Adam LaRoche and the Red Sox, A Match Made In Pittsburgh

This Article Originally Published at GetOutofMyBallpark.com

I am really beginning to love the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not only are they called Pirates, but they have developed this great habit of giving up just the kind of player that the Sox need right around the All-Star Break. Last year it was Jason Bay, who is slumping, but will still give us the 31 HR and 110 RBI that he has every other season of his career (the man is so consistent that his first half and second half career numbers are almost exactly the same), and this year it is Adam LaRoche.

Apparently he's slick with the glove too.

LaRoche (whose French seeming name is already annoying to type) is a first baseman and not to be confused with his brother Andy, who plays third. He will allow the Sox to spell Lowell and his aging hip by shifting Youkilis over to third while providing some pop.

My favorite stat about this guy is that while he is an average first half player, his numbers in the second half of the season have traditionally been All-Star quality, with an OPS after the break of .901 (which has always pissed me off, had he had those stats in the first half, he would have been an All-Star, but because they were in the second half and he was on a crappy team, they go unnoticed). LaRoche will provide a lefthanded power bat who, when he’s on (he is a streaky hitter), destroys right handed pitching, which is exactly what the club needed.

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