John Royal agrees that Matsui should be benched, but what about Carlos Lee?
It should be an easy decision that Matsui should be benched, and that he should stay there. Keppinger has shown that, so far, he's able to get on base in a consistent fashion this year, and the Astros need another bat to go along with Bourn's. The defense won't suffer, and there really should be more than one batter in the Astros lineup for opposing pitchers to fear.
However, the Astros are spending a lot of money on Matsui, so the probability is that he'll keep trotting out to second base for most games. Pence actually got a hit yesterday, and over his career, he's shown an ability to play the outfield. Lee, however, is doing nothing that should allow him to be playing left field everyday. Nothing, that is, except sign a huge contract that has made him the ultimate of all albatrosses, the left fielder who should actually be a designated hitter but who is now hitting even worse than Adam Everett at Everett's worse.
Lee has so looked bad at the plate that he's been swinging at pitches that not even Enos Cabell would have swung at, and anyone who remembers Cabell knows that Cabell would swing at anything.
But let's face it. Even if Mills thought he could get away with benching Lee, the basic truth is there's just nobody to play in his place. Jason Michaels is the Geoff Blum of backup outfielders, which means that if he's starting everyday then your team really, really sucks.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
