Brandon Belt's first four games with Giants are a sign of great things to come
Dodgers fans across the land are sighing -– last year, Buster Posey from the right side, and this year, Brandon Belt from the left. The first look at Belt over the weekend at Dodger Stadium showed us everything we need to know about why the Giants think their rookie first baseman is here to stay.
But less than two years ago Major League Baseball as a whole loved 146 guys more than Belt. The Giants drafted him in the fifth round with the 147th overall pick out of the University of Texas. How did a fifth-rounder beat the first four guys in his draft class to the big leagues and take over at a power production position for a defending World Series title team?
Belt is a case study of the value of institutional knowledge in amateur scouting, the value of why scouts need to like what players do best, need to pay close attention to where each player is along the developmental path, and why consensus thinking is the worst thing that can happen to any team.
It’s also an example of why the Giants are producing young impact hitters right now and the Dodgers are not.
Belt was drafted in the 11th round out of high school as a pitcher and went to junior college to focus on hitting. By the time he was draft eligible again, in 2009, Belt had fewer at-bats than many other college players and flashed only modest home run power in games.
But for veteran Giants cross-checker Doug Mapson, it was enough. Mapson had compiled a lengthy scouting history on Belt, spending enough hours early in the ballpark and watching enough batting practice before anyone else arrived to decide there was more power than what the stat sheet showed. Not every scout in America was convinced that Belt could climb so quickly. Many teams didn’t like his offensive set-up and approach. Some thought he had a hitch in his swing.
But instead of looking for what not to like, Mapson looked for what he could like: quick hands, hard contact and power to all fields. He believed that what scared off some teams about Belt’s swing could be fixed without compromising the crisp gunshot sounds off a wooden bat, an indicator of hand strength and torque. He also liked Belt's arm strength, but felt the bat was the more valuable tool.
“I think he’s an emerging hitter,” Mapson told the Baseball Beginnings website in 2009. “We saw him hit for power to all fields even though he doesn’t have a tremendous amount of home runs. Here’s a guy who is 6-5, 220, left-handed, who is a good athlete and a good fielder, has a good arm, he’s just learning to hit and he’s had moderate success. I think all the upside is in front of this guy.”
Belt’s home run to straight-away center field Friday night against Chad Billingsley -- his first big league home run -- flashed the ability to start his hands and produce above-average bat speed and bat control.
Belt loves to gear himself to pull and to get extension like he did against Billingsley, but he’s also smart enough to make adjustments at a young age. He hung in against Clayton Kershaw’s good stuff. His at-bats against Ted Lilly were decidedly poised for a strong young man facing a veteran junk ball-throwing lefty, though he’ll need a few times through the National League to sell everyone that he’s comfortable lefty vs. lefty. He also showed rookie pauses against premier right-handed stuff from Hiroki Kuroda. He showed discipline against bullpen slop, drawing a bases-loaded walk on Sunday.
How, then, did a fifth-round pick less than two years ago turn out to be virtually major league ready out of college and still fall to the Giants?
The simplest explanation is that Mapson did a better job than many scouts at looking at what Belt did best and where it would fit. A scout can only get the players his organization lets him get, but only the player can make the scout look smart. As Mapson’s old mentor and former Hollywood Stars second baseman Gene Handley liked to say, “We’re not any smarter than the next guy. We just hope to be.”
-- John Klima
John Klima is a graduate of the MLB Scout Development Program, author of Willie’s Boys, contributor to the Los Angeles Times and Yahoo Sports, and founder of www.baseballbeginnings.com.
Photo: Brandon Belt. Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, U.S. Presswire.
No one cares. He batting .154. Get a grip. Why not talk about someone on the team we care to follow.
P.S. Please take your PC or laptop and donate it to a third grader, Dilbert. The quality of the work coming from the computer will skyrocket.
Posted by: Vince | 04/04/2011 at 01:19 PM
I, too, was impressed by Belt over the weekend. He also fielded his position well. Huff's difficulties in right field and the impending return of Ross will likely combine to make a trip to Triple-A a necessity for Belt. What a great name for a ballplayer. As a lifelong Dodgers fan, I am also concerned about what a 1-2 combo Posey and Belt may be for years for the Giants.
Posted by: scooplew | 04/04/2011 at 02:16 PM
The emergence of Brandon Belt is what baseball is all about for the fan who has an appreciation and love of the game. Too bad he's not a Dodger...nevertheless it will be fun watching him hone his craft to become a league leader as he is sure to do. Lincecum/Posey/Belt are pretty exciting...lets hope Kemp/Ethier/Kershaw give them a run for their money.
Posted by: skyharbor | 04/04/2011 at 02:39 PM
OK. One guy cares. I'll take it back. Let's say "one Dodger fan cares" about Brandon Belt.
Posted by: Vince | 04/04/2011 at 02:41 PM
Brandon Belt... the kid's gonna be a STAR.
