We are celebrating here at Capitol Baseball, for a myriad of reasons. The first, and probably most exciting, is that last week we hit our 200th post ever! The second reason is that it is now the 10th edition of our ongoing series identifying faceless names who have occupied the Nationals' uniform. What better way to celebrate our tin anniversary than with a very special edition of Former Nats Greats. Who will be the very honored 10th member into the club?
Wait for it...
Wait for iiiiiiiiiiiit...
Maryland-native, Justin Maxwell!
If you are a regular reader of Capitol Baseball you probably know by now that Jmax has become my punching bag. As long as there are players that don't pan out, I will use Maxwell in comparison. Its not that I don't appreciate the guy for being a stand-up teammate and above average defender, its that he was given chance, after chance, after chance to succeed, failing every step of the way.
Lets take a look at his way-too-long Nationals career.
Maxwell's arbitration clock started way too soon when GM Jim Bowden decided that it would be a good idea for him to get a cup of coffee in the Majors after just a half season at A+ ball. He would go on to have the best performance that September of '07. It didn't take him very long to show off his 5-tool potential as he got a Grand Slam for his very first Major League hit, in his 3rd at bat. Maxwell would see limited action for the month, garnering just 26 at-bats, but he put up some average numbers; .269 AVG, .796 OPS. 2 HR. 5 RBI. 0.0 WAR.
This is where Maxwell's career would begin to stumble. After a somewhat successful 2008 Spring Training, Maxwell was sent to AA Harrisburg but would only play 43 games because of a broken wrist.
Flash forward to spring of 2009, where Maxwell was expected to challenge for a roster spot. His spring did not impress the Nats brass and he was sent to AAA to start the season. As the year went on Nationals had Jmax made the Syracuse to Washington trek 3 times according to his player page on SB Nation. During his brief appearances he was never able to string together any sort of positive momentum, only negative. He finished the year with a paltry .247 AVG. .793 OPS. and just 9 RBIs in 89 ABs. Worse still was that as time went on, his career strikeout percentage increased drastically, reaching a 36% strikeout rate in 2009.
Spring training 2010: the Chance. In a move that shocked the baseball world, the Nationals released Elijah Dukes, who many predicted to be the starting Right Fielder for the 2010 club. Justin Maxwell finally had an opportunity, and it was clear that the execs were ready for him to finally step into the role. How did he deal with it?
20 Games. 50 At Bats. 5 Hits. 1 HR. 4 RBI. 9 Total Bases. 21 K. .100 AVG. .413 OPS.
Wow. Talking about folding in the face of pressure. Needless to say, Maxwell did not earn a starting job with the team, or even a bench role; at the end of camp (at age 26) he was sent back to AAA. 4 call-ups and 3 options back down, never doing enough to earn a job, Maxwell put up some of the most heinous offensive numbers this club has seen from a non-pitcher. In 26 games where he had more than 1 AB, he got more than 1 hit a grand total of 3 times; each time being just 2 hits...
2010: 67 games. 108 At-Bats. 15 Hits. 3 HR. 12 RBI. 25 BB. 43 K. .144 AVG. .594 OPS.
2010 Saber: 21.9 UZR/150. 0.4 WAR. 41.3 K%.
Career: .201 AVG. .698 OPS. 9 HR. 26 RBI. 1.4 WAR. 20.6 UZR/150.
Now, Maxwell had fantastic defense, and I love defense, but there is no possible way that any team could afford to have him be anything other than a defensive replacement, because he brings nothing to the table offensively. Another thing I love about him is that he went 3 for 6 with the bases loaded, with 3 HR. Unbelievable. I also find it amazing that he was a positive WAR player, due only to the fact that Fangraphs uses defensive metrics into their calculations, if not... Ouch.
After 5 years in the system without learning how to lay of breaking balls out of the zone. After 3 years of back and forth. After countless chances to win a spot in the lineup. After increasing his K% every year in the system. After being a Jimbo 5-tool player special of the year, of the week. It was time to say goodbye.
I was thrilled when the Nationals finally cut bait with 27 year-old Justin Maxwell on January 27th. I was elated when I found out that Mike Rizzo was able to get anything other than a bag of balls in return.
I wish Jmax the best of luck with the Yankees, and I really hope that he is one day able to figure out how to hit Major League pitching. Congrats to you on become our tin anniversary representative to the Former Nats Great collection.
Note to the Yankees: maybe instead of using the DH for the pitcher, you can bolster your defense by having the pitcher hit while you use your DH for Jmax. Just a nickel's worth of free advice.
Until next time, leave you favorite Maxwell memories in the Comments section!
Showing posts with label Justin Maxwell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justin Maxwell. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Maxwell signs with the Yankees
Former Nationals OF Justin Maxwell has been acquired by the New York Yankees.
Maxwell was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for pitcher Todd Coffey. The 27-year old righty's numbers are certainly nothing to write home about over 122 career games: .201 BA/.319 OBP/ .379 SLG. But Maxwell does provide good speed and above average defense.
