While the Royals stare down a possible last-place finish, second baseman Mike Aviles has taken advantage of increased playing time, wreaking havoc at the plate in September.
Sep 27, 2010 - The Royals were swept by the Cleveland Indians over the weekend, and now find themselves in last place by two games in the AL Central as the season comes to a close this weekend. The roster has been overturned in recent weeks due to trades, injuries and September callups, but one player who has been with the team most of the year is hitting at a torrid pace.
Second baseman Mike Aviles, who has seen playing time open up since a concussion sidelined Chris Getz, is on fire in September, sporting a hitting line of .358/.376/.630 with six home runs; to put things in perspective, he hit just two in the season's first five months.
Aviles came up with the team in 2008 and did nothing but hit, posting a batting average of .325. Skeptics pointed to his low walk rate and high batting average on balls in play as signs that his success would not be sustainable, and they were right. In 2009, Aviles struggled and was shelved for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He was moved from shortstop to second base when Ned Yost took over as manager, and Aviles still had a tough time producing power, trudging through a stretch of 331 at-bats without a single home run.
When the calendar flipped to September, Aviles began to heat up, and he cracked four home runs in a span of five games two weeks ago. Much has been made of Shin-Soo Choo's domination of the Royals this month (16-28 with four home runs), but Aviles has done similar damage to Cleveland (13-32 with four home runs). For bonus points, he cracked the franchise's 5,000th home run on Sunday against Fausto Carmona. It's becoming clear that Aviles should be a lock as the opening day second baseman in 2010, and it's largely due to the case he's made in September.
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I hate Aviles's guts.
With his fielding and erratic arm and inconsistent bat,. he should be in the minors….or better yet, traded for a prospect with good fundamentals.
In my opinion he’s a guy who has had numerous opportunities to work on his fundamentals, and has been unable to improve, which means we’ll have to cross our fingers every time the ball comes his ways, because he’s simply a horrible fielder who can’t throw the ball with any degree of accuracy, and sometimes, it just flies clear into the stands. He’s an embarrassment to the Royals, and just another reason, that the Royals are constant losers, other teams wouldn’t let a guy that erratic play in their infield, but in KC, he’s acceptable…it’s complete and utter bullshit, and we need to lose this guy now, and forever.
The only reason he’s still around is his batting average, but every single thing he ever accomplished with his bat, has been negated or given back by his terrible defensive play.
It’s not that hard to find a a guy who can play a defensive second base, and have a 300 plus average, and we need to trade Aviles’s bat for one of those guys.
"Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel." ~George Appel~
- last words before being executed by electric chair in 1928.
by TheK-man on Oct 4, 2010 11:12 PM CDT reply actions
The Royals are a better team without Mike Aviles on it.
"Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel." ~George Appel~
- last words before being executed by electric chair in 1928.
by TheK-man on Oct 4, 2010 11:13 PM CDT reply actions
And as far as his September hitting is concerned, who gives a damn
we’re in last place and out of contention, the hitters are feeling no pressure whatsoever at the plate right now….if the at bats were important, Aviles would be striking out every at bat…it’s his pattern….he excels when at bats are meaningless, and can’t hit under pressure….trust me, this guy is the worst for the Royals, and needs to go.
"Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel." ~George Appel~
- last words before being executed by electric chair in 1928.
by TheK-man on Oct 4, 2010 11:16 PM CDT reply actions
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