Yes, you read that correctly. Fred Lewis will win a batting title in his career. You can stop laughing now. He will do it.
I told my buddy Kelper last season that Lewis will be a future batting champ. He didn't seem to disagree. Maybe he was just being kind, maybe he didn't know much about Lewis, or maybe he saw what I saw when he was at the plate.
Lewis has played in two MLB seasons prior to this one. In 2006, he only played in 13 games and 11 at-bats. Nothing to really judge anything on, even though he had 5 hits in those 11 chances. Lewis played in 58 games last season and recorded 45 hits in 157 at-bats. Again, not a huge sample for some. This season has been the same. 33 at-bats, 11 hits. It's still early in the season I know, but I am convinced that he will become one of the best hitters in the game within a few years. Total, Lewis has 61 hits in 201 ABs, which translates into a .303 average. Not bad for a guy that doesn't play everyday yet.
Lewis is 27 years old and is getting into the Majors a little later than many prospects, but with his age, he has matured. He has learned the strike zone. He has learned plate patience. He has learned how to play behind someone and wait his turn. Then when he thought it was his turn, he was told to wait again. The Giants decided that they should shell out major bucks and years to Aaron Rowand when they had Lewis and Rajai Davis in-house. Lewis should be in the lineup everyday regardless of which outfield spot he plays. He is a better player than both Dave Roberts and Randy Winn.
San Francisco is sitting on a talented player while they trot Dave Roberts, Aaron Rowand, and Randy Winn out to their outfield. Why not play Lewis, Rowand, and Rajai Davis? Why not put your best players on the field and let them have a chance to grow? Maybe you will win some games that way. Even if the team doesn't expect to win much this year, let your youth get experience.
Now that Roberts is on the DL, Lewis will be getting more playing time and he will start to show why he should be in the field EVERY game.
Some say that he is just a singles hitter. Well 19 of his 61 career hits are for extra bases. That is almost 1/3 of his hits. Even if he is/was a singles hitter, so what? Many players have made a career out of hitting singles. Getting on base is getting on base.
Speaking of getting on base, Lewis also has a career .386 OBP. Combine that with his .443 SLG Pct and he has a .829 OBPS.
I've said it and I will stick to it. Fred Lewis will win a batting title in his career.
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Comments
I'm not convinced about Lewis. As of right now I have no interests in putting him on any of my fantasy teams or any offensive player on the whole Giants team for that matter.
In seasons that he's played 114+ games Lewis has hit over .300 only once. he's going to have to do better than that to get to that batting title. He's comparable to Juan Pierre (Pierre had decent OB%'s when he first came up).