07/07: El Leche
Posted by: James
Last year, while Melky Cabrera ended up with a fine line (100 OPS+), he had one 21 game stretch in the season where he was just putrid (.190/.281/.253/.534). The Yankees stuck with him then and from his OPS low point on June 26th, 2006, he went .295/.370/.429/.799 for the rest of the season (88 games).
Fast forward to this season when Melky Cabrera started off the season with a 22 game stretch that was even worse than his bad stretch in 2006 (.190/.235/.203/.438). However, since May 1st, which was the last time his BA was under .200 for the season, here's the line over the last 51 games: .320/.381/.477/.858.
Is he going to hit like that for the rest of the season? Nah, probably not...but looking at how he finished off the 2006 season, any dropoff shouldn't be as drastic as some people might expect. El Leche might only be 23 (24 in a month) but this guy definitely belongs in the majors.
Fast forward to this season when Melky Cabrera started off the season with a 22 game stretch that was even worse than his bad stretch in 2006 (.190/.235/.203/.438). However, since May 1st, which was the last time his BA was under .200 for the season, here's the line over the last 51 games: .320/.381/.477/.858.
Is he going to hit like that for the rest of the season? Nah, probably not...but looking at how he finished off the 2006 season, any dropoff shouldn't be as drastic as some people might expect. El Leche might only be 23 (24 in a month) but this guy definitely belongs in the majors.
