Off Day Reading: Jordy & Jack; Notes

Looked at a few numbers (admittedly very back-of-the-envelope stuff) just to add some smoke to the Jordy Mercer debate (“he’s great/he stinks”) debate. Jordy of course doesn’t rank in the top echelon of Buc shortstops – Honus Wagner and Arky Vaughan were two of the best ever at the spot, while Glenn Wright and Jay Bell were pretty dang good – but he does have a comparable in Jack Wilson. Using Fangraphs as a cheat sheet, Jack was the better fielder. He’s a solid RZR “average” with the glove while Jordy is an equally solid “below average” due to his limited range, with Wilson running away in runs saved and both being money on routine plays. Jordy is the better stick with a 91 OPS+ to Jack’s surprisingly low 76 although their slashes are pretty similar.

Using WAR, Jack’s Pirate career consisted of 1,195 games at SS with an 11.3 WAR while Jordy has played 566 games with a 6.3 WAR. The stat being cumulative, that means Jordy would perhaps be one WAR higher than Jack over an equal amount of games if his production stays equivalent, a big if. To us, the Jordy-Jack era sits between the Dick Groat-Gene Alley days and the Ronnie Cedeno-Clint Barmes stretch. And Jordy may not be bumped out soon; Gift can’t hit, Kevin Newman is trying to hold off Pablo Reyes at Altoona and Cole Tucker can’t seem to beat the injury bug in High A.

Notes:

• Connor Byrne of MLB Trade Rumors examines Gerrit Cole as a trade piece.
• Jason Martinez of the same site picks his most likely minor leaguers to get the call and has Austin Meadows among the chosen.
• Altoona Curve OF’er Jordan Luplow has been picked as the Eastern League Player of the Week. Luplow, a third round pick in 2014, hit safely in all seven games during the week, going 11-for-26 with five home runs, two doubles, four walks, eight runs scored, six RBIs and a stolen base. He’s hitting .294 on the season with 13 HR, 34 runs scored and 25 RBI. Jordan is second in the league in slugging percentage (.588) and fourth in extra-base hits (26). He was also named to the MLB Pipeline Team of the Week.
• Bradenton Marauder 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes (.283 BA) will replace SS Cole Tucker, out with a broken thumb, on the Florida State League South Division All-Star Team.