Maybe this will put a rest to all the nonsense I have heard lately about Juan Pierre starting over Andre Ethier once Manny returns. We all know that Andre Ethier has struggled since Manny went out. But he is still the vastly superior player. I have said here repeatedly that I don't believe in the concept of lineup protection. Ethier's struggles without Manny have been repeatedly tossed around in the media, and by some naive fans, as causation. That is, Ethier can't hit without Manny in the lineup. I think the truth is really correlation. Yes Ethier has struggled without Manny, but you cannot say Manny's absence is the cause of Andre's problems. Andre has showed signs of coming out of the slump for almost two weeks now. There were two big indicators that he was ready to bust out even if the results weren't there right away:
- He was starting to have those great Andre Ethier at-bats where he gets deep into the count before putting the ball in play
- He was squaring the ball up. For the first few weeks of his slump, Ethier looked awful. When he put the ball in play, it never seemed like he hit it hard. That started to change over the past two weeks. At first, he was hitting the ball hard but still making outs. However, in the past week he started seeing results. A big month from Andre would be awesome, what with Pierre coming back down to Earth and all.
There is an incorrect perception of Ethier among many Dodger fans. That perception is one of consistency. The truth is actually something completely different. Andre is streaky like almost every other player in baseball (well maybe besides Albert Pujols). Exhibit A, Andre's OPS by month over the last two seasons:
April 2008: .861
May 2008: .746
June 2008: .643
July 2008: .835
August 2008: .961
September 2008: 1.249
April 2009: .976
May 2009: .601
June 2009 (small sample but still): 1.330
I guess where I'm getting that is that Andre is streaky. So is almost every other hitter in baseball. Dodger-killer Chase Utley had two separate 0 for 25 streaks last year. It happens. Ethier is still a very good hitter who is on pace to have a highly impressive season. Pespective in necessary over a 162 game season, and all too often, we as fans lose sight of this.
Anyways, for the second time in less than 24 hours, Ethier delivered a walk-off hit to beat the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. On Friday night, Ethier ripped the first pitch he saw from Brad Lidge into the corner in right field for a game winning double. Today, with the game settling into one of those dreadful extra-inning games where no team gets anything going offensively, Ethier delivered the blow by taking the full-count offering from Chad Durbin and depositing it over the fence just to the right of center field. That makes three comeback wins for the Dodgers in five days. The offense has been struggling lately, but they are getting great pitching and finding ways to win (I deserve a fine from the cliche police). Hiroki Kuroda's return is a tremendous boost to the Dodgers staff which already leads the N.L. in team ERA. Hopefully, Rafael Furcal's game-tying homerun in the ninth off of Brad Lidge will be the start of a hot streak for him. It is amazing that the Dodgers continue to win despite some disappointing individual statistics from key guys such as Russell Martin and Rafael Furcal. Tomorrow the Boys go for a 5-2 homestand while trying to take 3 of 4 from the second best team in the N.L. Unfortunately I'll be busy, as the local basketball team out here kind of has an important game that will require my attention.
