White Ain't Right

On Easter and Mother's Day I lamented the fact that not even Rondell White's mother could love him as a Minnesota Twin. At that time he was sporting a batting average well below the Mendoza line (.200, or the lowest level allowable for someone collecting a major league check to non-baseball fans).

Finally, on May 28, manager Ron Gardenhier began the habit of benching White in favor of Jason Kubel, as I suggested. Since May 28, White has only appeared in 10 games and has a mere 25 at-bats (resulting in three whole hits, two whole RBIs and no home runs). His average has plateaued at .182, not statistically any different from where it was on Mother's Day. He still has not hit a home run. Meanwhile, Kubel has prospered. His average since May 28 is a robust .329 with 17 RBI and 6 home runs. Also remember that Kubel makes a fraction of White's salary, as in 1/8.

But how has the team done since Gardy made the switch? How does 13-2 over the last fifteen games grab you? Over that time period, he made other changes like cutting dead weight Tony Batista and trading weak-hitting Luis Castro. Remember that by any measure of success both were better this year than White. Sure, the pitching has been better recently. However replacing a multi-million dollar piece of garbage with a hungry young spark plug cannot be underrated.