Because I spend countless hours between driving to work and driving to school and driving to the gym and driving home (and with gas prices over four dollars, God help me), I listen to a fair amount of talk radio. Recently I’ve become an addict of AM 830, which has gotten me involved in discussions of the economy, politics, and of course, baseball. Both the morning broadcasts and the two hours prior to an Angels’ game are devoted to sports and baseball talk, and so I’ve heard a little bit about this topic between listening and reading.
It’s no news that Gary Matthews Jr. has had a slow start. It’s no news that MANY players have had a slow start. Between Vlad Guererro’s .254 batting average after 48 games, the lowest of his career in that amount of time and Torii Hunter’s bit of a recent slump, the Angels have had to rely on different players for productivity, including a very hot Casey Kotchman and Mike Napoli. It also doesn’t help that their consistency man is out day to day, Chone Figgins, and the middle infield is basically in shambles, as Sean Rodriguez has taken to Howie Kendrick’s position, Maicer Izturis back to short while Erick Aybar nurses a dislocated pinky finger.
But where the Angels aren’t hurting is in the outfield, and this isn’t news either. They started with a six, possibly seven, man roster in the three available positions, including Guerrero, Hunter, Matthews, Anderson, Willits, Rivera, and even, if ever necessary, Quinlan. The original plan has been to rotate Guerrero, Hunter, Matthews, and Anderson in the three positions and the DH, which they argued would allow them to maintain the health of their players into September, avoiding the problem they had last season with injuries when it mattered most. Though players like Guerrero don’t necessarily enjoy the DH position, it’s done wonders for the health of the players. The only problem is that it doesn’t allow playing time for others. Willits has spent a bit of time back and forth between the majors and the minors, and Rivera has spent quite a bit of time riding the pine.
So recent talk, both radio and print, has been over Matthews’ day-to-day playing time. And with good reason – his batting stats haven’t exactly been too impressive so far. In 49 games and 183 at bats, third most of anyone on the team, but only has 40 hits in that span, a lowly .219 batting average, and a .316 on-base percentage. Not stellar, not fantastic; and the concern around the media right now is that the numbers aren’t worth the amount of playing time he receives: no production, no play. And the argument is valid. This is Matthews second year, and his first year wasn’t really too much better. Whereas, Willits had an exceptional year last year, as fourth runner-up in the rookie of the year standings, and stood atop the batting average leader board for a pretty decent stint. In his 16 games and 26 at-bats, Reggie has seven hits and four walks, a .269 batting average and .367 on-base percentage. Given the amount of time he’s played, not too bad. And he’s a spark-plug kind of player, a catalyst, who gets things moving. He also is a productive lead-off hitter, seeing more pitches than most on his team (excluding Figgins), and drawing walks and stealing bases.
But the fact that Matthews, despite his inability to get on base, has 25 RBIs – tied with Hunter and Anderson who trail the leaders Guerrero and Kotchman by three – cannot be ignored. Though he’s not hitting, he’s making the necessary plays to advance, and score, the runners, which is nearly as important as getting on in the first place. Though this may not be something pertinent of the lead-off spot that he has been put in time to time as Figgins has been on the DL, it’s important. And, with the two gems he fielded in yesterday’s game against the White Sox.. amazing. He threw out Swisher at second with a slide catch at the right field foul line, and made a diving catch to end the game, two very important outs. As far as it goes, I think Matthews is a better fielder than Torii Hunter. Problem is – Torii Hunter, despite his recent slump, swings the bat a bit more successfully, and consistently.
Like Scioscia, who sticks by his players in spite of their struggles, I don’t know that I believe Matthews should be taken out of the lineup, just yet. So long as he’s getting runners in, and making the spectacular plays he’s making, he’s still being productive elsewhere. I’m sure they’ll be working with him on his mechanics at the plate. And he’s running a thin line, which, if he doesn’t start hitting (especially since the Angels have won, or lost, a majority of their games this season by a measly two runs), will land him back in the dugout and allow others to get a chance at the starting spot more consistently. As a huge fan of Reggie Willits, it’s hard for me to say I’d rather Matthews play than him at this point – but for the sake of the team, they might want to continue playing him just a bit longer. But not too long.
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