David Delluci's career line:
.264/.350/.431
David Delluci's 2005 line:
.304/.489/.637
Interestingly enough though, Delluci's home average is .345 while his road one is only .250.
Let's check out his numbers and some splits.
Delluci 2005
.304/.489/.637
AB: 102
HR: 8
2B: 4
3B: 3
SB: 4/5
BB: 37
SecAvg: .725
Iso: .333
That is insanely impressive, but let's take a look at his home/away splits to see if there is not only an average drain on the road, but a power one as well:
Delluci 2005 Home
.345/.480/.724
AB: 58
HR: 5
2B: 1
3B: 3
SB: 3/3
BB: 16
SecAvg: .707
Iso: .379
Delluci 2005 Road
.250/.500/.523
AB: 44
HR: 3
2B: 3
3B: 0
SB: 1/2
BB: 21
SecAvg: .750
Iso: .273
Small sample size caveats aside, Delluci's road numbers are still impressive. Don't tell me you would turn away a .750 SecAvg and a .273 Iso on the road. Delluci's bat has been enhanced by playing in Arlington, but his road numbers are still quite impressive. The plate patience he is showing so far this year is also astounding, and seems to be for real. Basically I screamed at Texas over the offseason for not bringing any sort of on-base help into their lineup. Check out last year's lineup:
- Michael Young .313/.353/.483 (44 BB)
- Hank Blalock .276/.355/.500 (75 BB)
- Alfonso Soriano .280/.324/.484 (33 BB)
- Mark Teixera .281/.370/.560 (68 BB)
- Brad Fullmer .233/.310/.442 (27 BB)
- David Delluci .242/.342/.441 (47 BB)
- Kevin Mench .279/.335/.539 (33 BB)
- Laynce Nix .248/.293/.437 (23 BB)
- Rod Barajas .249/.276/.453 (13 BB)
A .329 team on-base percentage is, well awful. For comparison's sake, another prolific offense in Boston had a team OBP of .360. For humilitations sake, the then Anaheim Angels had a team OBP of .341. Granted their team average was roughyly 20 points higher, and they don't seem to be getting away with it this year (.300 OBP on the nose so far this year as a team).
The Rangers are a team full of young sluggers that for the most part don't understand how to take a walk. Delluci's 37 BB's and high OBP so far aim to help stop something that basically stalled out Texas's offense. If you are a team who does not walk at all, and you slump badly as Texas did in the second half last year, you can kiss all your run scoring opportunities goodbye and expect a lot of solo homeruns.
How are the Rangers faring so far this year?
Teixera: .286/.343/.511
Soriano: .271/.298/.530
Blalock: .287/.352/.472
Young: .266/.326/.418
Hidalgo: .206/.281/.374
Mench: .291/.353/.567
Matthews: .250/.267/.339
Barajas: .223/.270/.366
Delluci: .304/.489/.637
Nix: .284/.306/.463
Team: .265/.327/.456
Even with Delluci already at 37 walks, 7 shy of his 2004 total, and improvement from a few players, the team OBP is 2 points less than last year's. Whose fault is it? Check out the bolded players in the list for that answer. Nix has a 108 Rate in centerfield so far this year (8 runs above average for his position) and 102 for his career, so he atleast brings something to the table, though .306 is still inexcusable. Soriano has driven me out of my mind since I learned the value of OBP...about the same time Shea Hillenbrand and Soriano both came up in their respective cities. Concepts like OBP are easy to understand when you watch players like Hillenbrand fail to get on base before your very eyes. Hidalgo should be replaced in the lineup by Delluci. Delluci needs to start playing everyday for Texas if they want to have any chance of winning that division. He's leading all of baseball in walks in only 141 PA (less PA than many players on his own team have AB). Keep Nix and Mench in the OF. Put Hidalgo on the bench. Put Delluci in the OF or DH (wherever his back allows him to go). If your the Texas Rangers you cannot tell me you can't make a deal with anyone on some Triple-A slugger everyone ignores. I'll give you a few:
Brian Daubach, NOR: .373/.438/.672
Jim Rushford, SWB: .360/.432/.456
Alejandro Freire, OTT: .342/.400/.619
Daubach's PECOTA Projection for 2005 (Age 33)
.260/.371/.452
EqA: .288
Daubach's career line:
.261/.342/.477
EqA: .269
AB: 2000
HR: 92
AB/HR: 21.73
Daubach 2004 Pawtucket Red Sox
.274/.403/.530
HR: 21
2B: 23
EqA: .293
Eq Line (BA, OBP, SLG) .251/.378/.481
Given 450 AB Daubach would most likely finish with 20+ homeruns, so his upside is higher than the ever falling stock of Hidalgo.
Jim Rushford has only got 77 AB in his career for a .143/.214/.208 line in Milwaukee. He did have 6 walks though, and it is apparent from his minor league numbers that he could do some damage in the majors, even if only for a short time. Texas, take a chance; I bet it works out better than the real money you spent on Hidalgo.