Charlie Culberson

When can we start talking about C.C. as a prospect again?

Noonan is probably the closest comparable player to Culberson in the Giants' system and so far Culberson's 2010 has been much better than Noonan's 2009 in San Jose.

almost 2 years ago Keenlow 18 comments 0 recs |

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Head-and-shouders above anything he’s done in the past, but he needs to stop striking out like a drunken sailor (K rate = 20.3%) and walk much more (BB rate = 3.7%). I sholud also note that is error rate has come down significantly since they moved him to 2B, which is also encouraging, but I know nothing about how good his ange has been there.

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by Fla-Giant on Jun 13, 2010 7:25 PM PDT reply actions

I wouldn’t consider that K rate horrible; it’s less than ideal, but I could live with it. To compare to the best, Chase Utley (at the age of 22, in high A) K’ed at a rate of 18.8%. HIs walk rate, however, was double ol’ Charlie’s, at 7.1%, still not great, but definitely giving a better K/BB. Utley would be a dream for Culberson to live up to, and seeing how everyone’s doing in Richmond this year, it seems like Culberson’s year so far is a product of the Cal league. I’d love to be wrong though.

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by theghostofjasonellison on Jun 13, 2010 9:37 PM PDT up reply actions

Still Holding Out Hope For Charlie

While there is definite room for more improvement am pleasantly surprised with the emerging play of Culberson. Seems to be taking nicely to 2b. Where did the power come from? Culby is banging, Continued improvement, kid.

by wilriv21 on Jun 13, 2010 8:09 PM PDT reply actions

I don’t know. Is he a beast?

by Dan from NM on Jun 13, 2010 9:29 PM PDT reply actions

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

If he keeps it up all year long he could make a case to scratch the back end of a top 30 list, but IMO he’s a product of the Cal league

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by Gobroks on Jun 13, 2010 10:02 PM PDT reply actions

I'd say he's shown significant improvement.

His career GB% is 49% and is down to 36% this year. His career LD% is up from 15% to 24% this year.

As far as the Cal league goes, he’s still just a 21 y.o. plying in a league where the average age is almost 23.

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by Smotheredinhugs on Jun 14, 2010 6:59 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, but as Evan pointed out below his K/BB rate is still awful

He’s moderately intriguing but I’m very skeptical

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by Gobroks on Jun 14, 2010 9:23 PM PDT up reply actions

If I recall correctly,

Carlos Gomez, who used to evaluate prospects for The Hardball Times, predicted Culberson would have good pop for a middle infielder if he could work out a hitch in his swing. Culberson’s hot hitting may be due in part to the Cal League, however, he started out quite slowly, leading one to believe that something may also have clicked along the way, and that his newfound prowess is also due in part to his growth as a hitter.

by baseballjunkie on Jun 13, 2010 10:42 PM PDT reply actions

Too early to truly start talking about it...

…but it’s the right time to keep an eye on him and see if he can hold onto the improvements he’s made and watch for continued improvement.

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by BruteSentiment on Jun 13, 2010 10:58 PM PDT reply actions

Culberson is having a much better year than Noonan last year, but it’s important to keep in mind that they’re virtually the same age, so Noonan was playing the Cal League a year younger than Charlie is (and in my opinion, Nick really should have been left there to repeat this season).

For what it’s worth, minorleaguesplits has his MLE currently at .221/.246/.351 which would suggest that a lot of his numbers are being lifted by the Cal League. Still it’s a nice turnaround for a guy I’d totally written off and he’s still young enough to build on it. The K/BB numbers really need work, though.

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by Roger on Jun 14, 2010 6:39 AM PDT reply actions

I completely agree on Noonan. They seem to be more concerned about moving the Neal/Kieschnick/Gillaspie/Noonan crew through the ranks together than they do about the inidivdual player’s development. Noonan should still be in San Jose.

by KCE on Jun 14, 2010 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions

good point

keeping the cohort of Nate / EME / Ishikawa / Bowker / Timpner together guaranteed good things for them all, right?

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by foothillsfan on Jun 15, 2010 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions

couldn't agree more

I was very surprised to see Nonnan start in AA this year. He hasn’t dominated a league yet in his career, and there was no reason to rush him because of his age.

by NateEveryday on Jun 14, 2010 1:35 PM PDT up reply actions

HE’S WHITE?!

Matt Graham is an anagram for .... why don't you ask the scrabble expert!

by say hey nation on Jun 14, 2010 7:14 AM PDT reply actions

I don’t look any farther than 9 walks vs. 49 strikeouts. He’s not going to make it.

by Evan on Jun 14, 2010 10:02 AM PDT reply actions

Pretty much.

by KCE on Jun 14, 2010 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions

Charlie seems to be on one of those “July Velez hot streaks.” You know the kind of hot streak where the player doesn’t really show any improvement at his approach but is seeing better results anyway. I doubt this last too much longer.
I’m just waiting till Sabean and Bochy catch wind of this and crown him their second basemen of the future.

Perhaps Charlie is better then his past numbers, but I doubt he has much success past single A.

by NateEveryday on Jun 14, 2010 1:43 PM PDT reply actions