Before 2015, Craig Gentry had spent the prior four seasons serving as a valuable fourth outfielder for Texas and Oakland. In 2012 and 2013 he posted consecutive seasons worth at least 3.0 fWAR, causing havoc on the bases, saving 28 total runs with his glove, and delivering respectable wOBAs in the high .330s. Even when he moved to Oakland in 2014 Gentry was a valuable asset as a bench player; his bat declined a bit but he made up for it in the field and on the basepaths, accumulating 1.6 fWAR for an A’s team that was the best in baseball before an absurd string of one-run losses knocked them into a Wild Card defeat in Kansas City. (Sidenote: Woo-hoo Angels!)
Then the bottom fell out in 2015 when Gentry—in only 56 plate appearances, mind you—was a sub-replacement player, posting a 9 wRC+ that would make Taylor Featherston blush. Gentry was quickly shuffled off to Triple-A, where he spent most of the season. Given the small sample size struggles and his recent track record of success, Gentry is a good bet for some sort of bounce back season in the Angels’ outfield. Gentry, a late-bloomer, is already 32 years old so he may not regain his super-sub form from three years ago, but the Angels will put him in a position to succeed, likely platooning him in left field with Daniel Nava. A less demanding defensive position than his center field days and the chance to only face left-handed pitching could be a boon to Gentry, and if he really is washed up then it only cost the Angels a million bucks. And, hell, he and Nava can’t be worse than the 2014 left field black hole anyway.
Position: OF | Age (2016): 32
Bats: R | Throws: R
Height: 6’2” | Weight: 190
2015 WAR: -0.5
2015 in a Tweet
The A’s sent Gentry to Triple-A in late May after he only picked up three hits in his first 35 at-bats, then didn’t call him up until September
2016 Projections
[table id=182 /]Nobody can agree on how much playing time Gentry will receive, with ZiPS even projecting something of an anomaly—if Gentry only has a .287 OBP my hunch is he won’t get 362 plate appearances, but I a digress. Each system likes Gentry’s bat to rebound somewhat, though they still view him as a well below average offensive player. I think the Angels would consider a .300 OBP with solid base running and defense a win from half of their left field platoon.
*PECOTA uses DRA in lieu of FIP
Spray Charts
Not a whole lot of hits from 2015 Craig Gentry. As for the batted ball types, Gentry needs to stay away from those green and red dots as much as possible, which I’ll touch on a bit more below.
Zone Profile
Pitchers mostly attack low-and-away against Gentry, and he has a .000 batting average against pitches in that area. I’d say the pitchers know what they’re doing. You’ll notice that a large percentage of the pitches Gentry sees are in fact in the strike zone. Credit Gentry and his respectable 7.1% career walk rate and his ability to lay off pitches out of the zone. According to FanGraphs, Gentry swings at only 25.4% of pitches outside the strike zone compared to the 2015 league average 31.3%, and even then that rate has dropped four years in a row for Gentry. You don’t need a powerful bat to make pitchers work a little.
Gentry isn’t useless against same-sided pitching—a career .256 batting average—but he is certainly superior against left-handed arms. If the Angels utilize Gentry in a strict platoon it should reduce the number of breaking balls away he’ll see.
Fun Fact
The Angels might have signed Gentry just to avoid playing against him. In his short career he’s terrorized the Angels on the basepaths. Twenty of his 77 career stolen bases have been at the Angels’ expense and he has only been caught once by Halo catchers, good for a 95.2% success rate.
What to Watch For
Can Gentry keep his batted balls on the ground? Much of his struggles last season can be attributed to a 40% fly ball rate that blew away his 31.6% career rate. Thanks to his speed Gentry owns a .325 BABIP, but he needs to maximize the number of line drives and ground balls off his bat to take advantage of that. Gentry isn’t much of an extra-base threat, so anything he hits in the air is a likely out.
A Bold Prediction
Gentry will improve on his nightmare 2015 and help rejuvenate the Angels’ bench while leading the club in stolen bases, for good measure.
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More Previews: Yunel Escobar; Kole Calhoun; Mike Trout; Albert Pujols; C.J. Cron; Daniel Nava; Carlos Pérez; Johnny Giavotella; Geovany Soto; Andrelton Simmons; Cliff Pennington; Jered Weaver; Andrew Heaney; Garrett Richards; Hector Santiago; Matt Shoemaker; Huston Street; Nick Tropeano; Joe Smith; Mike Morin; José Álvarez; Fernando Salas
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