Why we shouldn’t make a big deal out of the Barry Bonds/Alex Rodriguez partnership
By:
Chad Raines
Let’s
get right to it, Alex Rodriguez is now training with Barry Bonds. Insert your
own punchline where you see fit. But in all seriousness, this partnership, as
odd as it appears to be, may not be so bad.
It
is easy to poke fun and joke about the controversial duo, but let’s keep in
mind the players Bonds has worked with and mentored in the past: Michael Morse
(who enjoyed a successful 2014), Brandon Crawford, Pablo Sandoval (the $95
million dollar man to the Red Sox) and Dexter Fowler (who posted his second
highest OBP of his career in 2014). With that in mind, steroids or not, Barry
Bonds knows how to hit the baseball.
As
all of us are aware of, the baseball world is looking forward to the highly
anticipated and inevitable return to Pinstripes that Rodriguez will endure this
season. And as Yankee fans, I truly believe we should (and will) but rooting for
A-Rod to succeed in his first season back from his suspension. Of course,
opposing fan bases will hope he fails miserably, but being that the club still
owes him $61 million over the next three seasons, it is in all of our best
interests to hope for the best for A-Rod in 2015.
Rodriguez
last saw the field in 2013 where he hit .244 with 7 home runs and 19 RBI’s in
just 44 games. It is also noteworthy that he hasn’t had a batting average north
of .300 since 2008 where he hit .302.
With
that in mind, we should be cautious with our expectations for A-Rod in the 2015
season. He will likely serve as the primary DH while he may see spot starts at
3B and 1B. It is unclear whether the lateral movement required to play the
field is still there, but his bat speed seems intact.
What
does all of this mean? It means that the Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds
unlikely partnership is not a bad thing whatsoever. It shouldn’t even be
mainstream news, as it’s just two proven major league hitters working with each
other on swing mechanics in preparation for the quickly approaching season. And Bonds has had a good effect on player’s seasons,
so while we shouldn’t look for drastic improvement out of the duo, we certainly
shouldn’t slander the two of them for working together.
Let’s hope it works out
for Rodriguez! And just for funsies (pardon the expression), I’ll leave you all
with my prediction/expectations for Alex Rodriguez for the 2015 season. I
absolutely hope he thrives and exceeds my expectations!
.253 BA 13 HRs, 47RBI’s in 101 Games Played
All stats courtesy of MLB.com
Photo via bleacherreport.com
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