Home Run Derby

Way back in March, when I was doing Home Run Derby slugger profiles, I wondered if Raul Ibanez’ 33 Home Runs in 2006 was a breakout or a fluke. Only one person took Ibanez in HRD’s Group C.

Through early August, it was undeniably a fluke. Through August 3 (95 Games) Ibanez had less-than mediocre stats (.254 Avg, .391 Slg, .698 OPS, 6 HR, 61.0 AB/HR)  and he was also suffering through shoulder and back pain through most of the first half.

Plus, he was just coming off a disastrous sub-Mendoza July (.184 Avg, .262 Slg, .503 OPS with no Home Runs) which had media, fans, and management looking for a change. He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn if he was standing inside the barn.

Enter Adam Jones. The Mariners’ 2003 1st Round Pick.

On August 3, the Triple-A phenom (.314 Avg, .586 Slg, .967 OPS, with 25 HR in 101 Games at Tacoma) was called up and started against the Boston Red Sox, going 2 for 4 while scoring two runs.

Nearly everyone expected an outfield shakeup with Jones taking over RF while Jose Guillen moved over to LF - with Ibanez to split DH duties with Jose Vidro. Many wondered why it wasn’t done sooner.

But since then, something’s happened. Raul Ibanez has become invincible since Jones joined the lineup. He was starting to shows signs of breaking out of his slump the week before Jones arrived, but since Jones’ call-up, Ibanez has played like a man possessed - and has kept his starting LF spot.

I’d love to know how many Fantasy Baseball teams dropped Ibanez in the days before Jones was called up.

Meanwhile, Jones is only batting .261 while slugging .304 with no home runs since being called up. He’s only getting spot duty with 23 AB in 16 games and only 6 starts.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Mariners, Stats. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.