6 in a row!

The biggest surprise from the current 6 game winning streak has got to be the performance of Billy Hall. During Spring Training, he talked about his need for patience at the plate, to try and work the count. I just assumed he was just trying to say the politically correct thing at the time, but it appears he actually took it to heart. It has been obvious over the course of the young season that his approach at the plate has changed. He is taking walks at a much higher rate than in years past. Plus, he's not trying to pull every single pitch that he goes after, but instead seems to be focusing more on driving the ball back up the middle and to right field.

Hall's surprising play leaves Ned Yost in somewhat of a quagmire, but a pleasant one at that. He now has what amounts to three middle infielders for only two starting positions. Right now, neither Spivey or JJ Hardy are hitting the ball well. Spivey has struck out in roughly one-third of his at-bats, while Hardy has struggled to even get the ball out of the infield. So who gets to play? I don't know, that's why I'm not the manager!! But if I were, I'd seriously think about sending JJ down to AAA to try and work out his swing there and let Bill Hall take over at shortstop. There would be a huge drop off in defense, as Hall's defense has historically been questionable at best. If Hardy were to be sent down, I'd call up Steve Scarborough to serve as a back up middle infielder.

For what it's worth, Scarborough is quite the emergency pitcher. He pitched 2 scoreless innings yesterday to pick up the win for Nashville.