Pipe dreams would have the dudgers acquire B squared (based on his upside, a package of billingsley, delarosa & sands would just about cover the cost.)
Ned could turn loney into the 2nd LH'd reliever the bullpen does not have - just as joe torre turned broxton from a reliever into an ammo-less shell of his former self; james was once a pitcher just as jonathan was once a closer (so they say) instead his present day chartered course livingston seagull.
Speaking of 1st basemen, this Trumbo - Angels version of the dudgers sands - looks as if he may develop into a keeper too.
Posted by: 16blows | 04/04/2011 at 02:43 PM
I thought this was a Dodgers blog. Am I in the wrong room?
Posted by: Labeldude | 04/04/2011 at 03:00 PM
I too am confused?! Steve Dilbeck save your article for when you work at the San Francisco Chronicle, this is the Dodgers Blog not S.F. Giants Blog
Posted by: LADodgerFan | 04/04/2011 at 04:00 PM
This kid looks like a future star to me but of course he has to go through the mill with the league learning how to get him out. Yes I think he's going to be tough. I'm glad we won't have to face him for another week.
Posted by: OldBrooklynFan | 04/04/2011 at 04:18 PM
Belt, you're outta here!
Posted by: 68elcamino427 | 04/04/2011 at 06:30 PM
Wow, some Dodgers fans leaving comments don't appear to be very good baseball fans...
At the age of 9 my mom taught me it was more important to be a baseball fan first, and a Dodgers fan second. That said, young talented players like Posey and Belt are the real deal.
Posted by: homer fans don't get it | 04/04/2011 at 08:37 PM
Really? A sample size of 4 games, a sub .200 average and you're talking about belt being the second coming? wow.
Since we're on the giant's tribute page for scouting, let's mention the 6 picks they had before the 2nd round in 2007- one player so far on the big club. well done as well? Sure timmy and posey are very good, but the giants lost close to 90 games for 4 straight years. That's how the draft is supposed to work- it rewards failure with high picks!
As for the Dodgers, ever heard of a guy named sands? 25th round in 2008. Everybody who has seen him knows he's going to be a great mlb player. Can we have an article about Dodger scouting? I think they've done pretty well with de la rosa and lee as well. I guess we'll wait for them to pitch 5 innings or so and then award them a tie for the cy young when they get to LA.
Posted by: Scioscia | 04/05/2011 at 01:18 AM
There were some things to like about Belt, sure. He's hitting .154, but he had a big 3 run homer, drew a bases loaded walk (I'd say patience, but I think the league scouting report on Dodger relievers is to take pitches until the pitchers prove they can throw strikes, except Broxton, where you swing hard when he throws a slider).
But the problem is that the media is too quick to anoint Belt and Posey as superstars. Posey is a dangerous hitter, but he started hot last year and then cooled off towards the end. His mistake trying to pick off Kemp was a huge factor in losing the first game. He's not the next Joe Mauer yet.
But Steve, you asked how a hitter like Belt can break into the Giants lineup? Easy, because the Giants have great pitching, but their offense sucks and they need to give guys like Belt a shot. And you say the Giants are producing impact hitters and the Dodgers are not? Dodgers have already produced Ethier, Kemp and Loney (although Ethier started with Oakland). They've been called up, so now it takes time to develop the other hitters, but with Jerry Sands and Trayvon Robinson on the horizon, I don't think it's quite right to suggest the Giants farm system is rich in hitters while the Dodgers system is barren. It's OK to give a little encouragement to a young hot prospect from another team without simultaneously cutting down your own team.
Posted by: neoncactus | 04/05/2011 at 07:33 AM
We have a Brandon Belt waiting to come to the bigs.. His name is Jerry Sands. But we have to settle with Thames/Gwynn/Paul. C'mon Ned!
Posted by: PDub | 04/05/2011 at 08:04 AM
For those of you denigrating Belt's talent based on his BATTING AVERAGE, you are fools. This guy's swing is picture perfect, his bat fast, and his eye at the plate sharp. I hope Sands is this kind of player as well.
Posted by: vtadave | 04/05/2011 at 09:27 AM
A few here give evidence form microcosm some of the same 'intolerance' which befell the human being and baseball fan who happened to be adorned as San Francisco Giant, attacked at dudger stadium a not so choice few.
I choose to embrace the 'live and let live' sentiment regards baseball allegiance. Though an dudger (formerly Dodgers) fan since day one LA 1958, was capital 'T'hrilled for the Giants and their fans 'WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP' season, last.
And why not?
To be naught is to be petty... to be a dudger fan, green-eyes blazing away.
If only that were far as it went, the calm afore verbal and/or written ribbing even (the 'good natured' aspect any such being in the purview of each of us).
Ay, there's the rub.
Begets.
We are ALL guilty.
And regrets.
