Monday, May 28, 2007

Pence:Nobody Does It Better

Just how good has Hunter Pence been so far this season?
Here's a case where the numbers do not lie.
Among those with at least 100 plate appearances....
  • Batting - .365, best in the league.
  • Slug. - .600, 3rd, behind only Barry Bonds and Chipper Jones
  • OPS. - 1.006, 3rd, behind only Barry Bonds and Chipper Jones
  • K's - 13, among 139 players with at least 100 plate appearances, only 11 have fewer K's
For the Month of May
  • XBH - 15, 2nd in league, only Dan Uggla has more
  • Hits - 35, 4th in league, Carlos Lee has 36 to tie for league lead
Now that Garner is tinkering with Biggio not leading off, things might not continue to be so pathetic offensively. Even though I hesitate to even write it - maybe Morgan Ensberg is showing signs??? Now the braintrust needs to re-think their pitching staff. They were playing with house money with Rick White and Brian Moehler as non-roster invitees to camp. White had been very good out of the gate, but now - worthless. Moehler has been just that since the start of the season.
White in April (before injury) - 1.54 ERA, 11.2 IP, 5 H, .132 BAvg.
White in May (after injury) - 10.32 ERA, 11.1 IP, 19H, .380 BAvg.

Moehler is a killer for two reasons.
1. Carrying 12 pitchers is just dumb, especially since you already have a long guy who is much better in Dave Borkowski.
2. He stinks. Luckily Phil's called his number just 8 times in two months. He's given up runs in 6 of those appearances and it's not a fluke. He has a 7.88 ERA and has allowed 26 hits in 16 innings. He had a 6.57 ERA last year in Florida, sat out the season in '04 and the year before that he was with the Astros and posted a 7.90 ERA. But since he got minor league hitters out in March in Florida, Tim Purpura and gang kept him here for two months. Good idea.

Yes, there are better options. Rookie LHP Mark McLemore should remain with the club, when Jennings is activated for Tuesday's start. Stephen Randolph deserves a legitimate look - unlike his last 2 appearance stint, before being waived, but luckily retained. He spent 2 years with Arizona, where walks were his undoing. It appears he might have that issue licked with just 5 BB and 37 K's in 24.1 innings.

But hey it's Memorial Day - we'll get to the hitters later.
------- WEX

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hunter Pence, Good. Morgan Ensberg, bad. How this guy is still on the team is still mysterious.

As for Rick White, Garner has trotted out more lineup combinations than a Whataburger. Every time I watch a game the lineup is different. The pitching rotation is different. Are we the only team that does this?

I think that Tim "Pupu" Pupura needs to realize that he caught lightning in a bottle during that World Series run. This team is not one piece away from returning. It's time for him to "Pupu" or get off the pot. Make a deal and get some needed pieces for this team. If Everett is one of the best defensive third basemen in the league then he has value for some team. Brad Lidge has been propped up enough that some GM will drool at the opportunity to take a chance on him. The time is now to Sell, Sell, Sell!