Flair, Faith, and the Zen of Zobrist

There are very few Rays players more fascinating than Ben Zobrist. We in the Rays community know his story: marginally successful utility player tinkers with his swing and becomes one of the most under the radar versatile all-round all-stars in baseball today. I’ve even written about Zobrist before in regards to his fan base. The problem with Zobrist is that he has a low “gut factor”, a term coined this week by acclaimed Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski. Gut factor is the feel fans have for a player. In Posnanski’s article, new Hall of Famer Barry Larkin is said to have had a low “gut factor” in that he didn’t “feel” like a Hall of Famer while he was playing, but upon further look, Larkin’s career belongs in the class with other Hall of Fame shortstops. Ben Zobrist suffers from low gut factor in the same way Larkin did. He doesn’t “look” like one of the best players in the American League, but upon further look, he definitely is. Interestingly enough as well, after their firs...