Getting to Know: Tyler Colvin

Name: Tyler Colvin

Position: Outfield

Bats/Throws: Left/Left

Opening Day Age: 24

Uniform Number: 21

Do these two guys look at all alike?:

Apparently.

A man named Matthew Van Meter walked into a Utah dealership, said his name was Tyler Colvin of the Chicago Cubs, and expressed an interest in buying a $50,000 Dodge pickup truck.  He signed some papers as Tyler, took the keys and drove off after promising he would return to pay for the truck the next day.

The story is unclear how long it took for them to figure out that it was, in fact, not Tyler Colvin, but the authorities eventually caught up with Mr. Van Meter and he spent some time in jail.

He's lucky he didn't pretend to be Aaron Miles.  That surely would have gotten him killed.

Is Tyler Colvin going to hell?: If the folks at Oral Roberts University have anything to say about it, probably.

When Colvin was a member of the Clemson Tigers in 2006, he hit a dramatic walk-off grand slam that completed a come-from-behind victory against Oral Roberts.  ESPN was broadcasting the game, so you can check out the blast below:




Baseball-Reference.com's Most Similar Batter: None (too small a sample size)

Why We Might Like Him:

• We've been reading about him in Vineline for a few years and chances are good the current Cubs outfield isn't going to make us forget about his existence.
• He was a #1 draft pick of the Cubs in 2006 and it stands to reason a first round pick should eventually pan out, right?  Right?
• His first AB resulted in a sacrifice fly RBI, his 2nd was a single, and his 3rd was a walk.  The kid can do it all!

Why We Might Hate Him:

• He doesn't like to walk much and he strikes out a lot and we've seen too much of that shit before.
• Playing time given to Colvin will undoubtedly come at the expense of Sam Fuld and we f---ing LOVE Sam Fuld.

If You Rearrange the Letters in His Name You Get: "TORN IVY CELL" or "LILY CONVERT"

What the Cubs Blogosphere Thinks of Him:

• The Cub Reporter - "He has plus-speed and plus-power with the potential to hit 20+ HR, 30+ doubles, and 10+ triples. He has been working on being more patient at the plate over the past couple of seasons, and he actually takes a fairly normal number of walks and doesn’t strike out much versus RHP, but against lefties, he never walks, and he strikes out with much greater frequency."
• Another Cubs Blog - "Tyler Colvin has gained 25 pounds this offseason and with that increase I'm becoming a bit more optimistic about his future. Colvin was a very skinny man before this weight gain and did manage to slug over .500 last year at AA. He needs to be able to hit for some power at the big league level. He's never going to walk a lot."
• Cubby Blue - (2009)  "How about that Tyler Colvin catch?  Ho hum, I'm just a kid up here for the first time and well, take THAT Ryan Braun.  Like it was nothin'.  I feel for Reed and Sam, since Tyler's probably gonna get most of center field for the rest of the year.  But any talk about Tyler being the starting center fielder next year?  Lotta weird stuff's gotta happen before I can think like that."