ABTOMAT said:
I don't know, YS has a pretty short left field compared to Fenway. He could show better hitting numbers for a while.
Damon only hit 10 HR's last year. That was 10 less than he hit in 2004, which was his career best of 20.
And the 10 less HR's did not turn into more doubles or triples. His doubles for 2004 and 2005 were the same (35). His triples for the same two years were also the same (6). He had 3 more at bats in 2005 than in 2004 just to show how close his at bats were. Also his RBI were down from 94 in 2004 to 75 in 2005. His runs were down from 123 to 117.
Now his average was up from .304 in 2004 to .316 in 2005. Also his hits were up from 189 in 2004 to 197 in 2005.
It appears to me in looking at the numbers from the last 2 years that he is turning into more of a singles, get on base hitter. Now that is not bad at all for a leadoff hitter, but I believe his days of putting up good RBI and decent HR numbers for a leadoff hitter as he did in 2004 are probably gone.
Damon has always been a up and down hitter in his career.
He has hit from .327 to .256 in his career. I would not bet on him keeping up a .300 average for a third year in a row.
One thing he has had in his favor and has helped his numbers over the years is his health. He has had over 600 at bats in 7 of the last 8 years.
Of course all the above is just my opinion and I am not Ms. Cleo so I can always be wrong. I have been wrong before, I mean it has happened.
Now I typed all that with a broke finger so go easy on me please.
Edit to add: His OBP fell from .380 to .366 and his slugging fell from .477 to .439 from 2004 to 2005.