Kind of a different open thread this go round, as Norris Hopper is a player who probably wasn't on anyone's radar before this season. But I actually think he's a really interesting case, because he's a one dimensional player who's completely batting average driven. I've seen very little support for keeping Hopper around from "stats" guys on various blogs and message boards, and I kind of have a hard time understanding why.
Hopper is an older player, not likely to have much long term value, but it really wouldn't surprise me all that much if he had a season in the neighborhood of the season Hal Morris had at the age of 28, when he put up a line of .317/.371/.420. I don't expect Hopper to be quite that good (knock 20-30 points off each stats), but I think a line of .290/.340/.390 really isn't all that bad from your fifth outfielder / spot starter.
I'm probably overrating Hopper a little because I'm taking the contrary view with him, but if he hits as well as he did at the AAA level last year again this season, then I think he'll be useful.
So here are my questions for Hopper:
- Do you think Hopper should make the roster?
- Do you think he'd be a useful player if he did make the roster?