Chronicles of the Lads

PLAYER REVIEW: LEGS FIGGINS

       G   AB  H  2B  3B  HR  SO  BB  SB  CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS+  EqA  ZR(2B)

2004  148 577 171 22  17   5  94  49  34  13  296  350  419  101  .254  .808(6)

Car.  148 524 154 20  13   3  87  44  31  13  294  346  402   98  .261  .873

Pro.  100 371 109 15   9   3  59  32  21   9  294  348  404   99

What will happen to The Legs when Adam Kennedy returns from injury? Your guess is as good as mine.

Figgins settled in pretty well to a starting role last season, at least with the bat. His OBP and SLG continued to climb, and he stole a career-high in bases with his highest success percentage to boot. He was about as good an offensive player as Adam Kennedy last year, maybe a bit better with the stolen bases accounted for.

But Figgins' main problem is one of position. Where will he play? Obviously, he will play second until Kennedy returns. But what happens then is unknown. It is unlikely that a healthy Kennedy would lose his job to Figgins for the simple reason that teams generally don't like to displace injured starters upon their return without even giving them a chance. And as Kennedy is about as good a hitter and a better fielder, it is hard to see Kennedy losing his job through poor play, unless the knee injury proves debilitating.

The quality of Figgins' defense is something of a wild card. He was passable at his time at second last year, and had been excellent in prior years. However, all of those marks come in small sample sizes, so I would be wary of trusting his defensive numbers too religiously. The Legs often struggled at third last year, and has raw talent but poor instincts in center.

I think the problem is that he is moved around so often -- which is valuable -- that he never attains familiarity with and a comfort level for any one position. Second base was his natural position, but he seemed out of sorts when he returned to it in September, almost certainly because he hadn't played there in awhile. And he did seem to improve at the hot corner as his time there moved on. I happen to believe that he would be at least an average defender at most positions, if he were only given the opportunity to play one position and stick with it.

My endorsement would have been for him to move to short; he has superior raw tools to David Eckstein, and Eck fared quite well at short. But that possibility has been removed, and unless injuries have haunted the club prior to Kennedy's return (a fat chance, I know) Chone will find himself without a starting role.

Even as a supersub, Figgins is likely to get a few starts a week. What I would like to see, upon Kennedy's return, is a platoon arrangement at second base:

OPS, LIFETIME

           Legs   A.K.

vs. RHP    738    754

vs. LHP    768    662

Yes, Adam is a better defender, but the difference shouldn't be so great that the Angel defense will suffer tremendously when they are facing a southpaw. And Figgins, if he continues his improvement, will break his way into the lineup on other days to stay fresh.

Now, there is always the possibility that The Legs will be so outstanding that Kennedy will be the man without a spot when he returns. If Figgins can maintain his offense and be an equal hitter to Kennedy, and if his defense improves upon getting more reps at the keystone, the Angels would be faced with a cheaper, almost-as-good player as an alternative to their veteran. Of course, if you wanted to move Kennedy, you'd have to play him to demonstrate that he's healthy, so who knows ...