Swisher and Johnson - Why Not ?

For some reason, there are a few people out there questioning whether we should really play Swisher and Johnson. Some think we should trade them off for "proven" veteran players.

You can not be serious.

Here are the stats for Bobby Crosby, Nick Swisher, and Dan Johnson in their final year at AAA Sacramento :

Bobby Crosby

• BA 0.308
• OBP 0.395
• SLG 0.544
• OPS 0.939
• HR 22
• RBI 90
• BB 63
• SO 110

Nick Swisher

• BA 0.269
• OBP 0.406
• SLG 0.537
• OPS 0.943
• HR 29
• RBI 92
• BB 103
• SO 109

Dan Johnson

• BA 0.299
• OBP 0.403
• SLG 0.534
• OPS 0.937
• HR 29
• RBI 111
• BB 89
• SO 93

Any questions ? All 3 players have an OPS between 0.937-0.943, very similar. Another thing to notice is that even though Crosby hit for more average his final year in AAA, both Johnson and Swisher hit more HR and more RBI. Last but not least, all 3 players walk like there's no tomorrow, with both Swisher and Johnson sporting OBP's above 0.400 - and with Swisher that is even more impressive considering his BA was only 0.269.

Big deal, you say ? So what if they can walk to first base ? Well, look at those SLG numbers baby : all 3 have a + 0.530 SLG. That means that in addition to walking, when they do hit they smack the ball for extra bases.

I put Crosby's numbers in there because we all know what he did his first year with the A's. Will Swisher and Johnson perform as well as Crosby their first year ? Hard to tell, each player is different, each player adjusts differently to the big leagues, but both Swisher and Johnson have the potential to become big league stars, as does Crosby.