SPARK OF INSTUBBSANITY

Last Wednesday (18 April) when Dusty Baker reshuffled the line up the last things I expected to see was Drew Stubbs in the number two spot. Drew Stubbs who up to that point in the season was heading down the I-75 corridor or in other words was batting a mere .175 for the season. It looked like Stubbs who was completely lost at the plate was on pace to brake his 205 strike out recorded of last season. Then Dusty did what probably no one else would think of and put him in front of Votto in the two spot. Of course my first reaction was “Are you Serious?!” then I thought about it and I said he would probably get better pitches hitting in front of Votto and it if he does get on base what better combination of Stubbs speed and Votto Hitting Power that would make. It would appear through the first week (thru the 25 April Game) that Dusty’s insanity gamble on Stubbs has paid off. From 18 April to 25 April Stubbs is batting .379 (noting here he did bat lead off on the 25th) That’s right “Strike Out Stubbs” is 11-29 with 6 RBI, 2 Runs, and 1 HR. His over all batting average for the season has climbed 86 points from .175 to .261. This Blog including myself has been very hard on Dusty over the years but if this was his idea then Dusty deserves all the credit. Great baseball insight Dusty and a big hats off to you for it. Let’s hope this turn around in Stubbs is lasting through out the rest of the season and beyond. With a Stubbs that can hit especially batting lead off with his speed and the rest of our power line up through the clean up spot could be very dangerous for opposing teams.

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