The Return of Plouffe

Trevor Plouffe is going on a rehab assignment and will be back with the Twins on Monday if all goes well. He was quoted today saying only direct pressure applied to the nerve bothers him, and they have figured out a way to avoid this happening. On one hand, I'm worried for the people along the 1st base line in Rochester tomorrow, and on the other I will be smashing F5 to see if he hits a HR. It has almost been an entire month since he has been out of the line-up, so I want to retouch his break-out year (well, in the MLB at least).

Looking through his stats, he had a well documented terrible start to the year. So bad, that up to May 12th he had a .480 OPS in 51 AB's. I'm going to omit that start for the sake of my analysis (I know its been done before, but I want to do it again lol). I'm considering May 10th since that is when he really started getting consistent playing time and I'm only taking away 40 AB's. His line from then, to when he got injured is .279/.328/.575, for an OPS about .900 through 219 AB's. A first half like this and Plouffe would be an all-star most years.

To get an entire picture, guys like me look at his advanced stats and splits. Yes, his splits against RH pitchers aren't the greatest. However, he is suffering from a very unlucky BABIP (against both LH and RH) considering he has pretty good peripherals like almost a 20% LD rate for the whole year. Right now, his BABIP sits at .261, and his AVG .259. So, I think his numbers can get even better. I don't think his HR pace will continue, but at this point the sample size is just too small.

Plouffe is a big reason why myself, and many others have watched this team this year. I'm even impressed with how his defense has progressed at 3b. The fielding stats don't show it, but he has passed the eye test IMO. Needless to say, I'm pumped to see him back and hope he can pick up where he left off. Thumb injuries are tricky though, and it remains to be seen if he can play through it.