Chances are, that was his peak season. It doesn't seem like he's been in the majors long, but he's already on the downside of his career.
The Chronicle said today that it was only a lineup against lefties, and that Ensberg would be batting second against righties (tonight).
Huh? Like RM95 said, he's still the best defensive SS in the game. Since defense is part of the game, he is not "on the downside of his career." Ozzie Smith figured it out offensively late in his career. Let's hope AE does as well.
That makes even less sense since Everett is actually a worse hitter against LHP. Ensberg's OBP against lefties last year was almost 0.500! I can see the argument that you want Ensberg in the 5 spot against a lefty since he crushes them, but Burke had an OBP of nearly 0.400 against lefties last season. My argument is that a lineup of Burke-Ensberg-Berkman-Lee-Scott-Biggio is much, much better than Biggio-Everett-Berkman-Lee-Ensberg-Scott, even against LHP. With Biggio & Everett ahead of, you are significantly reducing Berkman & Lee's run-producing potential. Of course it may be a one-time thing, but why even do it once?
Its Garner's "gut feeling" at it again. As for Lidge, Garner has to be the most stubborn manager in the majors.
You do realize that he'll see a much different set of pitches batting ahead of Lance Berkman than he will batting in front of Brad Ausmus, right?
Everett had a .733 OPS against lefties last season with a .619 OPS against righties. I know his career numbers are different, but I'm guessing last season's are the best predictor of future success... we'll see.
Yay for Lidge, for making the last 24 hours suck. I like how chron.com has all the audio files streaming on their site from the game.
Yeah, I was looking at the last 3 seasons data - 671 vs. RHP & 632 vs. RHP. Although I would argue that those numbers would be a better predictor than a single season.
Anyone know if there's an injury to Luke Scott? I know Garner loves Jason Lane, but after Scott's performance last night, I don't think even Garner would start Lane over Scott against a right-hander, and that's what he's doing tonight. Anyone know the story?
Per Luke Scott's ESPN page: Apr. 3 : Manager Phil Garner said that he would platoon Scott and Jason Lane in right field with Scott playing against left-handers, the Houston Chronicle reports. Last year he hit .240 against lefties and .366 against righties.
ESPN got it reversed and pretty much wrong. Link Luke will get nearly all the starts against righties - he's hurt if he's not starting.
