Brett Lawrie Gets Some Love Down South

Brett Lawrie received some serious love in the US sports press this week. Numerous writers and fantasy analysts from ESPN and SI wrote up glowing reports on him, many projecting 30+ jacks in 2012.

Eric Karabell (ESPN) went as far as to say “Brett Lawrie of the Blue Jays is going to be a monster, a 20 (HR)/20 (SB) season. I mean, is 30/30 in a year or two that far off? He’s a future Ryan Braun.”

That was just the beginning of the ESPN and Lawrie love-fest.

Jayson Stark wrote a long feature earlier this week titled “Brett Lawrie bound for greatness.” I won’t bother quoting from it, but suffice it to say, the piece is really high on Lawrie.

Rounding out the week, John Sickels of Minor League Ball ranked Lawrie No. 2 on his list of the best (non-rookie eligible position players) under 25 years old. That puts him ahead of Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton, Andrew McCutchen and Buster Posey, to name a few.

Here’s what he had to say:

“The only thing I’m concerned about here is a possible tendency towards nagging injuries. If he stays healthy, Lawrie will be (already is) a terrific hitter with power, speed, and a glove that is underrated (at a minimum) and could be excellent once he settles in . He’s superb.”

The “Lawrie may get injured a lot” angle has surfaced recently. I know he plays hard, but that hardly seems like a legitimate reason to be concerned about “a possible tendency towards nagging injuries.” Maybe I’m naive, but I believe virtually every major leaguer plays the game hard-and that some just appear to be trying harder than others. Just because a guy isn’t animated on the field, doesn’t mean he is slacking, or that he doesn’t care.

Anyhow, people all across North America are getting real excited about Lawrie, and that is pretty awesome.

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