I don't pretend to be an expert, but here is how I see him. Legit power that pitchers do fear. Because of that, he is going to get a lot of extra base hits and walks. I think he will have plenty of extra base hits because of his natural power and because he hits a lot of mistakes. At the AA level pitchers try to nibble on him and he draws a lot of walks. With this approach to facing him, pitchers are aggressive with him if they are forced to because of a game siutation or falling behind in the count (something that happens regularly becuase of their aforementioned tendancy to nibble with him at the plate). It is almost as if pitchers double cross themselves by trying to be carefull, then falling behind, and then being forced to throw somthing over the heart of the plate.
If he expands his zone he strikes out a lot. He does not have the best two strike approach and there are some holes in the swing. On top of that, he doesn't really have a position. I don't think he will be a consistant enough hitter to stick at 1b or LF, but he could be a unique utility player for you. He could be a guy that can backup first, third, left field, and be an emergency third catcher. He would also bring plus power to the table for a bench player.
Ultimately, I think he is a little bit tougher to project because of his set of skills. Will pitchers at the Major league level fear his power? I don't think so. Therefore, his approach at the plate may have to change. It is a little tough to tell.
I was thinking of it in a different way. I first thought of Adam Dunn vs Brandon Wood and their relative success in the big leagues.
Dunn appears to have always been patient, have a good eye or whatever ability allows him to draw walks. Dunn, based on my observation of this week only, doesn't have a particular, obvious weakness leading to his Ks. He seems to basically miss fastballs, curves, etc. with equal frequency. However, he gets on base and hits for power and thus has had a long career.
Wood has never drawn walks, for whatever reason. He has a lot of power like Dunn, and he also Fails to make much contact and Ks a lot. This combo, bad eye and low contact, seems to spell doom at the major league level, where he has been awful.
The point of bringing these two into the discussion is that neither makes frequent contact, but if you add a bad eye to the mix, one is doomed. So, I assume Clemens is not like Wood as he has shown a good eye, I was just wondering if his Ks were that he just misses all pitches equally, or just has a poor two strike approach. With Dunn for example, I wonder if he is physically skilled enough to make more contact with a different approach.
Really, I'm just wondering what his weakness is, and whether it is potentially correctable, or whether it becomes more pronounced as he advances.
Disclaimer. I don't think he has the power of either of those guys, just using them because they were on my mind recently and provide a interesting contrast.
