buffs44444 wrote:

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amfox1 wrote:

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From 5/28 Kevin Goldstein chat:


Rob (Alaska): Are you hearing any reason to be concerned about Lars Anderson and his cold start?

Kevin Goldstein: I'm more concerned that I was talking to a scout the other day and he told me he thought Morrison was the most overrated prospect in baseball. Obviously, that's just one guy talking, but it's worth noting.

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JJO (Virginia): Just clarifying re: Lars Anderson -- the scout said Anderson was overrated, or were you referring back to the Morrison question above the Anderson one. And if it's Anderson, did the scout say what, specifically seemed overrated?

Kevin Goldstein: He thought Anderson was way overrated. Saw him as surprisingly stiff and unathletic, called him the kind of guy who turns 40 when he's 26.

What really minimizes this comment in my mind is the word choice here. That the scout says "way overrated", "surprisingly stiff"; to me these are words chosen by someone who has seen Lars minimally to this point, if at all. In which case, it's no surprise that someone seeing him while he's been struggling in the first half has thought he was overrated, much less someone who has heard the talk about Lars and was seeing him for the first time during his early struggles. Again, just my interpretation.....

Edit: as for the "stiff" comment, I wouldn't be surprised if that's a natural product of the stress that's affecting his stats in the first half (barring any reports of injury, which have yet to surface). The kid is getting cover stories written about him, being interviewed on local network television....there's a learning curve here that goes beyond baseball and it includes dealing with expectations, stress, etc. He wouldn't be the first person to have stress make them appear tense. I'm glad he's getting the chance to work through this in the minors, no doubt in my mind he's going to come out of this a better player......