The Nats received RHP Adam Olbrychowsky (awesome name), a pitcher who reached AA ball for the first time last season. The move provides even more pitching depth to the Nationals farm teams.
So, with that we say good luck to JMax. Here's hoping he does something good enough to earn a nickname as cool as JMax in New York...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Former Nats Greats #8
This week's edition of Former Nats Greats is going to focus on another outstanding player for our Inaugural campaign of 2005. With a perfect name to pronounce and a penchant for punchouts, this player has earned enshrinement in Capitol Baseball's Hall of Former Nats Greats.
The lucky winner is...
Matt Cepicky!
Welcome aboard and congratulations are most certainly in order.
Cepicky came to the Nats via the Montreal Expos days, as he was drafted by the club in the 4th round of the 1999 Draft. He played sparingly after his major league debut in 2002, making it into just 69 games in 3 years prior to moving to the district. And it took until early July for him to make his first appearance in the Nation's Capital.
Matt Cepicky made his National's debut on, how fitting, the 4th of July against the New York Metropolitans. He came into the game in the bottom of the 7th as a pinch hitter for the ever-so-reliable Luis "Gas Can" Ayala, where he proceeded to ground out to the Jose Reyes. 0-1.
Frank Robinson apparently liked what he saw and gave Cepicky the start in Left Field the next day, replacing the future Cubbie, Marlon Byrd. Hitting in the 6 hole, Cepicky grounded out, grounded out, and popped out. Helping the Nats win a 3-2 decision over those pesky Mets.
Things would get better for our hero, as he got a hit in his next start (July 7) and then followed that with his best performance in a Nationals' uniform; 2 for 4 with a double and 3 RBIs in an 8-7 win over the Phightins. However, the honeymoon was not to last and Matt Cepicky got just 3 more hits in his last 5 games with the team.
His numbers for that 2005 year are as follows:
11 Games. 25 AB. .240 AVG. .629 OPS. 6 H. 3 2B. 1 BB. 8 K. 3 RBI. 1.4 UZR. 0.1 WAR.
What really strikes me about those statistics is that he had 8 strikeouts in 25 at bats. That's a 32% Strikeout Ratio. Really rough (though much better than Justin Maxwell's 41.3% from this past year). One of the most impressive things about these numbers is that he was able to put up a positive WAR despite a severe lack of offensive production, I guess that 1.4 UZR really helped to bump that number up.
So there you have it. Former Nats Great #8. The Great and Timeless Matt Cepicky. Thank you for having a fun-to-pronounce name that we can still talk about 6 years later.
Please post your favorite Matt Cepicky memory in the Comments section!
The lucky winner is...
Matt Cepicky!
Welcome aboard and congratulations are most certainly in order.
Cepicky came to the Nats via the Montreal Expos days, as he was drafted by the club in the 4th round of the 1999 Draft. He played sparingly after his major league debut in 2002, making it into just 69 games in 3 years prior to moving to the district. And it took until early July for him to make his first appearance in the Nation's Capital.
Matt Cepicky made his National's debut on, how fitting, the 4th of July against the New York Metropolitans. He came into the game in the bottom of the 7th as a pinch hitter for the ever-so-reliable Luis "Gas Can" Ayala, where he proceeded to ground out to the Jose Reyes. 0-1.
Frank Robinson apparently liked what he saw and gave Cepicky the start in Left Field the next day, replacing the future Cubbie, Marlon Byrd. Hitting in the 6 hole, Cepicky grounded out, grounded out, and popped out. Helping the Nats win a 3-2 decision over those pesky Mets.
Things would get better for our hero, as he got a hit in his next start (July 7) and then followed that with his best performance in a Nationals' uniform; 2 for 4 with a double and 3 RBIs in an 8-7 win over the Phightins. However, the honeymoon was not to last and Matt Cepicky got just 3 more hits in his last 5 games with the team.
His numbers for that 2005 year are as follows:
11 Games. 25 AB. .240 AVG. .629 OPS. 6 H. 3 2B. 1 BB. 8 K. 3 RBI. 1.4 UZR. 0.1 WAR.
What really strikes me about those statistics is that he had 8 strikeouts in 25 at bats. That's a 32% Strikeout Ratio. Really rough (though much better than Justin Maxwell's 41.3% from this past year). One of the most impressive things about these numbers is that he was able to put up a positive WAR despite a severe lack of offensive production, I guess that 1.4 UZR really helped to bump that number up.
So there you have it. Former Nats Great #8. The Great and Timeless Matt Cepicky. Thank you for having a fun-to-pronounce name that we can still talk about 6 years later.
Please post your favorite Matt Cepicky memory in the Comments section!
And Then There Were Two...
Yesterday the Nats cut ties with 23 year-old Dutch-Antilles right-hander Shairon Martis, designating the starter for assignment; passing him through waivers to be released, traded or sent to Syracuse. Although I'm not sure what is going to happen to Martis, I believe that he has seen his last days in the Nationals Organization and that some other team will take a chance on the 2009 rotation member. The move was made to clear way for utilityman-extraordinaire, Jerry Hairston, who signed a $2 million dollar Major League contract a few days ago.
