Monday, June 16, 2014

Monday Morning Food For Thought: Solarte Really Slowing Down

I knew this was going to happen eventually.  We all did.  I was hoping it wouldn't happen right after I suggested he be moved up into the 2-spot, but a month later that seems to be the case.  Yangervis Solarte is coming back to reality as a hitter.  After coming back from his late-May slump with 9 hits in his next 6 games, he has really fallen off in June and created another hole in the batting order.

Solarte went 0-3 with a walk and  R scored last night.  The run was his first in a week, but the 0-fer made him 0-18 in his last 5 games.  That dropped him down to a .178/.260/.244 slash line in June and a .274/.347/.420 line for the season.  Solarte has been trending downward every month since Opening Day, from .an 865 OPS in April to an .809 in May.  The acceleration of that downtrend so far this month has been a dramatic one though, and it's creating more lineup and roster juggling confusion for Joe.  He already doesn't know what he's going to get or who he's going to be without day to day in his infield.  Now he can't even rely on the one constant he's had for the first 2 months.

So what's the diagnosis now?  Is this just another rough patch for Solarte or is this the sign of natural statistical regression to the mean settling in and his true Major League talent level coming to surface?

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