Delmon Young Is Lost

I don't follow the Twins, so I don't get to see Delmon Young on a daily basis. But I'm watching him against the Yankees today, and he really isn't anything to get excited over. Last year, he failed to live up to his hype, hitting pretty poorly. This year, he was swapped for Matt Garza (what a steal for Team Sunshine), and he has continued to do nothing in Minny. But that's hitting. Can the guy make up for it with his glove?

Nope.

Like I said, I don't watch him much, so I never noticed this before, but he doesn't look like he can field. Michael Kay is talking about what a great arm he has, but he can't show it off because he can't pick up the damn ball. Tonight, Chad Moeller hit one over his head, and he just looked stupid. I know, you can't blame him for not catching it, but he looked like a moron flailing out his glove because he was so out of position.

But I didn't think anything of it. It was a good hit, and no fielder would have been able to play it. Young looked stupid, but it doesn't say anything about his fielding ability. That is, it didn't say anything until it was compounded by two more misplays.

Then came Melky, who hit a little pop just out of the infield, not quite far enough for Young to catch it. It dropped in front of him, and he put up his glove to snag it on the bounce, and stepped forward to throw it in.

Except the ball was behind him. Because he ran up to throw without actually catching the ball. It knocked off his glove. He couldn't handle a simple bounce.

Again, just a misplay. You can't judge his fielding on one misplay and one awkward mispositioning. (Mispositioning is not actually a word.) But then, A-Rod lined one to left, and Young slid to try and cut it off. But his flash lacked substance, and he simply missed the ball. Again, it just knocked off his glove. This looked dumb and it was a bad play.

The fielding misplays aren't gargantuan. He's not running in the wrong direction, or costing his team a ton of runs. But he doesn't look good out there. He seems lost and uncomfortable. Maybe he's having a bad day. I don't see him too often. Maybe he's a good fielder. But tonight, he appears to be just as disappointing in the field as he is at the plate.*

(Inside joke: would you trade Prince Fielder and Jimmy Rollins for Young and Paul Konerko? You may have to throw in a pair of knees to get the deal done.)

*Young is actually having a solid night, hitting-wise. But that's the besides the point. He isn't hitting on the year, and on the night I watch him field, he's simply eh.