posted on Sunday, August 05, 2007 1:44 AM
by
Jim
After two months, Pierzynski produces punch
A.J. Pierzynski's solo home run in the second inning of
tonight's win prevented him from setting a personal-worst power drought.
At 59 games,
he merely tied it. It was, however, the longest time he'd gone without a homer in terms of at-bats with 202, six more than his previous worst.
If there's a bright side to this 74-day period, it's that he raised his
batting average from .254 to .272, and is batting .319/.350/.402 since
July, including a 6-for-13 start to his August.
As the Sox's tragic number drops, Pierzynski will be one of the more important players to watch the next two months. His month of August in 2006 derailed what appeared to be a career season, and caused concern about his durability. Oddly enough, his ability to put the ball over the fence that month (five of his 21 hits were homers) was the only thing that kept him from being utterly replaceable.
Over the last calendar year, his line isn't pretty --
.263/.303/.403, well below his career averages of .286/.329/.430 -- and he's only getting older. The Sox will need at least one more good year out of him, since he's on the hook for $5.5 in the final season of his deal. After that, it's going to get hairy, because the Sox have no in-house solutions waiting in the wings.
The pressure to fill that spot could clash with all the warning signs abound. The only catchers to see more action than Pierzynski since 2001 are Jorge Posada, Jason Kendall, Paul Lo Duca and Brad Ausmus. Posada could be a Hall of Famer, but the others are battling steep declines. A.J. might be my favorite player on the Sox, but there's a lot of writing on the wall.
******************************
It's great to see Danny Richar holding his own in the beginning of his major-league career. The plate coverage has carried over (one strikeout in 18 at-bats), and the three walks are a surprise since he went 40 ABs without one to start his stint in Charlotte.
Most importantly, he hasn't given us any reason to worry about his defensive abilities. Not only has he played an errorless second base, but he's been a part of six double plays in six games. He showed some impressive range in grabbing Magglio Ordonez's grounder to the right side in the eighth inning of today's game. Had that ball gone through, the tying run would have come to the plate.
Maybe Tadahito Iguchi makes that play, but going by looks alone, Richar seems to get to spots faster on the field.
******************************
Minor league round-up:- Durham 6, Charlotte 3
- Lance Broadway pitched seven strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out seven.
- Dewon Day retired only one of seven batters he faced, walking four and allowing two hits and three runs.
- Ernie Young hit a homer and drove in all three runs; Donny Lucy went 2-for-4 in his Triple-A debut.
- Birmingham 6, Mobile 4
- Jack Egbert allowed three runs over six innings, striking out eight. One of the runs came on an Aaron Cunningham triple.
- Shaun Garrett and Cory Aldridge hit solo homers; Aldridge, Adam Shabala and Ricardo Nanita each had two hits.
- Oneli Perez closed it down with a scoreless inning.
- Potomac 14, Winston-Salem 5 (12 innings)
- The Warthogs self-destructed in the 12th -- Matt Zaleski gave up seven of the nine runs, and committed one of three errors in the inning. The other two were on the same play.
- Paulo Orlando hit a solo homer.
- Lakewood 8, Kannapolis 1
- Justin Edwards' slide continues -- following up on a July in which he allowed 25 runs in 24+ innings, he allowed seven in five tonight.
- John Shelby hit a pair of doubles and Brandon Allen had the lone RBI.
- Chris Carter racked up a hat trick: 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.