Which Sean Rodriguez Will the Pirates Get in June?

Sean Rodriguez has hit exhilarating home runs this year, but he has also failed to come through in late inning situations.  His hitting performance seems to vary wildly from one month to the next.

Hot and Cold

Fans seem to love him or hate him, but one thing on which everyone agrees is that Sean Rodriguez plays with a lot of passion.  He started the season on an absolute tear, with a batting average of .333 and a OPS of 1.244.  Of his ten hits in April, two were doubles and four were home runs.  He came through in some clutch situations, such as when he doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 13^th inning on Aril 24^th at Arizona.  Everyone was asking, “What is Sean Rodriguez doing differently this season?”

Then the calendar turned to May and June.  In May, Rodriguez saw his average fall to .255, but still with a respectable .820 OPS.  In games played June 1^st through 10^th, his slash line dropped to a meager .194/.290/.484.  On June 8^th, he drove a stake through the hearts of Pirate fans when he hit into a double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10^th inning against the New York Mets, effectively killing a chance to tie the game.  Can this be the same guy we saw tear it up in April?

Nothing New

It turns out this kind of up and down performance is nothing new for Rodriguez.  He has had many good months in the past three seasons, intermixed with some really bad ones.  In 2015, his month-to-month hitting performance was very inconsistent – he either hit over .320 or under .235.  In July 2015, he hit for a .113 average only to follow it up with a blistering .349 in August.  In 2014, when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays, he had a similar track record.  In that season, he had one month with a batting average of .317, one at .264, and the rest he hit under .180.  His slugging percentages show similar trends.  He has been an up-and-down hitter in the extreme.

No Clear Indicator

Perhaps he hits better as a pinch hitter than a position player?  This is certainly true so far this season, where his average as a pinch hitter is .375 versus .250 in all other appearances.  However, in 2015 he hit only .071 as a pinch hitter and the year before that he pinch hit for a .303 average. These are all small sample sizes, but there doesn’t appear to be anything magic about coming in as a pinch hitter.

Rodriguez is a backup infielder so maybe his performance goes up when he gets more at-bats?  His record shows that he has had fairly consistent plate appearances every month during the past three seasons.  For that timeframe, he has varied from 21 to 53 at-bats per month.  There is no discernable pattern between the number of at-bats he gets and his hitting performance.  He simply appears to be the kind of player that hits in bursts.

What Goes Down Must Come Back Up

This kind of inconsistency at the plate is likely what keeps Rodriguez out of the starting lineup and in the role of backup utility player.  After all, if Rodriguez could put it together month after month, he would obviously be starting.  His inconsistent hitting also bodes well for future months, because in Rodriquez’ case, what goes down, must come back up.  Even though he has had a tough June so far, future months could be promising.  The Pirates are lucky to have a backup infielder that can put together a month like he had in April 2016.