These are some general observations I had on the Giants starting lineup, simply based on watching a lot of the games. I’ve not done any statistical research or analysis, but I’d be interested to see how far off I am.
Travis Ishikawa needs to be in a platoon, but not the obvious lefty-righty platoon. Rather, he should only play at home. He hits well at home but on the road, he looks like a pitcher when he’s hitting. Mabye it’s the water, mabye it’s the hotel bed, mabye he needs to wear his home jersey under his road jersey. Somehow, he needs to drastically change his routine for road games if he wants to stay in the big leagues.
Speaking of Rich Aurilia, he needs to start hitting. Otherwise he might find himself “designated for assignment” after the next time the Giants bring up Jesus Guzman. He’s shown some signs, but overall the Giants first base position is just a complete black hole right now.
Emmanuel Burris, on the other hand, is the anti-Travis Ishikawa. He hits on the road, and looks out of it at home.
I think Freddie Lewis is miscast hitting lower in the lineup. He’s not doing well right now because he’s being pressed to fulfill a role that frankly, his hitting style is not suited for. His best value to the Giants is that he can get on base and once on base, can steal. He should bat either leadoff or second.
Pablo Sandoval has often cited Bengie Molina as a mentor. But thank the baseball gods, one part of Bengie’s game the Kung Fu Panda has not followed is the lack of patience at the plate. Over the last month, Sandoval has become noticeably more selective at the plate, and his hitting has correspondingly improved as a result. Molina, on the other hand, has cooled off dramatically after a hot start. In this case, perhaps it’s Bengie who could take a page or two from Sandoval’s approach to hitting.
And finally, please, no more Eugenio Velez. He has been completely lost at the plate, his fielding can be most diplomatically described as adventurous, and even his only obvious asset, speed, is useless when he keeps getting picked off. He had a hot few weeks when he first got called up in September 2007, and he’s milked that for all it was worth.
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