Thursday, May 06, 2004 |
Angels 6, Tigers 3
Scioscia needs to choke back his creative use of Chone Figgins. Third base? Maybe in a pinch, but does he have the arm for that position? On the other hand, it makes sense if you're trying to find a way to keep his hot bat in the lineup, because...
David Eckstein's slump ain't getting better. Against Detroit, he ought to be hitting like a demon, but we're not seeing it. I've accused Figgy of being all about his average -- last year he only had 20 walks in 270 plate appearances. But Figgy has nearly twice the walks Eck has -- seven versus four -- and his OBP leads the club. Even in 2002, Eckstein had 45 walks in 702 plate appearances; it looks like he got caught in a slump this year after about April 20th -- the Texas series really beat him up. Figgins may be a far better leadoff hitter than Eckstein ever was, especially if his plate discipline is better and he has equal or superior speed. Given the somewhat depleted bench -- Shane Halter's days of hitting like Rickey Henderson seem to be over -- he's the best option we've got in the one-slot. How much longer will Mike keep Eckstein in leadoff for auld lang syne sake?
And speaking of walks, look who's second on the club: none other than José Guillen. Considering he's batting in the middle of the order and is third in plate appearances, it's maybe not unexpected, but it's good to see, anyway.
On the pitching side, Mike could have prevented those two runs in the sixth by the obvious means of pulling Escobar after he walked Carlos Peña. Gregg was already warmed up, and Escobar struggled with that at bat, throwing three consecutive balls to open it. You just knew he wasn't going to get out a slumping guy who's done well in the past but needs a chink -- like a tired pitcher -- to worm his way into an RBI or two.
Update: Mariners Wheelhouse thinks Ortiz is done, which might or might not be true; I don't think you get a K/9 over 7.00 by magic. But he's gotta be a last resort used only in blowouts, one way or the other.
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