Why Is Kotsay Still Here?

The Brewer world has been screaming about the fact that Mark Kotsay was used in a late inning situation as a pinch hitter, and who can blame us? Mr. Kotsay has proved to be one of the Brewers’ two automatic out players, with no pop in their bats, while perfectly good bench players remain in AAA.

I understand Roenicke’s reasoning in using him late because the numbers say that Kotsay has not been THAT bad. While no, he should not be used in a situation where a team needs base runners he has actually been formidable at the plate as a run producer. Kotsay in fact has 8 of his 9 RBI’s with runner in scoring position and he is hitting over .300 with runners on. So based on these numbers maybe it was the right decision for Roenicke to put him in, (although never in place of Jonathon Lucroy). Here’s where the numbers start to lie.

Although Kotsay has been productive with driving in runs (if you can call 9 RBI’s productive) and hitting with runners on, his slugging percentage in every situation is still far behind is average. In any situation Kotsay would need one hell of a base runner to turn his hits into scoring plays. So what is his use if he can’t hit it to the wall with runners on, and can’t hit or walk just to get on base, what asset does he serve? None.

Doug Melvin and Ron Roenicke let Kotsay waste opportunities while Brandon Boggs a switch hitter wastes away in AAA. Boggs in limited time has hit two home runs, 2 RBI’s (which compared to Kotsay and his playing time is infinitely better) and has a slugging percentage double that of Kotsays (although the two homers probably balloon that number).

For those of you that doubt, now you know, there is no reason for Mark Kotsay to be on the Brewers’ roster.

-Brad