I need to ditch my day job and sign on as a "sports columnist."
If the Tamp Bay Times' Martin Fennelly is any indication, sports knowledge is not necessarily mandatory. It also seems like writing total bullsh-t is often consumed as "analysis."
So Mr. Fennelly wrote an article recently entitled, "Shohei Ohtani went down. On to baseball’s next best two-way player." He starts off his piece with the following:
Baseball's best two-way player, the sensational Shohei Ohtani, has been placed on the disabled list by the Angels because of a sprain to his ulnar collateral ligament. Tommy John surgery might very well be in his future. It was nice while it lasted.
On to baseball's second-best two-way player
Brendan McKay, you're up.
Brendan McKay?
If you're asking who?, you're not alone. I don't think anyone outside of hardcore baseball fans know the name.
Now, truth be told, he did put up some decent numbers in baseball. Last season over 21 games, he batted .205, with 4 homers, and 14 RBI. He also pitched 8 innings, with only 2 hits given up, and 9/3 K/BB ratio (whatever the f--- that means...like I said, I'm no sports writer).
That's pretty good.
But here's the thing...he did this in Class A, or commonly known as Low-A ball. This is merely two steps above 2 Rookie Ball, where newly drafted players start their professional careers.
Now, McKay has graduated...to high A.
With just one level higher in the minor league system, his offensive production dropped dramatically.
He's slashing just .211/.375/.263.
His pitching is notably better, where he has a 2-1 record and 2.12 ERA over 17 innings.
I mean, he has the possibility of being a two-way MLB player, not the potential. But if he's struggling to hit at high-A (and we're not even talking about double-A, where Tim Tebow plies his trade), going two-way is more a pipe-dream than anything realistic.