Last year Monroe was nearly helpless against right-handers. This year, he has good numbers vs. RH pitching. Why? How about using him where he has a good chance to succeed vs. righties? He batted against the knuckleballer (Wakefield) and his “cousin” (Blanton). Take those PAs away and his numbers against RHs don’t look that good, considering only 80 PAs.

Unfortunately, Monroe just about has to play against lefthanders. So he isn’t used judiciously, he is indiscriminately sent out against every lefty, no mattter whether their style matches up or not.

There is a concept of “regression to the mean” which indicates that for the balance of the year, Monroe should be better against lefties and not nearly as good vs. righthanders.

Here’s another example: Last year Mauer really struggled (for him) against LH pitching—just a .673 OPS and also hit only .248 with a .666 OPS at the Metrodome. This year, Mauer has hit .356 with a .908 OPS vs. lefthanders and is hitting .372 with a .990 OPS at home. One would figure that both of those figures would regress towards the mean, but to balance it out, that Joe would hit a bit better on the road and against righties.

agree with you. The Twins must figure out when and in what situations it is best to use him in. I can see putting him in vs. left handed pitchers that he has hit well against in the past but I dont see them putting him in every time a LHP is on the mound. I would really like to see him stick around with the Twins even when Cuddles comes back, but I just dont see what other options we may have. We would then have 6 outfielders and only 5 infielders (assuming Lamb is cut or traded when Cuddy comes back).

Twins must figure out his role. I do like the fact that the Twins now have a legit HR threat coming off the bench (Tyner, Rodriguez, Ford, Tiffee never fit that mold). I do like the fact that pitcher have to pitch carefully to him although he is a strike out victim but they know that if they make a mistake, he will power it out. I do like the fact that he is good clubhouse presence – that is the heart of the team. Although many fans dont realize it, clubhouse presence is more important than how the man hits. If you have a player who hits .250 and only jacks out 5 but bats 1.000 with 150 HR in the clubhouse, that is most important.

Chemistry is the heart of a MLB team!

I know Monroe has a ridiculous backward platoon split this year, but he’s only had 80 PA against each hand, and he has a more traditional platoon split for his career – is it possible that his performance against lefties so far is a mirage? I just looked through some of his year-by-year splits, and he has had a slight reverse platoon split before, but nothing approaching this.

I agree with you, though, that Kubel’s success against both sides pretty much eliminates Monroe’s role on the team – I would be fine with them trying to find a new home for him to make room for Cuddyer to come off the DL, as Span is a better backup CF and at least as useful a hitter (although the homers have been nice).

The late 90s Twins were all nice guys, too. They won about 70 games a year. I’ll agree that bad chemistry can cause problems, but I don’t think there’s much evidence that good chemistry breeds winning (rather than the other way around) or that the Twins had any chemistry problems before Monroe – I think they looked like they’d have a pretty cohesive clubhouse anyway.

I’m with you, for the most part. The sort of unquantifiable hand-waving about “chemistry” is generally just that; there are plenty of examples of locker rooms filled with giant tools that go out and win lots of ballgames.

At the same time, I do think that there is a “veteran presence” impact that can be beneficial—I just don’t think that anyone outside the clubhouse can speak to it. I’ll take Blackburn at his word when he says that Hernandez has helped him learn how to be a major league pitcher, but too often “chemistry” and “leadership” really just mean “old and sucky” when used by fans and journos.

Monroe has been dreadful against lefties to this point, there is no denying that. But he was actually pretty good against lefties last year, in comparison to his epic struggles against righties. His OPS of .805 last year (vs. lefties) is better than anybody not named Mauer or Morneau on the ‘08 team.

Last year, Monroe’s OPS was .250 better vs. lefthanders, this year it is .500 worse. Go figure.

watch…Craig has shortened up which is why he is hitting much better and he has dumped the high leg kick…as a matter of fact, he barely has one now.

Craig has a very compact swing now and has good mechanics too. He is hitting LH better now and continues to hit RH well.

If they acquire Beltre, both him and Lamb are gone. If they don’t acquire Beltre, both him and Lamb are gone when Tolbert gets back. It’s only a matter of time

Let’s hope so, anyway…