Looking at Jay Bruce's future seat on the throne

I’ve often hypothesized that the Reds need to get Jay Bruce up here because I forecast that he’ll be the first man to get 3,000 hits in a Reds uniform since Pete Rose. That is the type of longevity I plan on him having and the type of impact I think he’ll have at the Major League Level. I love projecting young players, which is why I love John Sickels, who has a little fun with it on his blog Minor League Ball. We like Sickels for this creative feature, and we wish he’d do every player in baseball or about to enter the game under 23. Every player. We also believe in addition to being creative, Sickels is heady and logical about his predictions. Not everyone is going to have HOF numbers and he understands that.

Sickels has made our day and projected Jay Bruce for us.

We won’t spoil it all for you by posting the graphic or anything like that. But how does a homerun career that would be right around Mickey Mantle sound? He falls short of the 3,000 hits we projected; but by less than 400 knocks. Sickels says Bruce will finish a 17-year career as a .284 hitter. We’re fine with that.


Crystal Ball: Jay Bruce [John Sickels’ Minorleagueball.com]