Baseball Prospectus

MLB Statistics

Statistics for All Levels

Statistics For All Levels

Plate Discipline

Comparable Players (Similarity Index )

BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2004		Hundley was a non-factor in 2003, out for most of the year with an injury to his back. His June surgery went well, though, and he recuperated more quickly than many people thought he would. Hundley will be paid $6.5 million next year to act as the whipping boy for fans and media members who thought trading Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek was a horrible idea.
2003		There are all sorts of explanations, some of them printable, for why Hundley was even worse as a Cub than anyone had any right to expect. Certainly an unsympathetic manager didn’t help, so Hundley had a hard time getting regular playing time, but some of the issues go beyond anything a manager is supposed to fix. Theoretically, getting away from a day baseball routine and back to L.A. could help Hundley get focused and productive.
2002		The sad thing about Hundley’s season is that not even his late recovery was useful. He punched seven home runs after September 1, but that was almost all he did; he added a pair of singles and drew three walks in 51 at-bats. Hundley struggled with “dehydration” problems, even on cool days and during night games, and neither his early slump nor his running spat with Baylor helped. Baylor isn’t going away, but some players have managed to get from his bad side to his good side (ask Kyle Farnsworth). As organizational disasters go, Hundley isn’t likely to out-hit that projection, and he’s under contract for more than $18 million over the next three years.
2001		It was good to see Todd Hundley get back to his established level of performance at the plate, if not the field. In 2001, the Cubs will use him to catch about half the time and have him play another 60 games at first base. Wilton can't really work with his career path, so the projection is off; he's a .280 EqA player.
2000		That was truly an ugly year, seemingly made worse by the great season Roger Cedeno, for whom Hundley was acquired, had with the Mets. While Hundley is never going to be the player he was from 1995 to 1997, before the surgery, there’s enough ability here to make him a contributor. He’s already given up batting right-handed. Hundley slugged .492 against right-handed pitchers last year, so he can help the Dodgers as a platoon player. While his throwing was terrible, it wasn’t the worst in the league (Eddie Taubensee and Dave Nilsson were both worse) and it did improve in the second half. A Hundley/Pena platoon, with Pena being used against all left-handed pitchers, would be a strong catching situation. Hundley will jump back to the .270 EqA level this season.
1999		Even if he can't catch anymore, Hundley's bat is more than sufficient for first base, and the odds are that he will catch in some capacity. The Dodgers have taken a risk by acquiring before they’re sure he can catch, but it isn’t like Eric Karros is a great player, so Hundley can take over at first if he can’t throw in March.
1998		Undergoing some very unpleasant surgical procedures and planning to quit smoking in the offseason. That’s a rough few months, Todd. Hundley’s a great ballplayer at catcher, but his bat is probably big enough to play first base if he needs to. I think his power numbers will be excellent for the rest of his career, and his plate discipline will allow him to remain valuable at batting averages down into the .240 range. The new Mickey Tettleton, and that’s a valuable thing. Don’t know about his cereal preference.
1997		When people talk about 1996, The Year of Living Dangerously in Bleacher Seats, they’ll talk about him. He’s had two things that together help explain his rise. He had bone chips removed from his wrist prior to the 1995 season, and he has learned how to take pitches, improving his walk rate from a dreadful once per 24 at bats to once per seven.
1996		He's in danger of ruining his defensive reputation by turning into a good hitter. Last year was an excellent, if injury-filled season; if he really has improved that much as a hitter, he could be batting cleanup by mid-season. The Mets' wild-card hopes depend on Hundley as much as any hitter. If he can hit .280 with 20 homers and 60 walks, they have one of the four best catchers in the NL.

BP Articles

BP Chats

BP Roundtables

Advanced Catching Metrics