Analysis of a Preston Wilson At-Bat

Now that a little over one-quarter of the baseball season is in the books, it's time to look at the Astros' big free agent "splash," Preston Kevin Wilson. (ESPN has him listed as "Preston James David Wilson." Which is it, PW?) Wilson has played in 41 of the Astros' 45 games, and has amassed the following offensive statistics to date:

• Batting Average: .244 (19 points below his career average)
  
• Slugging %: .378 (95 points below his career average)
  
• Strikeout/walk ratio: 50:8... WOW.
  
• OBP: .282!!!!

Two-eighty-two! In my last post, I was chastising Christian Guzman for posting a .260 OBP last year... but at least Guzman wasn't expected to produce or, for that matter, penned in to bat in the five-hole. It's nice to see, as well, that the ridiculously short left-field porch in Houston hasn't benefited Preston's slugging in the slightest.

A typical Preston Wilson at-bat goes like this:

1. Be unable to handle a mid-80s fastball that you should hammer, instead fouling it back.
   
2. Turn yourself into a corkscrew swinging at a pitch that never started out a strike, and ended up a foot outside and in the dirt.
   
3. Take a pitch that's so far outside that nobody would ever swing at it.
   
4. Pride yourself on having a quality at-bat, for working the count.
   
5. Take a called third strike right down the heart of the plate.
   
6. Stand there in disbelief that you were just rung up again.
   
7. Trudge off to the dugout.

Wow, Preston's really been a nice offseason acquisition. No wonder the gNats' lineup--which featured our friend Mr. Wilson--sucked last year.