True; he might not.
It's a tough but necessary step for the 21-year-old shortstop, who has been struggling of late on both sides of the ball. Never one to strike out much – his career strikeout rate in the minors is around 17% – Emerson has been struggling to adjust to big-league pitching, striking out at double the rate he was in the minors. He's been especially susceptible to high fastballs, frequently expanding up, but has also struggled with catching up to big-league fastballs on the plate. He's striking out on fastballs over 50% of the time; his Statcast bat-tracking data shows how often he's late on fastballs, and how often he's swinging under them rather than on-plane.
Emerson is also struggling on breaking and off-speed pitches, although maybe not as much as one might expect; however, the fastball issue isn't getting better, and pitchers continue to exploit his weakness there. It's a big ask of a 21-year-old who is also playing the most demanding position on the field – non-catcher division – but it's become apparent that Emerson hasn't been able to make an adjustment, even when the attack plan for opposing pitchers is clear. He's simply being overwhelmed at this moment by big-league pitching, which is not an uncommon thing for a rookie getting their first taste of the big leagues, especially those who were pulled up to fill in for injury, as Emerson was to patch over the injured left side of the Mariners infield. But Emerson's defense has also been an issue
Thats why it's hard but u cannot extend prospects. They gotta handle it at this level. You gotta earn it. Colt has done nothing to earn it. Really hope Brock does well.
