Riddle @ SS



There is a 'riddle' at the shortstop position for the Marlins. Only not J.T. Riddle.. At least not as much as he should be... 




 The Fish again plan on splitting the position between Riddle and Miguel Rojas. But why J.T. is not seeing most of the action is the true ''riddle" here?! 




 Have you seen J.T. Riddle play shortstop?! When he came up as a rookie in 2017, and again when he was in there last year, "Good Grief"! The guy can 'pick it'. Excellent 'range'. 'Transfers' the ball as good as anybody you'll see. And has an absolute 'cannon' for an arm. This dude has "Gold Glove" written all over em. 




 Rojas is a solid defender, especially on the right side of the infield. However at short, Riddle is just that good DEFENSIVELY. I emphasize 'Defense' because Both guys have had there struggles at the plate! 




 Once Riddle got healthy last year and made it back to the big leagues, there was no straight Platoon at Short. The right handed hitting Rojas continued to man the position against many a Right handed starter. Miggy-Ro finished the year hitting .252 with a very disappointing .297 On Base Percentage.




 Though both men slack Offensively, there is a definitive difference when it comes to power, especially against Right handers. Against Righty-pitching a season ago, the Lefty-swinging Riddle had a slugging percentage of .403. While Rojas slugged .350 against same arm pitching in 2018.




 J.T.'s got pop in that bat. This is my personal opinion (I still believe in the "eye-test" in baseball 😉), with a full season, Riddle has the ability to pop 15-20 dingers. While Rojas fits the Utility role to a tee, and could still get most of his AB's in against Lefty Pitching at Short. 




 Manager Don Mattingly was just quoted as saying "Miggy should not be pigeon-holed into a utility guy". 🤔 Since when is being a utility-player being pigeon holed? A lot of guys have made a pretty damn good living as a Utility man, including the Marlins Captain Martin Prado. Former World Series MVP, and one of my personal favorites, Ben Zobrist is a "utility-guy".  Being able to play multiple positions, and play em well like Rojas, is not a bad thing, and doesn't you can't be an 'Everyday Palyer'. Of course, if you know how to use em correctly 🤔?!   

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