Lastings Milledge can hit. In 59 games as a 22-year old with the Mets in 2007, he put up .273/.341/.446 line with 7 homers in just 206 plate appearances. After August 1st of 2007, he hit .318/.378/.485 with 7 of his 14 homers for the season. I know I’ve pointed this out a couple times in the past, but I think it’s worth repeating now.
That’s because three hits in Sunday’s loss to the Brewers, Lastings Milledge raised his line in 26 games with the Pirates to .303/.340/.414. He’s been especially killing the ball in the 12 games since the Pirates ugly skid earlier this month; since the first series against the Brewers two weeks ago, he’s hitting .395/.435/.581 with both of his homers this season.
He’s not drawing a lot of walks right now, but in the past few games he’s done a very good job of putting the bat on the ball, which I think is a departure from the huge hacks he was taking at the ball when he first got called up. Everyone knows he’s got the talent and he’s still only 24. I think he’s going to be very interesting to watch in September.
