Diggin' for hits

After watching his pitiful performance tonight, I wonder if Hatteberg has Beane hostage. How else could he continue to play? How can Melhuse still be relegated to a pinch-hit, back-up role EVEN after the A's used the "nuclear option" and called up Castillo?

First, let's look at Hatty's last 10 games, including tonight.

DATE	OPP	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	GB
Aug. 16	BAL	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Aug. 19	KC	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Aug. 20	KC	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Aug. 21	KC	Did not play
Aug. 23	@DET	Did not play
Aug. 24	@DET	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Aug. 25	@DET	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Aug. 26	@BAL	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Aug. 27	@BAL	Did not play
Aug. 28	@BAL	3	2	3	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	0	0
Aug. 29	@BAL	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3
Aug. 30	@LAA	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Aug. 31	@LAA	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
Sept. 1	@LAA	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
DATE		AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	GB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Totals		31	5	9	0	0	1	3	4	4	0	0	14	0.290	0.419	0.419	0.839
w/o Aug. 28		32	3	6	0	0	0	1	2	4	0	0	15	0.188	0.250	0.188	0.438

The first total is the last 10 games Hatteberg has played in. Not great but not far from dismal. The second total is the last 10 games excluding the Baltimore game where everyone was walking as Orioles pitchers issued 11 walks. Not exactly a situation that occurred throughout the last ten games.

You can see that without that Baltimore game, Hatteberg has really stunk up the joint. Not only that, but he has grounded out at an extremely high rate. The guy just seems to be rolling over pitch after pitch as he continues to use his crouching batting stance.

With that in mind, let's look at the catching situation. Macha the Svengali says that Kendall will not receive any more days off. The main idea behind this is the talk Macha had with Pirates bench coach about how September is Kendall's month.

What means that for Melhuse is he can only replace Hatty on an everyday basis. Castillo will be an emergency catcher in case he wants Melhuse to get into games, not start them.

In that same article, Macha indicates that if Kielty continues to struggle, he will lose playing time to Matt Watson. If Macha feels that Kielty is performing less then desired, how could he NOT think that Hatteberg is performing less then desired?

The A's really need to make the decision of getting Hatty out of the daily lineup. No, Hatty isn't their sole problem right now; Yes, Bobby Crosby and Mark Kotsay would be upgrades over Scutaro and Kielty, but if the A's fail it is not because of them, it is because they insist to use that as an excuse. Every little bit helps and by continuing to play Hatteberg, they can only fall back on the injuries as the reasons why they failed.

"We're missing two of our top guys, but that's what happens over the course of a season," Macha said.

...

"This time, we didn't have a couple guys. We need to get these guys back on the field. To me, that's of vital importance."

Why should Crosby and Kotsay be anchors to the problems when you have a sub 700 OPS DH? Is that really fair to Crosby or Kotsay? Should the club struggle with them gone, do they need the added pressure of carrying the team all the while Hatty continues to ground-out?

We all understand that Scutaro and Kielty would not be playing everyday unless they were replacing injured players. But who exactly is Hatteberg replacing? Quite simply, a former shell of himself.