The Kids are Alright

Well, thank you Andre Ethier.. On a night where Manny had three doubles, Matt Kemp an RBI triple, James Loney 2 RBI's, and Chad Billingsley pitched into the eighth inning, Andre Ethier is the star that shines brightest. Andre continued his torrid start on Tuesday night against the Giants with an RBI double in the ninth inning that saved the Dodgers' bullpen. Ethier is rapidly ascending into the upper echelon of hitters in the National League and maybe all of baseball. His at-bat in the ninth was the Ethier prototype. Down 1-2 in the count, Ethier battled and fouled off pitch after pitch, eventually working the count full. Ethier then proceeded to hit a shot over Aaron Rowand's head to untie the game. Typical Andre Ethier. It's hard not to love this guy (huh Jess?) and a look at his stats so far this year show why (Granted this is a small sample size, 77 at-bats, but it's still impressive) :

• a triple slash line of .312/.436/.584
• an OPS of 1.022
• 15 BB to only 12 K's
• 11 extra base hits, including 5 HR's putting him on a pace to hit 39 (again this is a small sample, I'm not expecting him to hit even 30 HR but I'm just pointing out how impressive he has been so far)
• 21 RBI. I'm not a huge fan of RBI since it's so context specific. However, when you're knocking in an average of one run a game, it's very impressive. I think it's reasonable to expect 100 RBI from him this year if he keeps hitting in the 4 hole and Manny continues to post an ungodly OBP (.494 through Tuesday night).

Overall there is alot to like about Andre. As Vin said the other night, his swing is so short and all his power comes from his wrists. I think his power is still developing, and at age 27, he is just entering his prime. It's safe to say he is the Dodgers' second best hitter and, besides Manny, there is not another Dodger I would want up in a big situation. It's about time the man gets some major recognition. If he keeps hitting like this even the guys at ESPN won't be able to avoid it. And that's saying alot..