Well....we're a little deeper into Spring Training now, and we've had enough games to see who's hot and who's not. Here's a quick breakdown of a few of the hotter hitters this spring...I'll report on the pitchers tomorrow......
Billy Butler - Butler's played 11 games and had 22 plate appearances. He's batting .526 with a 1.000 slugging percentage and an on-base percent over .600. Out of his 10 hits, 3 are doubles and 2 are homers - and he's got 8 RBI. I'd say Butler's trying to make the decision to send him to Omaha a tough one....unfortunately, our roster's a little full when it comes to outfielders - and at DH we've got Mike Sweeney (at least until he hurts his back again). Unless there's some kind of trade - look for Butler to start off in Omaha and be called up due to injury or someone like Reggie Sanders being shipped out in some kind of deal.
Andres Blanco - Making a push to start the season as our utility infielder....in my opinion - they should hand him the starting shortstop job and let Berroa sit the bench, but I'm guessing they give Berroa one more chance to show us what he's got. Blanco's hitting well, with a .346 average (although he's drawn no walks in 26 AB's). He's also got a slight edge on Berroa in the field so far - Berroa's got one error, Blanco's been flawless.
Joey Gathright - Fighting for his spot on the 25 man roster, Gathright has responded by hitting .400 this spring with a .464 OBP. He has yet to show he can really hit at the big league level, but could be a dangerous leadoff hitter if he improves his ability to get on base - he's generally regarded as probably the fastest player in baseball. He's stolen three bases this spring (although he's been caught twice), and has only struck out three times. Maybe this is the year he starts putting it all together?
Ross Gload - One of Dayton Moore's recent acquisitions, Gload has been pounding the ball. A first baseman/outfielder, he should have no problem making the team as some kind of utility player....I think he'll see plenty of at bats splitting time at first and between corner outfield spots and DH. He's batting .444 with an OBP of .524 and a .778 SLG.
Other hitters of note (followed by AVG/OBP/SLG):
Alex Gordon - .316/.480/.526 - Gordon started off a bit slow, but has come on strong. Recently hampered by shoulder stiffness, shouldn't keep him out of the lineup.
Justin Huber - .368/.435/.579 - May not have a future in KC, if not, I hope we can flip him for a decent prospect at shortstop or pitcher.
Ryan Shealy - .346/.370/.577 (2 HR in 26 AB) - May lose some at-bats to Gload this year, but should see the majority of time at first base. I expect Shealy to have a breakout season, hitting for decent average and power. Probably a guy who will bat somewhere between fifth and seventh in the lineup most days.
Jason LaRue - .333/.385/1.083 - with 3 HR in only 12 AB - may have taken Buck's job.
4 comments:
I've always found it kind of silly that MLB teams base roster decisions on a handful of at-bats or innings pitched against a mix of AAA/MLB players in an environment they won't have all year. But oh well.
I agree...and I don't think most teams base too many decisions on this small sample size, but I do think it can sometimes make or break the guys who rank between 22-25 on a big league roster.....
LaRue isn't taking Buck's job.
Bell says he wants a clear #1 catcher....LaRue is it so far, in my opinion.
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