Monday, June 25, 2007

The Twins' next great slugger

He hit his first career double on Tuesday. He hit his first career triple on Sunday. His OPS (the trendy new stat, which measures on-base plus slugging percentage) is a hefty 1.089, easily the best on the team. And he's driving in a run every seven at-bats this year.

Is it time for the Twins to start using Johan Santana as their new designated hitter? Granted, we're looking at a pretty small sample size (seven at-bats) this year, but he's shown enough confidence and bat control to at least merit consideration as a pinch hitter in certain situations.

Right?

3 comments:

RJ said...

I'd love to see Santana-zee as a pinch-hitter. That would be fantastic! Reminiscent of Brooks Kieschnick a couple years ago, only cooler.

It sure would beat watching Gardy call upon Tyner for a lefty vs. righty situation. I hate that.

Marc Conklin said...

I remember reading that Liriano was known as a big slugger before someone said, "Hey, maybe you should pitch." I say, when he comes back, put them both in the lineup.

PDizzle said...

Hey, Liriano could DH today. He'd have to be better than L-Rod.