The Pirates have the worst offense in the major leagues by far and everyone is looking for a way to solve this problem outside of the organization. Last night in Triple-A Indianapolis Jeff Clement hit for the cycle and this got me thinking, could he be the missing bat that everyone is looking for?
Jeff Clement has 153 At Bats this year in Triple-A and this makes him very comparable to Matt Hague who has had 144 At Bats in Triple-A, and is now on the major league roster. Clement this year has hit for an average of .307 compared to Hagues .278 Triple-A average. This is a whole 29 points higher that big of a difference is not just a matter of luck. You might be thinking that Hague will hit a lot more home-runs making up for the difference in average because he did hit seven in spring training after all. This is wrong, Clement has hit six home-runs this year well Hague has only hit one at the Triple-A level and Major League level combined. Lastly Clement has a much better eye at the plate as well, he has drawn a total of 21 walks in Triple-A compared to Hagues 9 free passes.
With all of this said I do not think that this is a good time to move Clement to the Big Leagues in place of Hague and this is why. Although Hague is only hitting .278 in the Big Leagues this is one of the better averages on our team, but in a limited number of at bats of course. Hague is currently on an 8 game hitting streak, starting since the day he was called up last Friday night against the Cubs. Hague has done nothing wrong on the Big League level and certainly not something bad enough to be sent down on a team that is searching for offense wherever you can get it. There is also no telling what Clement would do when put on the Major League stage. Clement has been in the majors before and in 2008 (when he had his most major league at bats in a single season) he hit just a mere .227, a batting average that would be considered poor even on this team. The other downfall to Clement is that he is strictly a first baseman just like Hague, another reason these two are very comparable. If I were the Pirates I would keep a close eye on both Hague and Clement, and if Hague starts to struggle they should move Clement to the 40 man roster and then call him up to the Big Leagues and see what he can do at that level this time around.
Jeff Clement has 153 At Bats this year in Triple-A and this makes him very comparable to Matt Hague who has had 144 At Bats in Triple-A, and is now on the major league roster. Clement this year has hit for an average of .307 compared to Hagues .278 Triple-A average. This is a whole 29 points higher that big of a difference is not just a matter of luck. You might be thinking that Hague will hit a lot more home-runs making up for the difference in average because he did hit seven in spring training after all. This is wrong, Clement has hit six home-runs this year well Hague has only hit one at the Triple-A level and Major League level combined. Lastly Clement has a much better eye at the plate as well, he has drawn a total of 21 walks in Triple-A compared to Hagues 9 free passes.
With all of this said I do not think that this is a good time to move Clement to the Big Leagues in place of Hague and this is why. Although Hague is only hitting .278 in the Big Leagues this is one of the better averages on our team, but in a limited number of at bats of course. Hague is currently on an 8 game hitting streak, starting since the day he was called up last Friday night against the Cubs. Hague has done nothing wrong on the Big League level and certainly not something bad enough to be sent down on a team that is searching for offense wherever you can get it. There is also no telling what Clement would do when put on the Major League stage. Clement has been in the majors before and in 2008 (when he had his most major league at bats in a single season) he hit just a mere .227, a batting average that would be considered poor even on this team. The other downfall to Clement is that he is strictly a first baseman just like Hague, another reason these two are very comparable. If I were the Pirates I would keep a close eye on both Hague and Clement, and if Hague starts to struggle they should move Clement to the 40 man roster and then call him up to the Big Leagues and see what he can do at that level this time around.
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