Dan Buchanan has wrangled the starting job away from Steffen Petersen at the moment. Not only is he more sound defensively, but his bat has been electric this season. For the year, .305/.333/.474 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in 95 AB. Dan was actually the starter last season, but only hit .232. While Dan has been great, catcher is a position that the team would like to improve. Sliding Buchanan into a reserve role would be a great thing.
Tired of hearing about Gung-Ho yet? Me neither! Obviously with a .319/.384/.601 slash line, and 19 HR.....and 19 steals, all in the leadoff spot. What isn't there to like? (He gives me warm fuzzies that I haven't felt since Rickey Henderson was destroying people from the leadoff spot). By next week, LaFitte will be a 20/20 man. He's almost halfway to a career mark in WAR, and he isn't going anywhere. He currently leads the BBA in runs and RBI, with 55 and 54 respectively. Just great stuff for these Hawaii fans that have waited for star power. The time is now for that.
Rookie second baseman Jack Nichols has stabilized the position for the time being. That's important as the team struggled mightily to have some stability. He isn't hitting much, but his .412 OBA is looking pretty nice. There is a temptation to move him to leadoff, but with the offense clicking like it is, why mess around? Sitting at 1.8 WAR, Nichols figures to get a look come Rookie of the Year time.
A fun season just keeps on going. A few breaks here and there will surely make a difference. Go Tropics!!
