Ian Desmond is un-sung hero in Washington Nationals’ line-up - MLB Update
Even as the Washington Nationals’ offence struggle to make big connections, shortstop Ian Desmond manages hits consistently on the plate. Right from the beginning of the season, not many games have elapsed without Desmond hitting one or two hits and contributing
RBIs.
A line-up, which is without Michael Morse and Jayson Werth can easily make one believe that it is heading for doom in the season.
Absence of sluggers meant that home-runs will be few-and-far between. Middle part of the innings will witness drought of hits and opponents going past their lead easily.
Rise of Desmond has turned up as a pleasant surprise for the Nationals. With eight home-runs and 21 RBIs, he is enjoying a respectable presence in the line-up.
While his on-base-percentage has been subpar, his .275 batting average can easily eclipse it.
For more than a month, he did the leadoff job. While he was terrific and supplied necessary hits, an inability to get to the bases more often led the management believe that his talent can be exploited down in the line-up.
He rightly seconded views of the management with his performance.
What hurt the Nationals most in number of games was paucity of big hits during middle passage of the game. By hitting two home-runs in the last week, Desmond, for a moment, carried out role of a slugger, despite not having best of the muscles for doing the
job.
Nationals' hitting coach, Rick Eckstein believes that chat with manager Davey Johnson has helped Desmond a great deal. Johnson had taught him about keeping composure on the plate and how to dispel unnecessary things in the mind while being there.
“I really think that his conversations with Davey meant a lot in getting him to understand who he is,” said Rick Eckstein. “Ian understands more and more who he is. He’s hung in there and challenged himself to learn about everything. Part of that is to learn
about himself.”
If he keeps improving, Desmond can end up being a leader in terms of number of hits in the season.
Only if he can overcome frailties regarding base-reaching ability, the Nationals can draw serious benefits from him in the season.
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