Cashman: Cano Has Chance To Make Name For Himself That Would Last Forever
Everywhere you turn these days, it seems that everyone is talking about Robinson Cano. Here’s the latest from Mark Feinsand -
Robinson Cano’s first five years in pinstripes have placed him in the conversation when it comes to the game’s elite second basemen, but as good as Cano has been, he knows that there’s still plenty of room for him to grow.
“I have a long way to go and a lot of things to learn,” said Cano, who was tied for sixth in the AL with a .320 average last season. “You can have great seasons, but in baseball, you never stop learning.”
“He’s already one of the premier guys in the game, but that’s the only thing separating him from taking it to a whole other level,” Brian Cashman said. “If he can be more selective at the plate, he could have a Hall of Fame-type career.”
“He’s still young,” Cashman said. “He really has a chance to make a name for himself that would last forever. That’s the type of hitting talent he has.”
This all has brought cause for me to look at some numbers on Cano. First, via Baseball-Reference.com looking at lefty batters the same age as Cano and with the same about of playing time, etc., -
PLAYER OPS+ PA From To G BA OBP SLG Willie Davis 100 3121 1962 1966 765 .270 .301 .398 Robinson Cano 113 3036 2005 2009 734 .306 .339 .480 Al Oliver 114 2986 1969 1973 721 .289 .328 .442 Lloyd Waner 109 3045 1928 1932 659 .336 .373 .437 Joe Pepitone 104 3008 1963 1967 745 .255 .296 .422 Carl Crawford 108 3115 2004 2008 711 .299 .338 .456 Jorge Orta 113 2958 1973 1977 709 .289 .340 .420 Mark Kotsay 103 2842 1998 2002 726 .286 .339 .428 Cecil Travis 109 2887 1936 1940 685 .323 .378 .431 Darin Erstad 108 2809 1996 2000 628 .301 .358 .462 Gus Bell 113 3178 1951 1955 738 .289 .342 .475
PLAYER H 2B HR RBI BB SO SB Willie Davis 787 115 63 340 118 341 145 Robinson Cano 875 199 87 394 129 335 17 Al Oliver 797 148 75 405 139 241 21 Lloyd Waner 951 110 17 266 152 65 30 Joe Pepitone 717 85 117 398 153 305 14 Carl Crawford 867 128 63 350 161 422 238 Jorge Orta 777 122 52 346 209 368 61 Mark Kotsay 740 135 58 294 212 304 60 Cecil Travis 844 148 17 364 218 125 13 Darin Erstad 767 139 77 332 222 375 87 Gus Bell 840 153 106 458 228 300 11
Next, via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, again looking at batting hand, age, playing time, etc. -
LEFT HANDED HITTERS, AGE BETWEEN 21 AND 26
PLATE APPEARANCES BETWEEN 2800 AND 3200, RCAA BETWEEN 0 AND 50
OWP >= .500
PLAYER G PA RCAA OWP Johnny Evers 806 3142 21 .535 Tim McCarver 799 2995 34 .539 Dick McAuliffe 768 3105 37 .537 Jorge Orta 760 3091 42 .548 Bill Buckner 744 3009 13 .511 Robinson Cano 734 3036 28 .531 Al Oliver 725 2994 50 .558 Wally Pipp 671 2826 31 .545 Duff Cooley 666 3086 23 .530
Without spending any time looking at these numbers in detail, the first name that jumped out at me was Jorge Orta (who I have highlighted in red). Why? It goes back to something that I wrote on May 11, 2007 – where I made “an observation that Cano and Orta started out of the gate somewhat in the same manner…and they both batted the same way and played the same position.”
And, now, three years later, you can still see that Robinson Cano is on the same path as Jorge Orta – sorta/kinda.
Let’s not lose sight of that as we’re booking his date, now, for Cooperstown.
