carl Crawford is a much, much better player than he showed last year, and that's what most people are basing this on. Just like if Lars Anderson came up here and was hitting like that, you shouldn't replace Adrian Gonzalez just because he's struggling.

 

And by the way - Crawford last year hit .255 with a .694 OPS. Gonzalez this year is hitting .257 with a .707 OPS. Those seem very similar. Wonder if the big money is affecting him this year like it did Crawford last year. The good news is that Crawford is rehabbing starting Saturday, give him 2 weeks, could be back for the NY series, and will likely be back to normal now that he's got a year under his belt.

[SCM33]

He has a nice little run going....

 

Hes still the odd man out when everyone comes back......

[SoxFanForsyth]

He has a nice little run going....

 

Hes still the odd man out when everyone comes back......

 

McDonald goes first IMO, and to be honest, I could see Kalish getting optioned to AAA to get his legs underneath him while Nava hangs tight as the 4th OF.

[SCM33]

McDonald goes first IMO.

 

I agree he should be first, but we'll see.

 

Regardless, when everyone is back....Nava, Posednick and McDonald are all sent packing.

[FredLynn]

I agree he should be first, but we'll see.

 

Regardless, when everyone is back....Nava, Posednick and McDonald are all sent packing.

 

Before that happens Ellsbury should be packaged for quality pitching. We have offense; we don't have enough pitching.

[mvp 78]

Yeah, don't be surprised if DMac is here til both Ells and CC are back, if not longer.

[Dojji]

Carl Crawford is a better player than Daniel Nava.

 

Not so fast.

 

I'll agree that CC is faster than Nava, a better defender, and he can hit for more power.

 

But you can give or take that with Nava's ability to put up sterling at bat after sterling at bat -- an ability that if CC actually had, he'd be the superstar everyone mistakes him for. An ability that we know this franchise, and many other, consider the single most important.

 

Nava's a little lucky. But if you normalize the BABIP to .335 or so (his career rate in the minors) he's still hitting over .300 and the OBP is still over .400. CC can hit .300, but his OBP has never been over about .360 or so. And with the kind of power lineup we like to field, I take Nava's OBP over Crawford's speed, and suspect that if we had to choose between one or the other to lead off for a full year, with the power we can line up behind each, it would be Nava who scored more runs, as Crawford would be on base less and run himself into an out or two.

 

In the end, the tiebreaker is probably Crawford's defense. But it's by no means as cut and dried as you're trying to make it out to be.

 

This isn't just about Nava's numbers. His approach and swing are turning as many heads as the stat sheet. If anything we're seeing from Daniel Nava this year is legit, he's going to have a run of 2-3 years as a starting player somewhere in the majors.

[jung]

To be honest I don't think I will feel comfortable with what CC does until he is doing it.

 

He does have a year here now but it was a year of abject failure that somehow got worse and worse as the year went on until it got to the point where he could not field any longer as well as not hit.

 

I would also feel more comfortable with CC if he had not gone through that campaign for his spot in the batting order earlier this year. That did not sound like a confident player to me.

 

I am going to go absolutely out of my mind if the Sox hold onto d-mac and let go of Nava. Pods should be outta' here before the Sox have to make a decision on Nava as well as the injured return.

 

I do think the posts we are seeing recently regarding Ells are interesting. He has a guy land on his shoulder just at the point where his shoulder is sitting over the 2nd base bag like a stick that you might lean on a log just before you break it in two with your foot and he now fragile.

 

I do think that given the circumstances the Sox find themselves in with regard to Ells they need to explore the possibilities for trading Ells. I think you still want Nava in your hip pocket if you are going to explore what you might get back for Ells.