Every single year, in pretty much every single sport, there is talk of who might be the "Most Improved" player. Rarely, however, is there talk of which player has become the biggest disappointment in baseball. Andruw Jones would hold that title for each of the past two years.
Jones' career started with a bang at the tender age of 19. He showed he was a power threat from the beginning, homering in the first two at-bats he received in the 1996 World Series. While only hitting above .300 one season in his career, he maintained his power threat, hitting at least 30 homers in all but three seasons from 1998-2007. As a matter of fact, he hit 51 home runs in 2005, a career high, and followed in 2006 with 41.
Andruw seemed to be planting the foundation for a sure hall-of-fame career, adding 15 gold gloves to his already dangerous arsenal. At the end of last season, Jones hit a funk, losing all his power, and ability to reach base at all, finishing with a .222 BA, the worst of his amazing career. Most people chalked this up to him being in the middle of a contract year, and assumed he would only get better this year.
After being dropped by Atlanta, and picked up by Joe Torre and the Dodgers, there was reason to believe that things could only get better for Mr. Andruw Jones. But this year, after 31 games and 101 at-bats, Jones only has 16 hits (.158 AVG.), four RBI, and one HR (which ironically came at Turner Field in Atlanta). He has also already racked up 34 strikeouts, meaning he has struck out in over a third of his at-bats.
What exactly is happening to this falling MLB star remains to be seen. Could it be trying to deal with the pressures of being possibly the best center fielder of all time? When asked how long he would stick with Jones in center field, struggling like he is however, Torre simply said, "As long as it takes."
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2 months ago
I know a lot has been speculated about Andruw's horrible decline: weight gain, getting off steroids, new club, etc.
Having lived in Atlanta since his promotion to the bigs, I have seen Andruw blossom from a talented kid from Caracao to bona fide comparisons to the great Willie Mays. He hit for power, hit often and covered center like a human vaccum; he was a highlight waiting to happen.
So what happened? For starters, I think everyone started to realize that like most big free swingers, Andruw had a problem with curves away from him- especially off speed curves. I think for too long, pitchers tested their fastballs against him. Also, as a youngster, Andruw has gone through four (yes, FOUR) hitting coaches with very different styles: Clarence Jones, Don Baylor, Merv Rettenmund, and Terry Pendleton.
All of them could hit a curveball; but I think they have tinkered with Andruw's stance over the years. No disrespect to Pendleton (who I enjoyed as a Braves player), but TP was notorious for changing his stances from at-bat to at-bat. I think Terry probably worked the hardest with Jones to drive balls to the opposite field (Druw started doing that several years ago), but I think there is no doubt that he messed with his natural stance to do it. Jones maybe at at point where he doesn't know what to do at the plate.
He certainly has performed like a confused batsman.
I feel so sorry for him because I think he really wants to perform to past stats, but remember that his fast track jump to the majors shortchanged him of some maturity often acquired in the minors. So much has come easy to him; he would need to find his natural stroke and definitely tone up. If he is like any other human being, extra weight gets harder to keep off and tends to accumulate naturally. Extra weight means slower bat speed, and more effort required to execute.
For all we know, he may have an injury unknown or possibly is coming off performance enhancers- or maybe he is just getting old and needs to work harder to accomplish what he did in the late 90's.
Nevertheless, I find it demoralizing to keep a guy in the lineup who simply does not have it. Last year in Atlanta, we kept waiting for Andruw to break out of it and the day never came. Had we not signed Texiera, our offense would have been pitiful. Andruw was our unofficial rally killer last year and it was very difficult to see. The fact that he did stay in the lineup daily is testimony to Bobby Cox's loyalty- something that has sometimes gotten him ripped over his career. If Torre is going to keep in the lineup, he MUST show that he is actively trying to solve Druw's case of hole-in-the-bat- and not just "waiting for it to iron itself out". Set him down if you wish, but riding a bench and BP won't help him find his stroke; if they let him go back to AAA to find it, the Dodgers win all the way around: Druw gets fixed and they get to try out a young outfielder while letting him occupy a spot that can deliver.
Why the turn-around? Age, weight, and a very lost stroke. He obviously has the tools within him; he has simply misplaced them. I think he'll find them in the minors.
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