Could Drew Stubbs be worried?

With all the trade talks with the Reds being around a speedy lead off hitter, could this be the reason behind Drew Stubbs’ solid clutch hitting lately? Or could it just be that time of the year for Stubbs to go hot? Or to be even more exact maybe it was just the hometown cooking that got him hitting great.

I am amazed that many out there have not brought this up. I am not knocking his play time now or that he is batting 1st / 2nd in the order but in the back of my mind I am still thinking the trade talks might have given him the boost he needed. Of course we all know, Drew Stubbs will never be traded away but most of the guys that the Reds have shown interest in are playing Stubbs’ position, CF.

No matter what the reason, Dusty Baker is going to ride it out and hope it lasts until Joey Votto gets back and to tell you the truth I don’t blame him. If I was the Reds front office I would keep talking to other teams about CFers and see if it gets Stubbs hitting even better.

As most of you already know, I am not a big believer in the hype about Stubbs and Bailey finally maturing but they are both doing a lot better than other seasons so I will keep my mouth shut and hope that it finally is time for them to shine.

Update:
Here is something I have found today that I think is very interesting. While most hitters get better the more times they see a pitcher in a game, Drew Stubbs is completely different.

Times Facing Opponent in Game 2012

                                                     
Split         AB HR RBI BB SO    BA   OBP   SLG   OPS
vs. SP 1st    61  2   4 10 21  .246  .352  .393  .746
vs. SP 2nd    70  2   8  2 17  .214  .236  .357  .593
vs. SP 3rd    64  1   3  4 19  .172  .221  .234  .455
vs. SP 4th+   13  1   2  1  2  .231  .286  .462  .747
vs. RP 1st    82  4   8 11 29  .256  .351  .451  .802
vs. RP 2nd     1  0   1  0  0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/26/2012.

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