Friday, August 3, 2007
Bonds Watch
Hey ya'll, tonight Barry Bonds is in San Diego where he will try for home run number 755 against fellow future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux (or Trevor Hoffman, who would also fit the category). I know, so many people are tired of waiting for Bonds to pass Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. Many flat-out seem annoyed. Some continue to talk about how much he is struggling right now, but I really wanted to look at the numbers first just to see.
On July 19 in Chicago, Barry Bonds went 3-3 with a walk, two home runs and six RBI. In the 11 games since then, he has hit just one home run, his 754th which came against the Florida Marlins. In those same 11 games, he has just six hits in 33 at bats. That is a .182 batting average. So, he's struggling, right? Well, when you also factor in the 15 walks he has over those 11 games, his on-base percentage is .438! That is pretty impressive. He has just the one homer and one double in that time, so his slugging percentage is .303. So, over the last 11 games, he has an OPS of .741. So, he is struggling for Bonds, but he's not as horrific as much of the media seems to want you to think. In fact, it is something that would make Luis Castillo jealous.
Of course, if you add in the 3-3 game and the 0-19 that he went in the seven games before that, he is just nine for his last 55 (.163). Of course, his on-base percentage over that time is still a robust .417.
On July 3, Bonds was hitting .305/.517/.614, a 1.132 OPS. Through August 2nd, Bonds is now hitting .273/.493/.551, an OPS of 1.044. I think people need to take a stop back before saying that Barry Bonds is done.
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