Today, Brian O'Neill calls out McClendon for leaning on Abe Nunez as a pinch-hitter. This is a glaring need for the Pirates right now. This year, the top two in pinch-hit at-bats are Noonie at .212 / .229 / .303 and Bobby Hill is .308 / .400 / .462. After Hill, no one on the team has distinguished himself as a pinch-hitter this season.
This is an obvious and well-known grouse and it's good to get it out in the open and subject it to the cleansing air of public debate.
When I discussed this previously, I wrote that I wished I knew the NL averages. Well, I found the stats, finally, and it was easy to cut and paste into Excel. We've been on the laugh-at-Abe bandwagon for too long now. It's time to be honest and admit Abe has value as a pinch-hitter.
With these pinch-hitting numbers, I can now report the 2004 NL averages for pinch-hitters are 0.231 BA / 0.306 OBP / 0.364 SLG. (Those numbers remind me of last year's Jack Wilson: .256 / .303 / .353. Next year, look for all pinch-hitters to make a huge leap forward.)
So Abe Nunez has been a little below average. But further study shows that many teams lack a pinch-hitter with his level of ability. Seriously, five teams in the NL have been more of a miserable failure in the pinch-hitting department: the Mets, the D'Backs, the Padres, the Marlins, and the Expos. Three of those teams are contenders today. Let's break it down.
The Mets are getting by with Eric Valent as their go-to guy. At .208 / .367 / .333, he's been getting on base for them. The next two most-frequent pinch-hitters, Todd Zeile (2 for 17) and Shane Spencer (3 for 17) make Noonie look good.
The Padres have leaned on Kerry Robinson and Terrence Long. Noonie (2004 build) has both those guys beat. They are clocking in at .130 / .160 / .130 and .200 / .261 / .250.
In a pinch, the Marlins turn to proven veteran Lenny Harris. Damion Easley and Mike Mordecai also fill in often. These top three pinch-hitters are murdering the ball at the rate of .125 / .160 / .167, .063 / .167 / .250, and .200 / .333 / .200. Only Mordecai has hit at Noonie's level.
Since the Mets, the Padres, and the Marlins all fancy themselves in the playoff race, clearly they need to go out and acquire a real professional pinch-hitter before the end of the month. The solution is obvious. Sure, Abraham Nunez struggled in his first two years as the primary pinch-hitter, but his day has come. He's getting better. Why, just the other day, he hit his first pinch-hit home run. Surely more will follow.
The Pirates should package Noonie with Benson and trade him for that left-handed, power-hitting, no-big-league-experience-having, can't-miss corner infielder. When Abraham Nunez drives home the winning run in the final game of the 2004 NLCS, Mets fans everywhere will celebrate the day they parted with David Wright.
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