Snider – Continuing to hit the ball hard, Snider laced 3 of his 5 hits this week for extra bases including another Home Run. The 24 year old outfielder is leading the club in HR’s (4), in RBI’s (13) and is tied for 2nd in BB’s (3), 2 under team leader Colby Rasmus. One stat that jumps off the page is his Strikeouts. Snider currently tops the team in K’s with 12, 4 more than 2nd place Kelly Johnson. Look for Snider to work on this as the spring progresses.
Thames – Defense was a concern for Thames in 2011 and became a hot topic for the 25 year old coming in to camp this year. It’s obvious that although there is still work to be done, his defense is light years ahead of where it was at this time last year. 1 play comes to mind when judging his advancement with the glove. On Saturday, Thames dove on a sinking line drive to Left and ended up trapping the ball, holding the runner to a single. A play like this proves that he is becoming more comfortable with the position and his abilities in Left Field.
The Encarnacion Experiment. – The absence of both Thames and Snider from the lineup Monday when the team faced off against the Yankees gave Encarnacion the chance to try out Left Field. Read in to it what you will but the result was a 3/3 performance including 2 Home Runs and 4 RBI’s. Of the 4 plays Encarnacion was involved in defensively, he made 1 put out and proved that he has the ability to throw from Left with ease. Sunday saw Encarnacion start in the position once again going 1/3 and recording 2 put outs in a 10-2 win over Philadelphia.
Encarnacion’s defense is adequate enough to provide Farrell with the option of slating the power hitting righty in to Left Field when the team is up against a left handed pitcher.
VS LHP (2011)
Encarnacion – .276/.341/.504 – 16 extra base hits, 6 HR (123 AB’s)
Thames- .204/.242/.498 – 8 extra base hits, 3 HR (86 AB’s)
Snider – .116/.114/.186 – 1 extra base hit, 1 HR (13 AB’s) Sample size
Interesting.
____________________________________________________________
The breaks:
Hits – .5 Run Scored – 1 Base on Balls – .5
Double – 1 RBI – 1
Triple – 1.5 Stolen Base – 1
Home Run – 2 Outfield Assist – .5
Monday, March 12th vs Baltimore
Snider – 1/2. Run, RBI, BB
Thames– 0/0
Thames 14.5 – Snider 26.5
Tuesday, March 13th vs Minnesota
Snider – 2B, 2 RBI
Thames– Single.
Thames 15 – Snider 29.5
Wednesday, March 14th vs Canada/NYY
Snider – 0/0
Thames– 0/0
Thames 15 – Snider 29.5
Thursday, March 15th vs Houston
Snider – 2B, 2 RBI
Thames– Single, 2B, 1 RBI
Thames 17.5 – Snider 32.5
Friday, March 16th vs Tampa Bay
Snider – Single, HR, Run, RBI
Thames– 0/0
Thames 17.5 – Snider 36
Saturday, March 17th vs Philadelphia/Atlanta
Snider – Base on balls.
Thames– 2B,1B, RBI.
Thames 20 – Snider 36.5
Sunday, March 18th vs Philadelphia
Snider – 0/0
Thames- 0/2
Thames 20 – Snider 36.5
About the author: Andrew Hendriks
Kitchener, ON. INF (Tri-Cities Cardinals). Former Museum Curator at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. twitter.com/77hendriks
Related Posts
-
Blue Jay of the Week! December 16, 2011 10:38 am
-
Blue Jay of the Week! May 12, 2012 9:17 am
-
A View from the Couch: All Time Favourites June 14, 2012 9:16 am
One thought on “Echoes from 527: Battle for Left Field – Updated”
Interesting angle EE playing LF, gotta hit lefties too. Leaves a hole at 1st though against southpaws. Hopefully Lind has a big comeback BA-wise.
If Thames starts hammering the ball the decision is made.