More Impotent Versatility Required, Garner Laments

Now you know why the Astros have sputtered over the past few weeks. They are clearly missing an intelligent, scrappy guy who fields all positions marginally and hits barely better than Adam Everett. Bruntlett has clearly been fatigued by the abundant playing time that he has received since being demoted to Round Rock, where he currently has three hits in 28 at-bats for an extraordinary .107 batting average. To be fair, his performance at AAA is quite possibly just a blip on the radar when compared to his stellar offensive work for the Astros in 2006 (.655 OPS, six extra-base hits in 92 ABs) and 2005 (.292 OBP in 109 ABs).

OK, that was still not fair. I'll be fair. For his career, he has a .380 OBP as a pinch hitter (.302 avg) and his numbers with RISP and two-outs are quite good (.306 avg, .583 slg in 36 at-bats). He belongs on the roster ahead of Orlando Palmeiro and...Orlando Palmeiro.