Tuesday, April 26, 2005

I'm not alone

Today in the Post-Gazette both the Stats Geek and Dejan Kovacevic in the Pirates Notebook wrote items that lobby for more playing time for Freddy Sanchez, something I've been calling for for quite some time now. The Stats Geek applauds Lloyd for finally moving Jack Wilson down the in the order and believes Sanchez as a two hitter might be the remedy the team needs at the top of the line up due to his ability to get on base (despite Matt Lawton getting on base almost 40% of the time this year, he's only scored 6 runs, once by way of a home run). He joins the rest of Pittsburgh in clamoring for Bobby Hill to play every day (not just as a platoon player) and points out that Hill actually hits better from the right side of the plate than the left, though Lloyd only plays him against right handing pitching. This is of course because Hill is a natural right-handed hitter, which is a rarity for switch hitters (most switch hitters are natural lefties that look for an advantage in the rare occasion a southpaw is on the mound that generally don't hit as well right handed and are in fact sometimes downright awful from the right side of the plate, remember Orlando Merced?). We'll find out how serious Lloyd's commitent to Hill is tonight with Andy Petite on the mound for the Astros. Lloyd hasn't stuck with a lineup win or lose all year on consecutive nights so I doubt tonight will be much different, but it would be nice, and it's nice to know I'm not the only person that thinks so.