Midseason Analysis: Shawn Green

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Looking at the numbers so far, it looks like Green will at least come close to his 2006 output — assuming he stays in the lineup. That’s not awful production for a seventh hitter, but it may not be enough to offset his weak glove.

Offense

• uses whole field, though he tends to go to leftfield more often than not
• walks rarely, but strangely enough, sees a lot of pitches and gets into deep counts
• no longer a homerun threat, but will on occasion take a guess and send one deep; his homers are most likely to occur against veteran pitchers with whom he has a long history
• will swipe a base if ignored, and runs the bases better than given credit for

Defense

Second-half Outlook

For his entire career, Shawn Green has been a hot-and-cold hitter. However, in the past, his hot streaks could carry a team, as they included prodigious homeruns and multiple extra-base hits. These days, however, Green is a shell of his former self — in all phases of the game — and his hot streaks are more like “tepid streaks”, as the homers and doubles have been replaced by singles and long singles. Still, he is a very heady ballplayer, makes adjustments for his limitations, and draws on his experience and intelligence to contribute. Three things you can count on: he will not make mental errors, he will do what’s best for the team, and he will hustle all the time. Unfortunately, unless he starts the second half hitting the way he did in April, he may find himself on the bench in favor of Lastings Milledge, because his defense has become atrocious and no longer acceptable in relation to his offensive production. That said, he could develop into a solid bench guy — a lefthanded Jeff Conine — and be effective starting 4-5 times a week in the outfield and at first base (where Carlos Delgado would benefit immensely from a weekly day off).