The Dodgers dropped the finale of a three-game series in Pittsburgh today, 6-3. Zack Greinke was bad, Matt Guerrier gave up another run, and the offense had only one extra-base hit.
Through all of that, there's one guy who continues to further and further establish himself as the worst player in baseball. And with Monday being a travel day before starting a two-game set in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, the Dodgers need to mercifully get rid of Luis Cruz.
And fast.
Right now Cruz has played in 44 games, including 29 starts. In 114 at-bats, he's hitting .132 with a .180 OBP, along with two doubles, one homer, six RBIs, five walks, and no steals. Today he was up with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. He struck out looking.
It was the perfect chance to erase some (but not nearly all) of the bad memories to start the 2013 season. Even a single would've been fine. But nope, he failed to come through again.
Now all I have to say is this - for the love of everything that is good in the world, STOP PLAYING HIM!!! I could not possibly care less anymore who's hurt and for how long. That is completely irrelevant at this point. His bat has ZERO impact in the lineup. I don't want to see him start at third. I don't want to see him start at short. I don't want to see him pinch-hit. I don't even want to see him warming anybody up in between innings.
It's easy to blame Don Mattingly for constantly putting him in there, but management needs to do the right thing and not even make that an option. Ship his ass back to the minors where he belongs! Major League pitching has obviously figured him out after his good run at the end of last season, and he hasn't come close to adjusting. As a big fan of the Dodgers, he's as frustrating to watch as anyone I can remember. Maybe not quite on the Andruw Jones level of frustration, but close.
It's not that I don't like the guy, I actually do. Coming into this season, I thought Cruz would be a good player based on what I saw in 2012. He played hard, had a good glove, and had some pop in his bat. But now there's a big enough sample size to see that he needs time away from LA. There is no way anyone with even the littlest of baseball knowledge can say that he's doing anything to help this team win. Not even close.
Hanley Ramirez is slowly making his way back from injury. Nick Punto has definitely slowed down after a great April, but he's still versatile. Skip Schumaker and Jerry Hairston can also play multiple positions. And yes, even Juan Uribe has been decent this year, and hasn't completely embarrassed himself for a change.
So, there's other options. And Cruz should NOT be one of them anymore. Don't even give Mattingly the thought of trying to work him in the lineup. Enough is enough!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment