Screw the unimportance of Spring Training stats. Screw conventional wisdom. Screw basic baseball logic. Screw everything. The A-Horse is flat out crushing the holy hell out of the ball this spring, he's been doing it since the day he stepped foot on the team facility in Tampa, and he's well on his way to having a monster rebound season in 2011. Consider these facts:
- He has 16 hits in 37 ST at-bats.
- 11 of those 16 hits have been for extra bases (6 2B, 5 HR).
- He has at least 1 hit in each of the 13 ST games in which he has played.
- He's scored 8 runs, driven in 11, and played damn good defense on the hot corner.
- His tripleslash for the spring? .432/.475/1.000
- He's already being talked about as the early odds-on favorite to win the 2011 Kentucky Derby.
Alright, so maybe I made that last one up. But that doesn't change the fact that this is the best A-Horse we've seen, both physically and from a baseball standpoint, in a few years. His hip is healthy, he's in great shape, his swing looks immaculate, and he's set to hit the ground running on March 31, instead of still nursing injuries or trying to find his balance at the plate like he has been the last couple of years. We can all get excited about the likes of Cano, Jesus Montero, and ManBan, but don't sleep on A-Rod. The dude still has some serious tread on the tire.
Today on Pinstripe Alley - 10/8/24
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