Milledge Hits, then Hits Bench
Mets' Lastings Milledge Impresses Everybody but Willie Randolph
Lastings Milledge has been terrific for the Mets ever since he was called up on July 13th. He is hitting over .300, and his OPS is 820. However, Willie Randolph remains unimpressed, at least unimpressed enough to not give Milledge an every day role.
Randolph has somehow found a way to ignore that Milledge is hitting .409 and slugging .519 in the month of August, and has only started the 22-year-old outfielder once in the past four games.
Milledge stepped up when Carlos Beltran went on the disabled list with a strained oblique. Before Beltran returned on Friday, Milledge was doing a fine job in center field, replacing the All-Star. However, once Beltran came back Milledge lost his spot in center; and found out that there wasn't a spot for him in left or right field, either. Veteran slugger Moises Alou has been stellar out in left field, and Randolph-favorite Shawn Green has been playing every day in right field.
The 35-year-old Green has hit .272, while driving in only 32 runs through 360 at bats. His offensive numbers are unimpressive to say the least, and his defense is worse. He prances gingerly throughout right field, covering little ground. Milledge is an upgrade on both offense and defense over Green, but Randolph has insulted Milledge by saying with Alou and Beltran both healthy he sees Milledge playing an Endy Chavez-type role on the team. Meaning the fan-favorite would only see playing time as a late-inning defensive replacement, pinch runner, and pinch hitter, with the occasional start.
What is becoming clear is that Randolph does not like playing Milledge. Whether it's because he has a ton of confidence in Shawn Green or that he just does not like Milledge. There is simply no other explanation for Randolph's refusal to bench Green in favor of Milledge. Milledge has 18 RBI in only 97 at bats. That projects to about 68 RBI over 360 at bats, 36 more than Green currently has. An every day corner outfielder who plays poor defense needs to have more than 32 RBI by the time the calendar reads "August," if you want to give your team the best possible chance to win.
What makes Milledge's accomplishments even more impressive is that he is putting up great numbers while Randolph buries him in the lineup, batting 8th for a good portion of the games he starts. There is no telling what kind of numbers Milledge would have if he was sandwiched between Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran or David Wright in the lineup consistently.
It's no secret that Willie Randolph loves veteran players. But by benching Milledge for Green, what kind of message is Randolph sending to his young five-tooler? No matter how well Milledge plays, Randolph will not budge. He is proving to be very stubborn.
There is little doubt that Milledge is more talented than Green. Or that he brings more to the table than Green does. There is no question that he is faster, better defensively, and a better hitter than Green. There's only one question: why is Willie Randolph holding him back?
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