Last night against the Angels David Ortiz took the golden sombrero to a whole new level of 0-fers. Last night, in a 12 inning loss to the Angels, David Ortiz went 0-7, striking out three times without a walk while stranding 11 men on base. 11! This was a 1-run loss in extra innings. If he connects on just one, this game never goes extras. An 0-fer against the likes of Shields, Fuentes, Arredondo, and Bulger, all of whom have an ERA north of 4.96. Not exactly shut down pitchers.
On the year his decline has been widely publicized. He’s got a line right now of .318/.300/.618. This is .50 points lower than his lowest OBP and .200 points lower than his lowest SLG. He has no power anymore and because of that no one is afraid to pitch to him so his on base numbers are dropping right along with his BA.
We all know he hasn’t hit any home runs yet but did you know that the following hitters all have at least one home run:
Kaz Matsui
Emilio Bonafacio
Michael Bourn
Cesar Izturis
Willy Taveras
What do these players have in common? Their combined weight is equal to one of Ortiz’s stomachs.
At this point it seems like benching him or moving him down to the 8 hole in the lineup is a tacit admission that Ortiz is a former PED user and that he is no longer able to even function at the Major League level without any help. But isn’t that already the perception of most baseball fans? As for tainting their World Series rings, the Yankees had more people on PEDs from 1994 to the present than any other team in the league.*
Frankly I just want to win baseball games now and if benching Ortiz is the answer then do it. And it’s not like it’s a stretch (especially when Youk returns).
Ellsbury
Pedroia
Youk
Drew
Bay
Lowell
Baldelli
Varitek
Lugo
This is perfect for Baldelli. Suddenly he doesn’t have to waste his precious energy** chasing down balls in the outfield and can focus on hitting. All of his numbers are better than Ortiz’s so it’s an upgrade there, plus you have a better baserunner who can swipe the occasional bag or go first to third.
*Possible exceptions: Rangers and Orioles
**Over the line? Probably.
Is that a collective “we”? Or a Will Leitch “we”?
You signed a contract. You’re part of “we” now, mister.
4 weeks ago
The royal “we”
Or a TBl who is a single person “we
From today forward, I’m setting Ortiz’s OPS o/u at .875.
Which side are you on, Hef?
I hope over.
You would.
I do.
never liked the bum…riding manny’s coattails like that. what a fag.
i just looked, and griffey’s old ass has a higher ops that papi this year.
As a human or as a ballplayer?
That’s sad. At least in Boston there’s no concern about Ortiz’s glove though (because he doesn’t own one).
Another guy I need to cut.
July 31, 2008.
I bet the Yankees wished they had given up on him before Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS!
/Yankees are chokers
does that even make sense?
yes
No
Paris is correct. -1, Hef. A big -1.
+10 Hef
-10 Hef
It appears we are at an impasse.