But lets take a look at Jose Lopez stat line yesterday in our 15 run barrage.
AB R H RBI
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
That is correct Ladies and Gentlemen even in a 15 hit game Jose Lopez goes 0-5. Now I didn't watch the game so I decided to delve in a little deeper and see where his outs were made.\
AB 1: Fielder's choice on a Groundball to third base
AB 2: Fly out to shallow right *
AB 3: Groundball to Shortstop
AB 4: Popped to Right Center *
AB 5: Fly out to Left
Now the reason why the second and fourth at-bat have an asterisk is because he hit the ball the other way. I think this is the first time in Lopez five years with the Mariners he hit two balls the opposite way in one game!!
The fact of the matter is Jose Lopez is still a liability in the field but we always overlooked that with the fact that he could hit the ball out of the ball park. Well this year he has only one homerun and has looked terrible at the plate. He is a dead pull hitter and in this park that is not condusive for right handers. He needs to learn how to hit the ball to right field, and maybe this two popout game is him trying. But the fact that he is hitting fifth, and was hitting cleanup up until a couple weeks ago, shows exactly how anemic this lineup is.
Fact of the matter is I don't think anyone has had more chances to hit with guys on base the last couple years than Jose Lopez. He has had literally hundreds of chances to get guys on base and has not been clutch. Sure he hit that grand slam in Chicago (Which we lost BTW) but you can count on one hand how many times this year he has gotten the job done for the Mariners.
And for those of you who are saying that Lopez is doing well at Third Base open your eyes. The man has no range out there. If it is not hit right at him he isn't going to get to it. He has terrible foot-work and he is lazy. The reason why Lopez and Figgins switched is because Wakamatsu was looking for anyway to get Lopez out of the important spot in the middle of the field. If you want to hide a butcher in the infield your best bet is at Third Base.
Last year when I went to a game and watched Jose Lopez play second base I would watch his footwork to see if it has improved at all. Later in the year I just stopped watching it all together because it was so appalling. I hoped that the switch to third base would light a fire under him to improve said foot work. But it is still awful. Every Ground ball he gets he stops his feet completely, then has to take an extra step to get the ball to third base because he has no momentum going that way. You learn at a very young age that you need to get your momentum going the way of the bag you are throwing to make sure you get a good throw, and he still hasn't learned that.
I thought they had a clause in his contract that he wasn't supposed to weigh more than 200 pounds. I know Lopez has always been chubby but look at Ryan Howard. He is a great player who was big and lost a lot of weight and do you know why? It is because he cares about being the best baseball player he can be. Jose Lopez does not care. He just wants to get paid and hit the ball to the shortstop with two on and none out.
It is incredibly frustrating to anyone who played the middle infield position as I did, and I'm sure it isn't any better for people who played the corner infield spots. Jose Lopez either needs to start hitting so he can be a productive DH, or needs to be turned loose!!
BTM
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