We ALL have some & should, to include us LA fans once took for granted - 'how green was my valley' i.e., these once renowned but alas now clowned lost angeles dudgers?
Here the relative safety 'Dodgers Blog', by invitation both singularly & part n parcel a pack mob mentality, the faceless roam - verbally chastise those dare mention the name or any player thereof - 'WORLD CHAMPION' Giants. This invite courtesy the LA Times - of which we are all guests, same case ALL who attend baseball games at (name) stadium (any) - to blog/speak their favored thoughts within the bounds 'terms of service' convention.
But what of tack as compared tact?
Quips instead of sticks, fisticuffs a cahoots clan nee gang weighed 'gainst the intellectually fueled stones anonymous bloggers... a battle of the wits vs the nits.
The 'proprietary' angst stadium as internet would be amusing in total if it did not also come with repercussions - some worse than others. An narrative wit and brickbats via composition be one thing - I know how to bend a phrase or two to humorous ends. What each us considers 'invective' may be debatable, final arbiter be Dilbeck/LA Times case this blog, as it should be... if only that same arbitrary process was somehow not the imperfect patent each of us has on it our own Declaration of Independence, a patently impossible tenet.
Having said that, it has not been lost on me and probably you that Dilbeck, as the rest us, has an allegiance. He is blue through & through - which is to say impartial as those random acts of kindness via Simers. The difference be, Steve understands how police himself (TJ too aft his daily mouthwash), upshot be: they know 'when to say when' - if not, their Editor does. Too, be an acknowledgement there's baseball life outside LA - an winning one, even. This is not to say LA Times does not attract or even 'encourage' discourse readers - the reactionary rest is up to YOU.
Is the pen (circa 2011 'keyboard' & an near endless supply of internet paper) mightier than the sword or is the Pen in fact but the final destination when all else fails?
I believe it was Rodney King pled, "can't we all just get along?", aft a chorus of billy clubs serenaded its tune, justice same lightened coffers, rainbow of color on a palette black & blue & white, currency green, sangre red did mix.
No, apparently we cannot.
We are all Hamlet - must answer the question whether "to be, or not to be" - to act the nobleman 'stead ruffian or brute, to "suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles by opposing end them."
Remember, we're "talkin' baseball, Willie, Mickey, and the Duke."
Posted by: 16blows | 04/05/2011 at 11:54 AM
Dodger or not, it is baseball that we love and Brandon Belt is likely to be a mainstay in the Giants lineup in the not to distant future. I look forward to seeing him for many years facing Kershaw and the rest of the Blue pitching staff.
Posted by: Jim Hatchell | 04/05/2011 at 01:34 PM
I like Belt, but want him to go back to 3A to work 4 to 6 weeks in the outfield. He is pretty fast, as shown by his stolen base. He must have an arm, since he was a pitcher. His value to the Giants would be much higher if he could play either 1B or outfield. We could then have Huff at 1B, and platoon Burrell/Belt in LF (when Cody returns to RF). Whoever has the hot hand, plays LF. When Huff's contract expires, Belt goes to 1B. In the meantime, we have Huff in the lineup without his outfield defensive liabilities.
One more advantage. Belt spends 4 to 6 weeks in minors, pushes out his first arbitration eligible year by 1 year. Helps Giants payroll in 2013/2014, when we need to have money to pay our young pitchers.
Posted by: Greg Gilliom | 04/05/2011 at 03:48 PM
egg-sactly so, GG
That is what the Giants did when Orlando Cepeda's presence 1st base required San Francisco to play an great young player named Willie McCovey in the OF, and/or vice versa.
If Belt can do it be the only question... we already know Huff can't.
Posted by: 16blows | 04/05/2011 at 04:48 PM
@VTADAVE- Use any metric you'd like, Belt is not getting it done. Sure he's a talented guy, and maybe he'll put up numbers, but let's wait and see where he is at the end of the year before we talk about how good he is or isn't. Talent does not always equate to success on the MLB level. Once the months and ABs reveal the kind of player he is we won't have too much left to guess at.
Posted by: Scioscia | 04/06/2011 at 11:35 AM
Wow, all you Giant-haters out there really need to lighten up, especially this week.
The news media does a story like this every season about some up-and-coming rookie. Last year it was Jason Heyward. Two years ago it was another can't-miss newbie, except that he faltered mid-season.
Springtime-renewal-blah blah blah.
I sure wish the Dodgers had talk of a 'can't miss' rook this year.
Posted by: NameRequired | 04/06/2011 at 01:17 PM
How did that work out for you guys. Belt got sent down on his birthday hitting .192. Under the mendoza line. Seems you jumped the gun a little bit. And now I'm back to gloat...
Posted by: Vince | 04/21/2011 at 11:34 AM
16blow's comment...WOW...just wow...
Posted by: Vince | 04/21/2011 at 01:13 PM