Y. Molina

Yadier just recently got the same number of ABs for 2005 as he had for all of 2004. This inspired me to do look at how he is doing for the two years. All of this is factoring in his horrendous April. First,

--------Avg/Obp-/slg-/-ops
2004 .267/.329/.356/.684
2005 .259/.300/.341/.641

So, definitely a regression in the averages there. Next, I took a look at his production numbers, normalized to the 380 ABs (about what Matheny seemed to average during his tenure in StL, and thus my benchmark for a La Russa full time catcher)

-----2B/HR/RBI/BB/R/K over a pretend "full Matheny season"
2004-17/6/42-/37/34/56
2005-13/4/42-/20/42/29

These numbers look almost identical to me, with the eception of the strikeout numbers, so at least Yadi's getting his eye on the ball more than he was last year. But now, look at his May + June over a "Full Matheny Season", thus assuming his start to be an aberration, and not a sign of 'streakiness'

post-April 2B/HR/RBI/BB/R-/K--------AVG/OPB/SLG/OPS
-------------15/-7/-60/22/56/26---------.324/.382/.510/.892

This seems weird to me, because the averages increase so dramatically, with the other numbers only moving slightly (though the increase in RBI is pretty nice). The point is, that the two instincts I've been seeing about YM, that he is hitting the tar off of the ball, and that he has been a drag on the lineup, are both somewhat flawed--we're getting a superior hitter to Matheny, but a guy who also won't really measure up to the perennial all star types of I-Rod and Piazza (but who can actually play defense, unlike the latter).

sorry 'bout the fomatting, I'm no Html master