With that domino falling, the Nats have just a few more housekeeping moves to be made before Pitchers and Catchers report on February 16th. As of now, before the Gorzelanny and Coffey deals are accepted by MLB, the Nats have 42 men on their 40-man roster. That means 2 men are going to be unceremoniously booted to the curb.
On December 21st I wrote a post called 40-Man Maintenance that, among other things, attempted to weed out the moves that the Front Office needed to make in order to fit all the new players on the roster. In said post I predicted that Matt Chico, Justin Maxwell, and Luis Atilano would be cut; and to my credit, Chico was cut later that day. As of now, I believe that there are now 3 true candidates to be considered for removal from the 40-Man. Here is what I wrote about those 3 candidates in the previously alluded-to post.
Luis Atilano: Career Totals: 6-7 Record. 5.15 ERA. 5.00 FIP. 1.49 WHIP. 0.2 WAR
Luis Atilano's only career experience came this past year when he had an outstanding Spring Training and became first in line to fill in for the 1st injured/mental-breakdown Nats Starter. When Marquis was embarrassingly bad to start the season Atilano came in and was highly effective for month, winning 3 of his first 4 starts. Then he looked down, saw the ground was far, far away, and fell apart. Atilano pitched in the rotation until July, and then was put out of his misery and sent back down to AAA Syracuse.
Garrett Mock: Career Totals: 4-13 Record. 5.17 ERA. 4.38 FIP. 1.67 WHIP. 1.1 WAR.
Mock has always been touted by Nats brass as one of the best "stuff" guys in the organization. What that really means is that he has all the talent in the world but he hasn't been able to harness it (Daniel Cabrera Syndrome). His ERA is dreadful, his WHIP is worse and he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. At 27 years old the only thing Garrett has going for him right now is his 8.03 K/9.
Justin Maxwell: Career Totals: .201 AVG. .698 OPS. 7.8 UZR. 1.5 WAR.
The Jim Bowden Special. Maxwell was once touted as a prototypical 5-tool player, but it has become evident over the past 4 years that he is simply a 3-tool player; speed, fielding, throwing. It's really nice to have a defensive specialist when you have a stacked line-up and little defense. Since the Nats are already planning on going into 2011 with 4 above-average defenders in the outfield who can also hit higher than .201, there is no need for a 27 year-old Maxwell to remain on the 40-Man.
Predictions: 25 year-old Atilano stays. 27 year-old Mock and Maxwell gone.
With that domino falling, the Nats have just a few more housekeeping moves to be made before Pitchers and Catchers report on February 16th. As of now, before the Gorzelanny and Coffey deals are accepted by MLB, the Nats have 42 men on their 40-man roster. That means 2 men are going to be unceremoniously booted to the curb.
On December 21st I wrote a post called 40-Man Maintenance that, among other things, attempted to weed out the moves that the Front Office needed to make in order to fit all the new players on the roster. In said post I predicted that Matt Chico, Justin Maxwell, and Luis Atilano would be cut; and to my credit, Chico was cut later that day. As of now, I believe that there are now 3 true candidates to be considered for removal from the 40-Man. Here is what I wrote about those 3 candidates in the previously alluded-to post.
Luis Atilano: Career Totals: 6-7 Record. 5.15 ERA. 5.00 FIP. 1.49 WHIP. 0.2 WAR
Luis Atilano's only career experience came this past year when he had an outstanding Spring Training and became first in line to fill in for the 1st injured/mental-breakdown Nats Starter. When Marquis was embarrassingly bad to start the season Atilano came in and was highly effective for month, winning 3 of his first 4 starts. Then he looked down, saw the ground was far, far away, and fell apart. Atilano pitched in the rotation until July, and then was put out of his misery and sent back down to AAA Syracuse.
Garrett Mock: Career Totals: 4-13 Record. 5.17 ERA. 4.38 FIP. 1.67 WHIP. 1.1 WAR.
Mock has always been touted by Nats brass as one of the best "stuff" guys in the organization. What that really means is that he has all the talent in the world but he hasn't been able to harness it (Daniel Cabrera Syndrome). His ERA is dreadful, his WHIP is worse and he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. At 27 years old the only thing Garrett has going for him right now is his 8.03 K/9.
Justin Maxwell: Career Totals: .201 AVG. .698 OPS. 7.8 UZR. 1.5 WAR.
The Jim Bowden Special. Maxwell was once touted as a prototypical 5-tool player, but it has become evident over the past 4 years that he is simply a 3-tool player; speed, fielding, throwing. It's really nice to have a defensive specialist when you have a stacked line-up and little defense. Since the Nats are already planning on going into 2011 with 4 above-average defenders in the outfield who can also hit higher than .201, there is no need for a 27 year-old Maxwell to remain on the 40-Man.
Predictions: 25 year-old Atilano stays. 27 year-old Mock and Maxwell gone.
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