By Buster Olney
Didi Gregorius' early history of offensive production will never be confused
with that of, say, Jurickson Profar, because he hasn't hit more than seven
homers for any team, and his on-base percentage has been modest. This is part
of the reason why the Diamondbacks' swap with the Reds in December for
Gregorius drew some industry-wide shrugs. He has been seen as a very good
defender, and also as someone who might be challenged offensively in his
career.
But part of the reason why sports are fascinating is that you never really
know what will happen next, and there are signs that Gregorius is going to be
better than expected at the plate. Sure, he had a nice debut for the
Diamondbacks on Thursday, clubbing a home run on the first pitch he saw, and
added two more hits in Colorado Friday night. But even before that, Gregorius
had seemed to become more of a threat at the plate, with his good showing in
the Arizona Fall League, spring training and Triple-A this year.
"I think he's going to hit," a rival evaluator, who saw Gregorius in person
earlier in the spring, said Friday. "His swing looks to me like he's in and
out of the zone real quick, but he's got lots of strength and lots of bat
speed."
In other words: The left-handed hitting Gregorius has some tools to work and
improve with, and his defensive skills demonstrate he learns and adapts. "I
was really impressed with how he set himself defensively," the evaluator
said. "He made his throws according to the speed of the runner, even though
he's got a great arm, he does this thing where he seems to stutter-step when
he [attacks] a ground ball. He almost goes through the baseball. He's an
impact defender."
Arizona general manager Kevin Towers recalled Friday that when he saw
Gregorius play last fall, the young infielder swung the bat effectively.
"There were some holes in the swing, but there definitely was bat speed and
there was pitch recognition," he said. "We never really had a question about
whether he was going to hit."
Towers felt good, too, about what he had heard when he checked Gregorius'
background. Mike Bell, the Arizona farm director, had talked with David Bell,
his brother, who had managed in the Reds' farm system and knew Gregorius