Top prospect Ryan Westmoreland has been in the news quite a bit recently, as fans and scouts alike have taken quite a shine to the local guy. However, the inevitable has finally happened: Westmoreland has been compared to Darin Erstad. Yes, Darin Erstad, the Sultan of Scrappiness. The General of Grit. The Duke of Dedication. I think this is a comparison that might stick to Ryan as he rises through the minor league ranks, for better or for worse.

I’m mostly being a ball-buster here, as there are some similarities between the two players, and it’s only natural that Gary DiSarcina (the guy who made the comparison) would liken Westmoreland to one of his old teammates. Both players are roughly the same size, and if you look at Erstad’s minor league numbers, they aren’t too different from what you might expect from Westmoreland. I just got a chuckle out of the fact that the kid was compared to a player who is most known for garnering the “gritty/scrappy” tag, something we elitist bloggers like to poke fun at every once in a while.

Anyway, I’ll just paste the key excerpts from the above Projo article here:

“makeup”
“play the game the right way”
“like a freight train”
“hard-nosed attitude”

Hey, it could be worse.  He could have been compared to Mark Kotsay.  (If that actually happens, I’ll probably quit following baseball and start a meth lab or hike the Appalachian Trail or something.  If your #1 prospect is the next Mark Kotsay…what’s the point? Of anything?)

Comments are closed