…tonight.
And why fiddle around with putting him in a position where he can hit into double plays in obscurity?
Rather, the manager has inserted one Pedro Feliz into the fifth spot in the batting order. The spot immediately behind Matt Holliday. Two spots behind Albert Pujols. You know, bait for intentionally walking the two best hitters in the Cardinal lineup.
Why Feliz fifth? Maybe because he is hitting .270 against left-handers this year and has a .303 on-base percentage and 3 of his 4 homers.
Yes, excellent. Feliz will strike fear into Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco pitchers because of his mighty 0.723 OPS versus left-handed pitchers.
Yes, great – so Feliz is hitting far better versus lefties than right-handed pitching this season – but he’s been terrible against the Giants (bite your tongue, I know what you’re thinking) – so what happens when Bumgarner is eventually pulled after five or six (the youngster hasn’t been allowed to go too deep into games, nor necessarily warranted it)?
It’s also worth mentioning that the Cardinals have never faced Bumgarner, so it’s entirely possible that he will throw a perfect game tonight – nevermind just Feliz struggling.
Dear Cardinals – please prove me wrong. Score runs. Love – PH8.