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Willie Bloomquist Has Returned to Being Willie Bloomquist


June hasn't been kind to St. Willie. In 85 PAs, he's hit .259/.294/.321 thus far. Really, it's been a classic Bloomquist month: an empty batting average that isn't even good on its own.

Actually, May wasn't great either: .258/.309/.387. Interestingly, this downturn has also coincided with his heaviest playing time of the season. Willie's season peaked on May 3rd, the day after his miracle homer, when he had a line of .372/.462/.558. Since then, he has absolutely devastated the team's chances of scoring runs. Over his last 142 PAs, he's hit .241/.282/.301. He has hit second in the majority of those PAs, by the way.

Of course, earlier this season we heard about how much better he was doing thanks to the regular playing time he was getting for the first time in his career. That was not the case. In over 1500 career PAs, St. Willie is a .264/.323/.328 hitter. Over enough time, a variation of that is what you"ll get. Well, until he declines. Though, to be sure, at some point, we'll certainly hear that he wore down and was a little over-exposed as a full-time player. St. Willie, you see, can do no wrong.

I don't understand why this is so hard: Willie Bloomquist does not make the Royals better. He is a very bad hitter. Yes, he is a decent baserunner, but he is never on-base. He is, at the very best, a generic fielder. He can somewhat play multiple positions, yet at many of them, he is not good. You have to have a particularly curious understanding of "flexibility" to treasure a guy who can hurt you in so many ways.

Willie had a wonderful April and pushed the Royals to some glorious victories. April's over.