Arguably, there is no other position player currently on the Orioles’ roster that has more questions surrounding their 2015 role than Delmon Young. We all can just about guarantee that Young with be on the active roster when the Orioles begin the season in Tampa Bay. Some say he should be the everyday designated hitter, but “everyday designated hitter” does not sound like a position that Buck and Co. would use for a player not named Nelson Cruz.
So, what do we do with Delmon Young?
The question originates partly because, despite entering his 10th season in the MLB, we still do not know who Young is as a player. By this point, we do know that he is not 2003 Young who was drafted first overall by the Rays. He is no longer that multi-tooled player the Rays coveted. He’s “dual-tooled” now: power and contact; and that’s even a bit generous.
But let’s not forget that even though he did not pan out as a #1 overall pick, he still has posted solid seasons in the majors. He finished 10th in MVP voting in 2010 for the Twins, slashing .298/.333/.493 with 21 home runs, 112 RBIs and 46 doubles. But that Delmon has yet to really reappear since then.
Some may call 2014 a comeback season for Young, and I would agree to an extent. Collecting 255 plate appearances, his fewest in a season since 2006 when he had 131 as a 20-year-old rookie, he put together a .302/.337/.442 slash. At a certain point we have to look at Young as a product of the abilities of Dan Duquette and, mainly, Buck. The same formula that made guys like Lew Ford and Omar Quintanilla valuable assets in past seasons could be said to have done the same for Young.
While this formula is surely more complicated than us non-Showalterian minds can comprehend, it certainly can be boiled down to the concept of situational hitting. In 2014, when the team was mostly healthy, Young’s primary role was go-to pinch hitter. Clearly, Young excelled in the role, earning 23 pinch hit appearances and slashing an impressive .500/.565/.800 in that role in the regular season. We all know what he did in the role in the postseason.
Young’s success in the role of pinch hitter in 2014 may just be the product of multiple circumstances that tend to skew statistics with small sample sizes. But, when you look at the career of Young, pinch hitting seems to kind of be his thing. In 53 career plate appearances as a pinch hitter, Young slashes .340/.415/.489 with BABIP of .417, nearly .100 points higher than his career number.
We may never know what makes Young so successful as a pinch hitter. Maybe it is because he has a unique ability to feast on taxed pitching. Young has said in many interviews that when he enters the batter’s box, he is swinging for one thing: a home run. Tired pitchers in late-inning, high-pressure situations tend to make more mistakes than fresh starters. Young seems to not fall victim to nerves in high-pressure situations. When asked last season if he had ice in his veins, he replied, “No, but I might have some Cheetos later.”
Or maybe it is because his past managers have just had a firm grasp on what kind of pitcher Young can dominate.
But if we have learned anything from his career, it’s that you never truly have a firm grasp on Delmon Young.
Next season, I say just let Delmon know when it’s his time to hit.
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