Season Preview Clean up

The point of any line-up is to get your best hitters the most at-bats. In reality, it’s not that big of a deal. But, if you have to give somebody even one more at bat than anyone else, might as well make it a good hitter. So far, the top three people in my order are the batters I want at the blasé and on base a lot. Now we can start driving those runners in. Now it’s time for Adrian Gonzalez.

Last year, Gonzalez was the big acquisition, even compared to Carl Crawford’s significance. Gonzalez had been o the radar for quite some time. Most fans were dreaming of the day that the Sox could acquire him. It was a slow hunt, as opposed to the surprise that Crawford ended up being. Everyone expected Gonzalez to put up monster numbers in Boston. And, everyone was right.

Gonzalez is the third player in four to have finished among the leaders in last year’s MVP ballot. That is one heck of a statement. He his for average. He hit for power. He drove in everyone he saw. He was a thing of beauty. He used the Wall exactly as everyone thought he would. In reality, there were only two surprises when it came to Gonzalez’s offensive season. I doubt anyone thought that in any point during the season Gonzalez would have more stolen bases than Jacoby Ellsbury. Nor do I imagine that anyone thought Ellsbury would finish the season with more home runs. Some of that can be attributed to Gonzalez’s shoulder. It took him a while to get it performing the way he’d like. That shouldn’t be a problem this season. He should be ready to go from day one.

Gonzalez didn’t disappoint in the field either. He was everything he needed to be. If you’re going to shift a gold glove winner over to third to make room for you, you had better do well. He certainly did that.

So, going into 2012 I’m very excited about Gonzalez’s season. He will be healthy, and hopefully a bit more comfortable. This could be fun.

For numbers?

BA: .330

R: 105

HR: 41

RBI: 125

SB: 1

OBP: .405

That would make me happy.