The Cubs have played 20 games so far this season, and won 10 and lost 10. That’s what mediocre teams do. So take that however you want. You have to give them credit, though. They certainly make middling baseball interesting. If they’re not sending the franchises’ all-time winning percentage leader to the bullpen, they’ve got fans writing in to the local rag to demand the benching of one of the best hitters they’ve ever had.
And speaking of best hitters they’ve ever had, how are things going for our old pal Milton Bradley in Seattke?
Because I can tell you how things are going for his replacement. His former Rangers teammate Marlon Byrd has already duplicated Milton’s first half from last season.
And you think I’m exaggerating?
Well, I am. But not by all that much.
It’s April 27, and Marlon Byrd is 27-76 (.355) with 12 runs, three homers, 15 RBI, a .375 on base average, a .579 slugging and a .954 OPS.
Last April, Milton was 4-34 (.118) with five runs, two homers, two RBI, .333 OBA, .294 SLG and .627 OPS.
Milton didn’t get his 27th hit until June 10, and when he got it he had posted a whopping .209/.325/.364/.689 with 5 homers and 14 RBI.
Marlon does other stuff, too. He catches flyballs. He runs over catchers. He makes eye contact with teammates on occasion, and (gasp!) he talks to them.
Meanwhile, poor, misunderstood Milton is off in Seattke posting another awesome April of .174/.283/.370/.653 with two homers and 10 RBI.
Do we think that maybe, at 31, with a history of injuries, that Milton’s just not any good anymore?
Yes, that’s exactly what we think.
And you can trot out his numbers from April 28 to September 4 last year (like the dope who sponsors his Baseball Reference page) and they were pretty good .284/.402/.443. But not that great. Sure, the .402 on base average is really good, so I’ll give Milton that.
Hell, for $10 million a year, he’d better be able to do something.
So enjoy the Carlos Silva deal with the devil for as long as it lasts, because it’s the only good thing that’s ever going to come out of the six months we all had to spend with Milton last year.
Silva will now be referred to as C-Money…for several reasons. The most important being that he is money
Marlon Byrd….Milton Bradley….neither of them are allowed in this town.
I got to see Milton play yesterday, he got pissed and threw his bat after striking out the first time and was 0-3 until Farnsworth came in to the game and started pitching like Farnsworth. The KC fans hate him and they don’t even really have a reason to.
@Santo10,
of course, other then his having to be restrained (by his Manager and GM) from “confronting” their broadcaster two seasons ago…
They may also hold a grudge from his complaining about a phantom injury which resulted in a Oakland-KC trade being voided (apparently he didn’t want to play there.) The deal would have sent Bradley to the Royals for Leo Nunez, but Bradley (on the DL for a hamstring issue at the time) personally told KC brass he had an oblique issue as well. Bradley would next be seen producing a .313/.414/.590/1.004 just 14 days later; for the Padres. The Royals? They did eventually trade Nunez… for Mike Jacobs
So yeah, they do. And really, almost everyone has a reason to hate Milton – he has spent an entire career ensuring it!
Damn, he really has pissed off just about everyone
has this new character called tj11. pretty funny