Joe....an Ear please?

Joe. Joe. Joe. Clearly you did not read my post about my suggestions for Pierre upon SIr Manny's return. Torre is making it very clear that when Manny returns he will be coming back as the starting left fielder. Ok. I get this. and you know this is what a good manager does. Pierre knew going in to this that Manny was the starter and I respect that fact that Joe is adhering to that BUT I think that given the clear stats on how everyone is playing, Pierre should be one of the starters too. Upon further thinking, I have come down to this: Joe.......are you ready?

Clearly, You can't bench ManRam. This is not what the fans want. This is not what he wants. This is not what we need. The only way to get him back in tip top shape for when we really need him (October baseball, people) is to just let him flipping play. But here are the other facts.

Pierre is hot. I mean, he's on fire and he is showing zero signs of slowing down at this point. Matt Kemp is hot. and he's also doing really well for the team. Ethier? Well, I really like Ethier. REALLLLLLLLLY like the guy, and he is a good guy to have up in a crunch but ever since Manny left he really hasn't been producing to the level that he "should be" I mean, neither is Russell Martin, really.....but the point of contention isn't the fact we have 47 catchers, it's that our outfield roster is filled with all star players. Let's look at his stats.....even though Ethier went 2-for-5 on Sunday's game he was hitting a mere .177 in the 9 or so games before that. Going in to tonight's game (a win!) his average had fallen to .268 from the .317 is was before Manny was suspended. His OPS is .887 or so which isn't bad but that has also fallen from the .927 it was previously. Now, again I don't want Ethier out of the game, I just feel so bad for Pierre I'm trying to figure a way where we can all be happy.

Kemp's original position was right field and Pierre already converted from a Center Fielder to a left fielder. Let's put Pierre back in the spot of center fielder and have Kemp and Ethier rotate around with right field. At least until we can see how the dynamic is gonna change once the ManRam gets back on the field. Maybe all will reveal itself then and maybe Ethier was putting too much pressure on himself to carry the team that he psyched himself out of being the player he is clearly capable of being. Manny being back could have a great effect. I just dont know. I guess that's why I have the blog and Joe gets to stand in the dugout. With his awesome watch.