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In the bottom of the second, with the Oakland Athletics down two runs to the Texas Rangers, Josh Reddick flung his helmet high into the air after he grounded out to end the inning with a pair of runners on base.
Then in the bottom of the seventh, with two more runners on base, Reddick fired his helmet and bat after striking out swinging to end the frame. Following his 0-for-3 performance in the Athletics 4-0 loss to the Rangers, Reddick’s average has now sunk to .208 on the season, and he owns a .293 OBP and a .335 SLG.
The 2012 Gold Glove winner is 0 for his last 12, 10-for-62 (.161) in his last 20 games, and is 42-for-177 since returning from the DL on May 31. That works out a a .237 average, which just so happens to equal his career average in 379 games.
Even after going 0-for-3 last night, top prospect Michael Choice is hitting .361 with four doubles, three home runs and a 1.187 OPS in his last 10 games for the club’s Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats.
The 23-year-old Choice hit .355 over the month of July, but the middle of a playoff race is hardly the ideal time to find out if a prospect, and especially a guy who was selected 10th overall in the 2010 draft, is ready to contribute at the big league level.
So, the 2012 Futures Game selection might not be the right player to fill the void, but the Athletics need to add a bat one way or another. It could very well be a waiver-wire deal, or the Athletics could gamble on a highly-touted prospect like Choice.
Either way, Reddick could be the one who loses his spot if the club is able to add an extra bat.
It’s not just his .634 OPS (which ranks among the 10 worst in MLB) or the the troubling lack of home runs (or really any extra-base hits at all). The thing is, Reddick has become a bit of a headcase.
Throughout nearly the entire season, Reddick has done an impressive job of not letting his offensive struggles affect the defensive half of his game. On Sunday in the third inning against the Rangers, he ranged deep into right-center field to track down a fly ball.
However, hours later in the eighth inning, Reddick could be seen stomping around in the outfield. He’s certainly allowed to be mad and wear his emotions, but the sulking is just not a good look.
His tailspin is quite different than that of Jemile Weeks, another Athletics’ player who enjoyed a stellar debut season before scuffling badly and ultimately getting demoted in his second campaign … but it’s also kind of similar. It’s not just his lack of on-field production that is putting Reddick’s spot on the lineup card in jeopardy; it’s the poor play coupled with his unprofessional, embarrassing and increasingly frequent tantrums.
Baseball is a game of confidence, and clearly Reddick has none of that at the moment.
On his Twitter bio, the outfielder laments: “I line out a lot…” That might just be true. Reddick’s batting average when he puts the ball in play in 2013 is just .243, which is quite low and well below the league normal of about .300. Essentially, even when Reddick is putting the ball in play, the hits just aren’t falling in.
The problem is, so long as he’s wasting so much time and energy flinging his equipment around the field, glaring and generally just looking mad all the time, the hits won’t start falling in.
The numbers suggest that sooner of later all those line drives will start missing gloves. If the long-haired right fielder doesn’t chill out, though, he might not be around to benefit.
Karl Buscheck is an Oakland Athletics writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @KarlBuscheck and add him to your network on Google+.
