Hunter Bishop OF. DOB: 6/25/1998. B-L, T-R. 6'5", 210 lbs. Drafted 2019 Round 1 #10 overall.
2022(A+): .235/.320/.406, 13 HR, 20 SB, 8.7 BB%, 32.7 K%, 358 PA.
There are two factors that keep me from writing off Hunter Bishop entirely: He once was a top 10 overall draft pick and he essentially lost two full seasons of development due to COVID 19 in 2020 and to injury in 2021. If you squint hard, you can see the combination of power and speed that made someone think he should be drafted that high. The walk rate is not terrible either. The K rate has to come down. I am not quite sure where he goes from here. AA Richmond does not seem like the place for him to improve those numbers, so maybe it's back to A+ Eugene? He probably has to stay healthy and show some sign of development to remain in the organization.
With Bishop, I say that it's a matter of now or never. If he gets off to a hot start (one month) promote him to Richmond immediately. If it continues (for two months) , move him to AAA. This is wishful thinking, of course. He's shown little to suggest that this outcome is feasible. If he continues to flounder, cut him loose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with pushing him up. His tools were able to keep him semi productive through the strikeouts. If he doesn't breakout, but just carries the same line in AA, it would at least show some progress.
DeleteNot sure improving his numbers against much younger competition would help.