DoRayMe were talking about the Reds and Astros. Basically, it went something like this:
Reds are the worse hitting club in the NL, a .210 team BA. Houston has a team BA of .242, good for #9 out of 16 NL clubs. Here is the rub, even being the worse batting club in the NL, the Reds have scored more runs than the Astros (42 runs to 36). So again, the Reds are the worse hitting club yet they have more runs scored than the Astros.
Hmmmm... so Do (of the DoRayMe) opines that the reason for this is the Astros woeful RISP BA for the Astros. So I have to go take a look for myself and see if this holds true. Well guess what, it most certainly does. Here is what our middle of the lineup is doing with RISP:
#3 Berkman - w/RISP: BA .167 (not worse amongst the starters, but pretty bad), OBP .333, SLG .417 (fourth best on the team).
#5 Lee - w/RISP: BA .231, OBP .385 and SLG .333
So who has the worse stats w/RISP? Not Hunter Pence, but look at this - BA .182 (third worse amongst the starters), OBP .267, SLG .182. And to think, this is not the worse stats amongst the starters, even though it is horrible. That honor belongs to Pudge - BA .091, OBP .167, SLG .182. Oh my goodness, you would think that free swingers like Pence and Rodriquez would be better seeing as how they can hit a baseball well. But something happens to these grip it and rip it duo that causes the special powers to leave them. But Berkman? And Lee? When you add those two guys to the mix, the free swingers Pence and Pudge trying to flail there way to bring some ducks in is getting comical. I'm not saying I blame Lee and Berkman, but if you get pass those two, then you have a really good shot of getting the Astros to strand those ducks. And does anyone now think that LOBsters are a problem? I don't, people are getting on, the team can hit well enough, but when it gets to the point when you need a situational hit from our middle of the lineup, if it's Pence or Pudge your wishing with your heart at that point. If it's Lee or Berkman, you have to wonder what the heck is going on, that is what these two get big bucks to do!