Not prospect related, but something I wrote up relating to Carlos Delgado

Why Carlos Delgado Is Still Good At Baseball

Carlos Delgado takes a lot of crap from Mets fans, he's terrible, etc. Obviously, his .245 average is not going to help that at all and his overall stats don't look pretty. But you know what? Bottom line is that Carlos Delgado is still good at baseball, and he can still contribute to this team well enough to take us to the promised land. Sure he's not the All-Star 1B he once was, he's no longer a cleanup hitter, but the dude can still hit, and hit well; here is why.


We all know the last 2 seasons that Delgado has had terrible starts. In fact both of his Aprils, in 2007 and 2008, were absolutely pathetic. He hit to a tune of:
2007- .188/.262/.260/.522, 96 AB, 4 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI.

2008- .198/.298/.333/.632, 96 AB, 3 2B, 3 HR, 12 RBI.

Bad. Both April's were terrible, absolutely atrocious, (insert any other word to describe how bad his months of April were the past 2 seasons).


Slow starter? Yes, the last 2 seasons definitely, he sure has been one and no one can say that he wasn't. What about in 2006?

April 2006- .298/.391/.617/1.008, 94 AB, 3 2B, 9 HR, 20 RBI.

He got off to a scorching hot start in 2006, helping his overall numbers by seasons end. No one could complain with the numbers he put up in 2006, they were very solid and he helped us win our first NL East title in years, all was good, but these numbers were helped out significantly just due to the fact that he started out hitting the ball well, instead of being ice cold.


In 2007, Delgado's slow start/bad April contributed a lot to his bad overall numbers. He ended with a mediocre .253 average, and only 24 HR in 538 AB. He was starting to get labeled as an old, declining bat. His overall numbers were not good by any means. But what were his numbers without including his bad April? What was he able to provide this team in the final 5 months of the season?

2007 Delgado's numbers from May 1st on:
.274/.360/.493/.850, 442 AB, 61 R, 26 2B, 23 HR, 75 RBI

Honestly, not bad at all. This is quality production from a 1B, IMO. Not spectacular, but definitely not bad. Over 550 AB, with even only an OKAY month of April, it comes out to about his 2006 numbers, give or take about 8-10 HR and a few RBI, but overall not that much different.


2008 has been the same story. He got off to a terrible start, even worse than last season, but he's been slowly improving his overall statistics. In fact, since April 27th(I know I'll be criticized for picking and choosing spots, but the fact is that this date is close to the same date I picked for 2007, its 3 days off, and this seems to be when he turned his season around) he has been hitting: .284/.396/.510/.890, 134 AB, 18 R, 8 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 19 RBI

Am I missing something here? Are these numbers bad? What do we want him to do, put up Pujols-esque numbers? This is quality offensive production from our "old, terrible, worthless" 1st baseman.


Seriously, am I in the wrong here trying to discount his bad April's as merely slow starts? Is it wrong that I'm looking at his overall production over the final 5 months as a better showcase of what he can bring to the table as a hitter?
If Delgado puts up a .275/.365/.480/.850 line over the final 5 months of 2008, with about 26 2B, 25 HR and 75 RBI(the numbers he's put up since April 27th on pace over 450 AB), I will be more than happy. There is no reason why you can tell me he won't...he did it last year, and he is already starting to do it this year.

Carlos Delgado is what he is...a decent, older, former All-Star 1st baseman who is at the end of his career. He isn't great, but he isn't terrible either. He puts up solid offensive numbers from the 5th, 6th, or even 7th spot in the lineup, plays average defense, and isn't a cancer in the clubhouse or any crap like that. He is still a good baseball player and I have faith that he will put up numbers similar to ANY(yes, any) of our other hitters over the final 5 months of the season. Can we just lay off Delgado a bit? No more "DFA DELGADO" stuff?


I'm more worried about guys like Reyes being a CONSISTENT leadoff hitter(no more .200 months), our 3 and 4 hitters HITTING with RISP or even actually just hitting at all(Wright and Beltran have not been producing enough, we need our two best hitters to step it up in order to win), our bullpen pitching, Alou's health, the black hole at the 6-7-8 spot's in our lineup when Alou and Church are out, Church's health, and our bench, than I am about Delgado who is our #6 hitter, sometimes even #7, because I have faith that he will put up solid numbers from here on out.


This is why Carlos Delgado is still good at baseball.





By the way, just for fun, what would Delgado's 2007 and 2008 seasons look like with the start he had in 2006?

2007- .281/.374/.503/.885, 536 AB, 79 R, 29 2B, 32 HR, 95 RBI
2008- .290/.397/.553/.939, 228 AB, 36 R, 11 2B, 1 3B, 16 HR, 39 RBI
yeah I know, it's irrelevant, but just wanted to see what it looked like...