Ellis primed for big second half

Athletics 2B Mark Ellis dazzled with his all-around play last year, especially in the field. In the American League, Placido Polanco may have won the Golden Glove award by not committing a single error, but Ellis had much better range (5.48 chances per 9 innings in 2007) and only committed 5 errors for a fielding percentage of .994. Only a handful of second basemen in the American League were close to Ellis in terms of range: B.J. Upton (and we all know how well that turned out), Asdrubal Cabrera, who didn't play a full year, and Robinson Cano. Texas 2B Ian Kinsler actually has better range than Ellis, getting almost 6 chances per 9 innings in 2007, but he committed 17 errors for a fielding percentage of .977. This year, Kinsler has even more chances and is booting even more balls. Ah, youth ... In the NL, only Kaz Matsui and Adam Kennedy are comparable in terms of range.

Ellis has struggled at the plate so far in 2008, hitting .234 6 22. However, he hit a walk-off grand slam to beat the Angels on Sunday. Does this signal a season turnaround for Ellis? He has been making good contact, striking out only 24 times on the year. He has an exceptional batting eye, walking more than he strikes out. So what has been the problem? Ellis seems to be hitting everything up in the air, and the balls aren't dropping. At the one-third mark of the season, Ellis had a Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) of .243, and only 6% of his fly balls went over the fence. At age 31, maybe his power numbers are heading south, but I think that in the second half of the season, the As' 2B's numbers will go up as he hits more line drives and more long flies.

More troubling is the fact that Ellis' range in the field is down this year from 2007. He is still among the elite as far as the glove is concerned, but in 2007 he stood out from the pack. While I am sure Ellis' slow start has nothing to do with the As' exercise of a $5 million option to keep him for 2008, I sure hope Ellis is not "cashing out", and will respond with the great second half of which we know he is capable.

"Figures don't lie and a liar never figures."