We have isolated his template as "modest power - higher-than-normal K rate - good contact (for normal or slightly better BABIP)"...unless his skills actually change from here, his template cannot produce a very high OBP, which forces him to live by his pop...which we are all admitting is modest.
...
Many people have assumed that DJ's power is modest, that's true. I have too. It's not Gallo or Bryant homer power, to be sure. He's not spiking 75-80 on that scale.
But to be fair to DJ: he has NEVER hit for "modest power" anywhere. Ever.
We assume that his power numbers are gonna come down. But he smashed the ball for a bit in the MWL, he crushed for a .260 ISO on the road in the Cal League (still a hitter's league, admittedly), and he demolished college (in a power-hitter's park and a lesser league also). We assume he can't keep it up, that he'll reign back in to modesty and stop flashing his power legs everywhere under that short skirt. Demure DJ has to be arriving any time now...
DJ admits he's not a pure HR hitter. From the Times:
“I think I tried to do a little too much the first month,” Peterson said. “Everyone hears about the Cal League and High Desert and how much the ball flies there,” Peterson said. “I think I tried to do too much. That short left field wall was yelling at me every game.”
With small parks and the wind blowing out, Peterson found himself trying to pull pitches into the air for homers. It worked against him.
“When I’m on, I’m using right center, left center and the right field line,” he said. “But that wasn’t part of my game that first month, I was dead pull. It wasn’t good. Once I settled down, got back into my approach, it all started clicking for me.”
He wants to be an all-fields hitter, but his pull power... the dude slugged .800 in college with the new worthless bats. You could soak a rolled-up newspaper in a lake for a day and use it to hit the ball further than with those BBCOR bats. People blamed his excessive results on the park and altitude. This year DJ is tied for 5th in all the minor leagues as far as extra-base hits go... but of course that is league and park discounted as well. There's Bryant, Seager, 27 year old Kang, Gallo, and then DJ.
At SOME point, if he keeps hitting for power to keep up with Bryant, Seager and Gallo we're gonna HAVE to take the "modest power" label off of him, right? I don't think he can, necessarily, with his LD% as low as it is, but that's what I want to see in AA. How does his game change against real pitchers in a real park?
If he's still pounding the ball everywhere by season's end and those line-drives are climbing, then let's remove the "modest power label" disclaimer for a bit, shall we?