With last night's loss to the Orioles, Mike Lamb has officially hit the 50-game mark - the point at which the Twins cut Tony Batista loose in 2006. Batista had 195 plate appearances that season; Lamb has a very comparable 187 so far this year. And here's the tale of the tape:
| BATISTA | M. LAMB | |
| BA | .236 | .247 |
| OBP | .303 | .283 |
| SLG | .388 | .335 |
| HR | 5 | 1 |
| RBI | 21 | 24 |
| Runs created | 24 | 23 |
| OPS in last 20 games | .685 | .707 |
| BA with RISP | .318 | .432 |
| BA on balls in play | .276 | .266 |
| Line-drive percentage | 21.9% | 18.2% |
| RZR at 3B | .602 | .587 |
| Out-of-zone plays made | 15 | 14 |
| Fielding errors | 3 | 2 |
| Throwing errors | 3 | 2 |
| Contract | 1yr /$1.25m | 2yr /$6.6m |
Apart from the salary - and the contract length - there's really no difference between the two. Still, the fiscal reality of his contract probably precludes the Twins from cutting their losses and ditching Lamb; I suppose the best-case scenario is for the team to play him only against right-handed pitchers, or keep him around to pinch-hit against righties and back up at the corner positions.
In 2006, I remember the Twins' DFA-ing of Batista as a move that was viewed with celebration, not to mention relief, among Twins fans. And so I remain somewhat confused why no similar movement is afoot regarding Lamb.