Meegan’s Hot Seat: Easy to Guess Who’s Hot but, Who do You Think Is The “Not”?

We are finally starting to see the Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford that made us proclaim ourselves World Champions before the season started.  Gonzalez has finally found his power stroke, while Crawford is starting to hit with some consistency.  However, the “Hottest” player on this team is Jacoby Ellsbury, hands down.  Yesterday, Ellsbury extended his Major League leading hitting streak to 17 games.

Ellsbury’s started his hitting streak back on April 21st.  Back then, Jacoby was hitting a paltry .182 and was batting ninth in the lineup.  Since then, the fleet footed center fielder is back in the leadoff spot and has raised his average up to .295.  He is batting .378 over the span of the 17 game streak.  Not only has his hitting been on fire, he is also running the bases like a gazelle again.  There is nothing more exciting then to watch Ellsbury streak around the base baths.  Whether he is stealing a base or going from first or second to home.  His speed and his reckless abandon are electrifying.  The one critique that has always hung over Ellsbury’s head is his low On Base Percentage.  Most would say his OBP wasn’t worthy of a legitimate leadoff hitter.  Even with his poor start to the season, his OBP is now a robust .350.  I don’t think you will find too many complaining about that now.  The stat that you won’t see in the box score is how many RBI’s has he contributed for Adrian Gonzalez.  His hitting streak and Gonzalez resurgence appear to be going  hand in hand.

Now to the part that pains me this week.  The “Who’s Not” department.  One of my favorite players, Dustin Pedroia is still mired in his slump.  In his last 15 games, Pedroia has 8 hits in 61 at bats, an avg of .131.  We have watched this slump take his previous high avg. of .333 down to .235.  He also hasn’t had an extra base hit since his home run off Toronto’s, Brett Cecil.  That home run came all the way back on April 15th.  Through it all, Pedroia has maintained his positive attitude.  He is still the vocal inspiration for this team.  For this team to overcome Tampa Bay and The Yankees, they need Pedroia to be Pedroia, surely not to be confused with “Manny being Manny.”   How do you handle this situation?  Should Terry Francona consider dropping him in the lineup, like he did with Crawford?  There have been rumors that Crawford was going to be slotted back in the top of the lineup soon anyways.   Pedroia, the consummate team player, probably wouldn’t even flinch if Francona made such a move.  He has always taken the “team first” approach over personal ego.  Hard to imagine though, when he is on his game, Pedroia is one of the best #2 hitters in all of baseball.   What is really disturbing is how many runs have been lost during this slump.  With Ellsbury seemingly on base at every at bat, can you imagine if Pedroia was getting on base too?  Gonzalez would be leading the world in RBI’s if the two table setters were on base together.  I don’t expect this slump to last much longer.  I expect to see the “Laser Show” coming to a city near you, very soon.

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