THE GREEK GOD OF WALKS
KEVIN YOUKILIS, who was dubbed "The Greek God of Walks" by Paul DePodesta and Billy Beane in Moneyball, has been up in the Major Leagues now for about two weeks and is playing really well, hitting .321/.431/.472 after 53 at-bats. The John Sickels scouting report on Youkilis can be found here.

I read somewhere in the 2004 Baseball Prospectus book that minor leaguers with no power that draw lots of walks don't translate to very solid Major Leaguers. If that statement is true, Youkilis would be a prime example of a guy who walks a lot but has little power. He doesn't even have doubles power from looking at his minor league statistics. Power can be developed later in a career, as we have seen with guys like Steve Finley and Luis Gonzalez, so maybe it isn't anything to be too worried about.

Why would guys with no power and high OBPs not be productive Major Leaguers. I think the reason would have to do largely with how they are pitched. Nobody is really afraid of guys with no power in the Major Leagues (with some exceptions), meaning that the pitchers will go right after those hitters. If you are an OBP type guy that takes pitches, it works fine when the pitchers are nibbling on the corners against you, but it's quite another thing when the pitchers start you out 0-1, 0-2. If that is the case than your walks will decrease until you prove to Major League pitchers that you can beat them by swinging the bat.