After committing a slew of errors and looking lost at hte plate the first couple times he started, Eric Bruntlett has settled nicely into his own as a lite-hitting, mud-cleating termite taking over for the injured Jimmy Rollins at shortstop. While he’ll never match the NL MVP’s output — both offensively and defensively — he at least has been a very productive utility player.
Comparing Bruntlett to former Phillies utility players, how good is he?
Abraham Nunez, 2007: .234 AVG, .318 OBP, 0 HR, 16 RBI, 24 R
Abraham Nunez, 2006: .211 AVG, .303 OBP, 2 HR, 32 RBI, 42 R
Tomas Perez, 2005: .233 AVG, .289 OBP, 0 HR, 22 RBI, 17 R
Tomas Perez, 2004: .216 AVG, .257 OBP, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 22 R
Tomas Perez, 2003: .265 AVG, .316 OBP, 5 HR, 33 RBI, 39 R
Tomas Perez, 2002: .250 AVG, .319 OBP, 5 HR, 20 RBI, 22 R
Tomas Perez, 2001: .304 AVG, .347 OBP, 3 HR, 19 RBI, 11 R
Kevin Jordan, 2000: .220 AVG, .257 OBP, 5 HR, 36 RBI, 30 R
As it stands, Bruntlett: .250 AVG, .308 OBP, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 14 R.
With 108 at bats, he has about half the ABs as most of these utility men through one season. So, let’s double up those numbers:
Bruntlett, 2008: .250 AVG, .308 OBP, 4 HR, 24 RBI, 28 R
So, while Bruntlett’s numbers seem overly good right now, one has to remember he’s been subsituting for Rollins, and one also has to remember Abraham Nunez wasn’t really good offensively. Perez seemed to be a nice offensive player; Bruntlett’s 2008 should fit somewhere in the middle of Perez’s numbers.
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