Giants hitting coach Carney Lansford was fired today. Bruce Bochy insisted Lansford wasn't the scapegoat for this year's poor hitting, but baaaaaaaaa, I say. There's talk of triple-A hitting coach Hensley "Bam-Bam" Meulens getting the nod. One reason, according to Baggs: "Meulens also is credited with turning Eugenio Velez from complete washout into a major league player again."
I have to stop here. The myth of Eugenio has spread to otherwise reliable citizens. Sure, Baggs didn't lard his description of Velez with adjectives such as "consistent," "solid," or even "decent." But the underlying premise is one of Eugenio Transformed, and it includes Brian Sabean's multiple mentions of him as a top candidate for leadoff duties next year, along with Andres Torres. The premise needs some revisionism. I'm happy to provide it.
In 2008, Velez was very bad at the plate and in the field. In the two months before his demotion in late May 2009, Velez was again terrible, 7-for-38 with no walks and one extra-base hit. He spent time in the Fresno Bat Cave with Bam Bam, then returned July 27. For the next five days, he had a lovely little welcome-back party: .500 / .571 / .778 in 21 PAs. After that, as his alleged renaissance continued, his monthly triple-slash lines went like this:
Aug.: .273 / .307 / .405 (~127 PAs)
Sept.: .239 / .294 / .413 (~100 PAs)
Oct.: .278 / .278 / .278 (~18 PAs)
That's decent pop from the leadoff spot, but nothing earth-shattering. And the OBP of about .300 makes Velez practically worthless as a leadoff hitter. He also stole 10 of 15 bases, which doesn't cross the threshold you want from a guy with blazing speed. With his deficient on-base skills, he needs to avoid baserunning outs at any cost in the relatively rare instances that he actually reaches base.
Can Eugenio Velez improve and become a leadoff threat? It's within the realm of the possible. Did Bam-Bam Meulens work magic in the two months Velez was banished to Fresno this year? I don't see it.
