Luke vs. Lefties
The Orioles are in the middle of a stretch in which they face four consecutive lefties.
It's an odd occurrence for one team to see that many southpaws in one week, but it's the luck of the draw.
Normally Dave Trembley would be inclined to sit Luke Scott versus left handed pitching, but he can't afford to sit his hottest bat four days in a row.
As a result Scott is getting the chance to prove what hitting coach Terry Crowley has believed all year. Scott can hit lefties.
Trembley admitted "Crow" had been lobbying the skipper to play Luke against lefties all year. Crowley believed if Scott could see left-handers on a regular basis, he could "be a monster for us against lefties."
The reason? Crow said Luke is not scared to step in against a lefty. "He hangs in there," Crowley said. "He's ready to hit strikes and is starting to lay off bad breaking balls."
Luke told me how thankful he is to have Crowley pulling for him. He's long been frustrated with the "misconception," as he put it, that he couldn't hit southpaws.
So far, Luke is proving his hitting coach right. Coming into Wednesday's game Luke was hitting .333 in 30 at bats against lefties this year.
Oh by the way--Scott just stepped in the box for at bat number 31 as I was blogging.
Goodbye, home run!!! Off Jason Vargas--a lefty.
We all know Luke Scott is a good hitter, but now we're seeing him grow into a more well rounded hitter; and he's making it more and more difficult for Trembley to come up with any reason to keep him out of the lineup.
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Categories (click for archive)Amber Theoharis | MASNblogs |
Luke definitely deserves to get some more at bats against lefties. Throughout his career he really hasn't been that bad against left handers, but really hasn't been given the chance to face them more often. The big question is how much longer are they going to keep hitting Huff 4th against left handers. Huff has really struggled against left handers this year, he does have a couple singles tonight and just missed that home run so maybe Huff is starting to come out of his slump against lefties, but if he doesn't come out of it soon I would have to think they will start sitting him against lefties.
Hello Amber. Luke Scott always seems to be a name mentioned in trade rumors on the various message boards. Speaking for myself, I think that he's worth a lot more to the Orioles on the roster than he is on the trade block. Without a doubt, he would probably net the Orioles some young prospects, but he's swinging a hot bat right now and honestly I don't think it would benefit the Orioles to unload him. I've met Luke a couple of times at games, and he seems like a very positive force in the clubhouse. I've heard as much from other people who have met him as well. That's one of the reasons I liked Kevin Millar, as he seemed to be such a positive influence. Nevertheless, I hope that we keep Luke Scott for quite awhile. I sincerely believe that the Tejada and Bedard trades will go down in Oriole history as the "anti-Glen Davis" trades. With that said, I would recommend that you write your blog after the game(s)...it's easy to miss key moments while you're on the computer! (Unfortunately I've found this out the hard way myself a few times...)