Cincinnati Reds Gospel According to Cliff: Start Jonny Gomes, Use Heisey as Sub

Chris Heisey is living proof that one game does not a player make. He set the baseball world on its collective ear last week against the New York Yankees.

The lone win against the Yankees can be greatly attributed to the three home runs that Heisey hit in a 10-2 thrashing of the boys in pinstripes.

In that game, Heisey became the fifth active Cincinnati Red to homer three times in one game, joining Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, Jonny Gomes and Joey Votto. It was also the 31st time it has been done by a player in a Reds uniform.

The hype intensified as John Q. Fan began the tirade of catcalls to Dusty Baker.

“Heisey should be starting.”

“Gomes sucks.”

On an on and on it went.

Heisey has been given the opportunity to start 26 games and is performing below par. That’s right. When leading off an inning in 2011, Heisey is batting .163/.182/279 with one homer.

As a leadoff batter in the game he is .182/.182/.455 with the same home run. As a starter he is .216./289./402, with five home runs and 17 RBI. While as a replacement or pinch-hitter, he is batting .370/.392/.587 with three home runs and 12 RBI.

The time for him to replace Gomes has come and passed. I am certainly not advocating having Gomes be the leadoff man, but he is 286/.405/.686 with four home runs when batting first in an inning.

Some people are just not as good when the star spangled banner plays as they are coming off the bench. It looks as if Heisey is built that way. It may seem like I am picking on him. I am not.  I am just getting tired of everyone who has leaped off the Gomes bandwagon and who are now ready to bury him.

As a starter, Heisey has an sOPS+ of only 92 (below the league average), and as a substitute it shoots up to 209, over twice the league average.

Gomes’ sOPS+ is 134 as a starter and minus-74 as a sub. I didn’t know you could have a negative number, but he does.

Since Heisey hit the trio of dingers, he is batting .200/.238/.350 with one RBI.

Gomes, on the other hand, is having a very fine June. Since June 6, he is .357/.472/.667 with four home runs and 11 RBI.

Too much is made of Gomes’ defensive liability. I didn’t want to pull out the sabermetric card, because I do not care much for it. However, my hand is being forced.

Both men have one error this season in LF—Gomes a fielding error and Heisey throwing error. Gomes has played 357 innings and Heisey has worked in 204. Obviously, Gomes' FP is a little higher. No big deal.

I have seen some fine plays made by Gomes and strain my eyes trying to see the cumbersome oaf he is supposed to be out there. Is he a great fielder? Hell no. But is not a 4 out of 10, either.

Heisey has a UZR of minus-0.9 in LF.  Gomes has a UZR of 1.8 (that is a plus 1.8, not a minus-1.8).

I saw Heisey make a belly dive at a ball last night that he had in his glove and his momentum knocked it out, allowing the Rays to score the go-ahead run.

If that had been Gomes, everyone would have been saying, “Heisey would have had that one.”

To tell you the truth, Fred Lewis is doing better in the field than both of them. He has made two double plays and got an assist on another play in only 147 innings of work in LF. His UZR is 4.5

As a batter, he is also not fit to start—statistically, anyway. When he starts, his sOPS+ is below par at 75, while as a reserve, he is off the charts at 342.

Lewis and Heisey are both outstanding pinch-hitters. Gomes in a lousy one.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is keep starting Gomes, use Heisey and Lewis as pinch-hitters and reserves. Use Lewis as a defensive replacement for Gomes in the ninth inning if you feel you must.