Burrell Benefitting While Moyer Struggles In Positions

Apr/30/08 06:43 PM Filed in: Pat Burrell
PatBurrell
Ryan Howard struggles, Pat Burrell reaps benefits. Ryan Howard, arguably the most dangerous hitter in baseball has begun his season well below the .200 mark and with only 5 home runs in the month of April. Although most likely this is only an early season slump, it's obvious that at this point Howard is struggling mechanically and just swinging at bad pitches. Leading the league in strikeouts with 37 on the 28th of April puts him on a pace for 215 strikeouts for the season. Although if he pulls out of his slump, he might just as well hit 50 homers. Pat Burrell on the other hand is having a stellar April. Leading the National League in RBIs, only two behind fellow teammate Chase Utley for home runs with 8, and posting a .467 batting average gives him the best April of his career and potentially of any Philly. The question is, how much are these two players connected. Pat has for the past two years, obviously seen better pitches than Ryan as the National league pitchers become more and more concerned at pitching to him. This year he is sitting quietly in the 5th spot in the lineup and sucking up the RBIs that Ryan Howard would usually be getting. In 2007, Howard had 13 RBIS and 3 home runs in April/March, while Burrell had only 1 home run and 9 RBIs, well below this season. Burrell didn't peak last year until July and August when he accrued 47 of his 97 RBIs for the year, while Howard's 13 in April/March were his lowest total of the year.Looking at the numbers, as we always do in baseball, when Howard gets out of his slump, Pat's hot bat will cool.

(bleacherreport.com)