Desmond About to Move Above the Mendoza Line
Ian Desmond has heard the boos and complaints. And he gets it. As he has said, he doesn't care if the fans boo or cheer, as long as they show passion for the Rockies.
Well, the boos are becoming cheers.
Desmond, whose debut with the Rockies a year ago was pockmarked by his being on th disabled list three different times, including with a broken hand suffered in spring training that sidelined him for the opening month of the season, has drawn the ire this season by a slow start.
Lately, though, things are picking up. Desmond wasn't in the lineup on Thursday, but in the previous nine games he was not only hitting .333, but he had a .460 on-base percentage, and had produced 15 runs. Those nine games saw his season average climb from rise from .173 to .196.
HEATING UP
| Date | Opponent | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | HBP | BB | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/27/2018 | Cin | W 8-2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5/28/2018 | SF | W 6-5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5/29/2018 | SF | W 11-4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5/30/2018 | SF | L 7-4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Friday | LAD | L 11-8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Saturday | LAD | L 12-4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Sunday | LAD | L 10-7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tuesday | @Cin | W 9-6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wednesday | @Cin | W 6-3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | HBP | BB | SO | |||
| .333 BA .460 OBP .660 SP | 30 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 7 |
Desmond isn't the only veteran off to a slow start this season, but he has been more productive than the others, even if his average has been below .200 most of the season. Among players hitting below .200 through Wednesday, Desmond leads the group in home runs and is tied with Adam Duvall of the Reds for the lead in RBI with 33.
MUSCLE UP
| Player | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Desmond | Col | 59 | 209 | 29 | 41 | 11 | 33 | 0.196 |
| Adam Duvall | Cin | 61 | 192 | 17 | 35 | 10 | 33 | 0.182 |
| Aaron Altherr | Phi | 54 | 151 | 19 | 29 | 6 | 29 | 0.192 |
| Lewis Brinson | Mia | 59 | 204 | 14 | 35 | 9 | 21 | 0.172 |
| Robinson Chirinos | Tex | 47 | 157 | 17 | 31 | 8 | 21 | 0.197 |
| Dexter Fowler | StL | 48 | 172 | 25 | 31 | 5 | 20 | 0.18 |
| Logan Morrison | Min | 52 | 174 | 21 | 34 | 6 | 19 | 0.195 |
| Pedro Alvarez | Bal | 40 | 102 | 18 | 20 | 8 | 18 | 0.196 |
| Kendrys Morales | Tor | 44 | 143 | 9 | 28 | 4 | 18 | 0.196 |
| Chris Davis | Bal | 54 | 194 | 9 | 30 | 4 | 15 | 0.155 |
And Desmond has been one of the top run producers on the Rockies, even though he has not met his own offensive expectations. He and Trevor Story are tied for third ont he team with 11 home runs, one behind co-leaders Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon, and he is third in RBI with 33, eight behind Story and three shy of Arenado, but three ahead of Blackmon.
Team Things
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Arenado | 56 | 209 | 39 | 68 | 13 | 2 | 12 | 36 | 34 | 47 | 0.325 | 0.418 |
| Charlie Blackmon | 56 | 222 | 48 | 64 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 30 | 28 | 50 | 0.288 | 0.373 |
| Ian Desmond | 59 | 209 | 29 | 41 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 33 | 16 | 58 | 0.196 | 0.264 |
| Trevor Story | 61 | 225 | 29 | 55 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 41 | 26 | 72 | 0.244 | 0.329 |
| Carlos Gonzalez | 45 | 148 | 16 | 39 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 9 | 40 | 0.264 | 0.302 |
| Chris Iannetta | 39 | 132 | 17 | 30 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 18 | 38 | 0.227 | 0.327 |
| DJ LeMahieu | 37 | 153 | 26 | 43 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 15 | 23 | 0.281 | 0.345 |
| David Dahl | 32 | 91 | 8 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 28 | 0.275 | 0.309 |
| Gerardo Parra | 55 | 179 | 22 | 50 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 32 | 0.279 | 0.317 |
| Tony Wolters | 32 | 86 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 0.174 | 0.287 |
| Daniel Castro | 18 | 46 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0.174 | 0.191 |
| Noel Cuevas | 33 | 69 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0.29 | 0.329 |
Talk about hitters with an average below .200 brings back thoughts of former big-league shortstop Mario Mendoza. Now, Mendoza eventually retired with a career .215 averge over nine seasons with the Pirates, Mariners and Rangers. He did, however, hit below .200 in three of his first four big-league seasons, and five seasons overall.
A smooth fielder, Mendoza was kidded by teammates over what was called "The Mendoza Line," which now is used to denote hitters in a struggle thanks to Mendoza's Seattle teammates Bruce Bochte and Tom Paciorek. George Brett was off to what for him was slow start when the Royals played the Mariners in mid-May 1980. Paciorek and Bochte to be careful or he would fall below "The Mendoza Line." ESPN picked up on that and the term stuck.
The Mendoza Line Year by Year
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Pit | 91 | 163 | 10 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 35 | .221 | .259 | .252 |
| 1975 | Pit | 56 | 50 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 17 | .180 | .226 | .200 |
| 1976 | Pit | 50 | 92 | 6 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 15 | .185 | .216 | .239 |
| 1977 | Pit | 70 | 81 | 5 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 10 | .198 | .226 | .235 |
| 1978 | Pit | 57 | 55 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | .218 | .283 | .291 |
| 1979 | Sea | 148 | 373 | 26 | 74 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 9 | 62 | .198 | .216 | .249 |
| 1980 | Sea | 114 | 277 | 27 | 68 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 42 | .245 | .286 | .310 |
| 1981 | Tex | 88 | 229 | 18 | 53 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 7 | 25 | .231 | .254 | .266 |
| 1982 | Tex | 12 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .118 | .118 | .118 |
| Totals | 686 | 1337 | 106 | 287 | 33 | 9 | 4 | 101 | 52 | 219 | .215 | .245 | .262 |