Carlson is gone for the year. That hurts, we lose a 0.300+ bat from the lineup.
So, here's what we're looking at:
OF......Brown
OF......Kennedy
OF......Campbell
1B......Thomas
2B......O'Dowd
SS......Flores
3B......Powell
C........Guillamette
DH.....????????
Until he turns the corner on that batting average (0.185), Flores is the weak link. We'll probably keep him in there, but Daly (0.222, 5 HR) is still available for our tournament(s) run(s) and he's certainly had his moments before. If our SS, Flores/Daly, bats well in the tournaments, that will help out a lot.
For DH, we've got:
Gumbo DuPlantier...0.262, 0.354 OB%
Galvan........................0.232, 4 HR in 82 AB, 0.779 OPS, 0.364 OB% (but not fast on the bases)
Belyeu........................0.333 (in only 18 AB)
A case could be made for any of the above 3 batters to be our DH. Frankly, I wish we'd gotten Belyeu more AB over the course of the year to see what he can do. I wouldn't mind seeing him at DH or pinch hitting more regularly. Galvan keeps inching up his batting avg towards a respectable-ish 0.250, and he brings massive power to the plate. Gumbo gets on base, but Galvan actually has a higher OB% with a lot more walks. And Galvan can hit it as far as any batter on the team.
By the numbers, I think Galvan makes the strongest case. Although, it would be nice to see if Belyeu's even better numbers can hold up with more at bats.
Last edited: May 21, 2023