Andruw Jones celebrated his 33rd birthday in style on Friday night, slugging two solo home runs, including a walk-off shot in a 7-6 win over the Mariners.
Jones, who reportedly lost 15 to 20 pounds over the winter, is off to a fantastic start in Chicago, batting .293/.408/.756 with six home runs and nine RBI over his first 41 at-bats this season. He’s been a lone early bright spot for an offense that has combined to hit just .219/.302/.386 thus far.
Still on cloud nine following Friday’s win, the resurgent Jones told Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune the following:
“I’m way far from done. I think I can play five more years.”
It’s a nice comeback story and he certainly deserves regular at-bats in the short-term, but don’t look for this success to continue. Recognize that he’s hitting .412/.500/1.118 with four home runs against lefties, as compared to a meager .208/.345/.500 with two home runs and 10 strikeouts in 24 at-bats against right-handers, consistent with his declining profile since his 41-homer season in 2006. U.S. Cellular Field should prove to be a pretty nice launching pad for him, but chances are he’ll be more useful as a strict platoon player before it’s all said and done.
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- Dauthan - Apr 24, 2010 at 4:44 PM
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.208/.345/.500 isn’t exactly “meager”. It’s not quite as awesome as his splits vs. lefties, but it’s good.
The avg is meager, but the overall production isn’t.
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- D.J. Short - Apr 24, 2010 at 4:54 PM
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That’s fair. Originally I only had batting average posted, but that didn’t present the whole picture. Then again, neither does a walk here and there in April. Point is, he hasn’t been productive against right-handers for a long-time and it isn’t likely that he’ll recapture that.
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- WWandSong - Apr 24, 2010 at 11:20 PM
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I’m sure he can’t stay on his diet or keep in shape long enough for that to happen. Where there’s no will there’s no way.
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- Pistol - Apr 26, 2010 at 8:02 PM
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Who would want him ?
