Hammer Time?

[Swift]

Hammer Time?

When Josh Willingham went down with an injured back on April 27th, he was arguably the Marlins best player. He owned a .341 average and an OPS above 1.000 (1.043), now he’s been back for 19 games and has seen his average plummet to .270 and his OPS to .874. He’s hitting .174 for July and .179 since his return on June 24th. What’s more, he has only 3 multi-hit games since his return, never registering more than 2 hits in any one game, and he has gone hitless in 10 of his 19 games.

What gives?

Well, for one, any hitter will tell you the two most important aspects, physically, for a batter are healthy and strong legs and back. If you don’t have your “legs underneath you” you’re not going to be able to generate a whole lot of power, if your back is stiff and unforgiving, swings are going to be painful, upright and slow.

Willingham obviously has a back problem, and a truly chronic one at that, but he isn’t exhibiting any signs of overt injury. There are no cringes after his swings (and misses) just many unproductive at bats. There are no situations where a pitcher is going to throw three straight fastballs past Willingham because he cannot catch up to any of them, and quite frankly, Willingham has looked to be every bit the player in the field (where a player is much less likely to hide injury) now as he was before his DL stint.

So why not let Willingham work out his issues? For one, Luis Gonzalez is still a capable starting player, having hit .283 as a starter in Willingham’s absence, additionally, Gonzalez’ value as a bench player is limited; he has a mere 5 pinch hits all season and he is incapable of coming in as a defensive upgrade as his arm is a severe liability in left field.

This leaves the Marlins in a tough bind. In Gonzalez, they have a player that has been called by many on the team as the best clubhouse guy they have ever been around (and since most of our guys have only been around 2 ½ years, who are we to doubt that). Additionally, Gonzalez has proven his worth as a starter, doubly important because Dolphin Stadium can be treacherous for left handed hitters. In Willingham, the Marlins have a 2 year starter who is a home-grown talent and who has never had his job security come into question in his 2+ years with the club since the youth movement of 2006.

That Willingham has a short, productive tenure with the team should not cloud the reasoning needed for a team very much in the thick of the NL East pennant race. The Marlins need to ask of any replaceable player on their roster (that is, everyone not named Hanley Ramirez or Dan Uggla) “what have you done for me lately?” In Willingham, they will find not only a player struggling to prove his mettle in his last 67 AB’s, but also a player who has an in-house replacement (dare I say, upgrade) at his position.

[bobbob1313]

Gonzalez is cool.
He's not an upgrade on Willingham.

[Juanky]

I agree with this. Willingham needs some time on the pine to get his swing back, while Gonzalez gets some ABs in LF. Right now Gonzo is the superior player, since both of their defensive abilities are below average and Hammer can't buy a base hit at the moment.

[St. Jimmy]

Two solid linedrives that were caught today by Gonzo.