Ladies and gentlemen, this is a momentous occasion… Vernon Wells might be good again. Or maybe he just likes facing the Mets.
Almost a week removed from his two-homer day against the Mariners, Vernon Wells was back at it again with his third homer and third multi-hit game since he returned to action back on June 7th. More importantly, his batting average is over .200 for the first time since the first game of the season. I’ll give you a minute to let that soak in.
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All done? Yes, breaching the Mathis Mendoza Line seems like pretty ignominious accomplishment, but for Vernon, it is his first milestone on the way back to being an All-Star caliber player, or at least something better than the giant lump of donkey dung that he has been most of the season. His big day today should only serve to fuel his burgeoning confidence and maybe, just maybe, Tony Reagins won’t look like a total asshat for trading for him by the time the season is over.
That being said, let’s not go getting too excited just. Vernon’s “resurgence” has still left him with just a .268/.302/.488 slash line in June. His ISO over .220 is very nice, but he still needs to work on the average and getting on base more.
But, hey, who thought that we would ever reach a point in this year where our biggest complaint about Wells was that he wasn’t getting on base enough. Progress, people, progress.
Game Notes
- And the “Chatwood alternating good starts and bad starts” continues. The four walks obviously wasn’t great, but his strike-ball ratio wasn’t that bad for the day. He also did manage four strikeouts and just one extra-base hit allowed. But oh how I crave for him to find some consistency.
- Jeff Mathis never could hit, but at least he had a tiny bit of power. His homer today, just his second of the season. His ISO? .084, just a hair north of his worst ever. I hate piling on the guy (actually, no I don’t) but he’s 28. He should be coming into his “prime” but he actually seems to be getting worse, which is almost unfathomable how bad he’s been throughout his career.
- Thanks for coming up, Bobby Cassevah. When you get back to Salt Lake, please let Michael Kohn know what time his flight for Anaheim leaves in the morning. Oh, and apologize on the Angels behalf for calling you up first instead.
Halo Hero
I almost forgot what it was like to call Vernon a Halo Hero. I have to admit, it feels right.
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