Biggio has been one of our most timely & consistent hitters thus far! We're not going ANYWHERE if Berkman doesn't wake up, & wake up SOON. Time's a wastin'.
The offense is a mess right now. Before today, of the regulars, Ausmus and Everett were 2nd and 3rd in batting average on the team (behind Ensberg). They have a higher OPS than Scott, Burke, Biggio, and Berkman.
Pence may be the answer...Ok, maybe not, but something needs to happen...Not panicing, but there is cause for concern... Stros' bounce back tonight...Win by 5
We are playing pretty pathetically, but it's only about 20 games into the season. Don't you guys realize how much we suck in the first half of each season? We are a second half team. Our O has been awful, namely Berkman, but he's an All-Star and will come around. This is a long season, and we have the same patten every year. It's just a matter of how much ground we can make up in the second half. We've gotta stay close before the All-Star break, but don't have to be dominating.
Are we watching the same games? I loved the grand slam, but otherwise Biggio's been terrible this year. Batting .237, 4 walks, 17 Ks (2nd on the team). I'm not worried about Berkman, he's too good a hitter to slump all season. But Biggio is notoriously a fast starter, so his early troubles are very troubling, esp. given his age. Biggio and Burke and Scott... none of them are givens, so all are concerns at this point. Because Everett and Ausmus will both come back to earth, and there's got to be someone else producing besides Lee/Ensberg/Berkman. Hunter Pence might make it up before we think. Heck, maybe Josh Anderson too.
Yeah, but he's nearly second on the team in RBI's, has a good amount of total bases, & is outplaying Berkman, & Burke (who ain't doing jack) by far, so I just don't get the "set Biggio down more often" view at this point. That's all I meant. True, I haven't seen every game, but it seems he's been doing his usual part, leading off games with homers, & all that. He's done that twice so far, right? Had 2 of our 3 hits last night. He's gonna strike out, I understand. I don't know ... I guess I was just weirded out seeing Biggio's name listed as one of the problems. I can think of five guys (at least) that I would bring up before Biggio. Berkman needs to snap out of it, & we need Jennings back. Those are my two main beefs with the season so far. Oh, & trade Lidge!
Berkman is getting the Barry Bonds walk treatment so far. Hopefully Carlos's hot hitting in the cleanup spot will force teams to pitch to him more, and he'll be able to drive in some more runs. As for Biggio, I don't really care about leadoff homeruns. I want someone who can get on base better than 28%. Berkman can't driving Biggio in if Biggio isn't on base. I would love to see Craig moved down in the order to 6th, to take advantage of his remaining offensive asset - very good power for a 2B, especially at home. But the problem is that nobody else is a good leadoff candidate, with Burke struggling as well.
Burke has a great approach against lefties... pay attention to it, because he'll be the lead-off hitter once Bidge gets to 3000.
Ledoff hitter???????????????????? This guy is a double play machine. Burke hasn't show nothing yet.. so we will see.
He invariably hits the ball hard (extra base hits, unlike Willy T), does have the ability to draw walks (unlike Willy T), and has good speed (like Willy T). Also, if he's batting leadoff, what double play is he going to hit into? (not that he really hits into all that many). His early struggle is magnified because NOBODY is hitting right now... but I'm confident he'll get on a roll.
And we know that will change... even if it is just Berkman who ends up above .300. Maybe the Pirates are this team's biggest trouble... we're 9-6 against the rest of the league.
