Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Jim Souhan opened Sunday's column about the Twins' dynamic leadoff man like this:
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire spent the All-Star break on the lakes.
One day, he sneaked away to nap in a mobile home and ran into a protruding section of the vehicle, gashing his forehead.
That was unintentional.
In the three games since the break, Gardenhire has voluntarily smacked his head against a proverbial wall by continuing to bat Carlos Gomez in the leadoff spot of an otherwise surging lineup.
"He's lightning in a bottle," Gardenhire said of Go-Go. "He makes contact, gets on base, anything can happen."
The reference to Gomez getting on base is encouraging. It is an indication that Gardenhire's long-term memory did not suffer from his run-in with the malevolent mobile home during the break.
Of 168 major league players who qualify for the batting title, Gomez ranks 163rd -- and last among all leadoff men -- in on-base percentage, at .285.
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Well, yeah. As a commenter said, "I agree with Souhan on every assertion in this article. Gomez just does not get on base enough to bat leadoff for a playoff contender."
But why stop there? Is there any reason to think Gomez is
generally good enough to
play for a pennant contender?
In addition to that low rank in on-base percentage, Gomez also ranks 82nd in OPS among 82 qualifying American Leaguers. By definition, an outfielder with the worst OPS in the league isn't good enough to play regularly, no matter where he sits in the lineup. Terry Francona seems to get this. Here's
Francona discussing his own struggling
leadoff man:
Just flip-flopping doesn't make much sense," Francona said when asked about possible lineup changes. "It's hard to make out a lineup when guys aren't hitting. It's a situation where it's real hard to be patient. If I thought it would help to move somebody somewhere else, I certainly would do it, but at some point you have to get hits."
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Right: hits and (ideally) walks.
In Gomez's defense, he really does play fantastic defense in center field; according to his Fielding Bible stats he's been the best in the majors this season. But otherwise the impact of Gomez's speed has been greatly exaggerated. In part because he reaches base so rarely, he's stolen only 21 bases … and he's been caught nine times. Yeah, you have to love his glove. But there are plenty of guys who can play Gold Glove-quality defense and post the worst OPS in the league. Most of them are in the minor leagues. Which is where Gomez, still only 22, probably belongs right now. If the Twins really are going to win the Central, they need to get
Francisco Liriano in the rotation and Carlos Gomez
out of the lineup.
Rob Neyer
