Setting the LF Bar Lough

I have been guzzling thet David Lough haterade, of late. Dan Duquette assured us we were going to love him, but that hasn’t been the case. Lough is not close enough to smell the Mendoza line, and his most meaningful contributions have been in late-inning defensive relief.

Let’s not kid ourselves. As I wrote for BSR back in December, the Orioles took a low-risk flier on Lough to see if he could become more than a AAAA player. Lough had upside. Over the course of 315 at-bats in 2013, his slash line was .286/.311/.413/.724. As a 27 year old rookie, he attracted Rookie of the Year votes. We are not seeing that promise.

The only reason Lough is still on this club, as far as I can see it, is that the stable of DH/outfielders on the 25-man roster are defensive liabilities, and someone has to be able to back up Adam Jones in center field. There are plenty of versatile players on the roster who could fill gaps in left. In addition to defensive “adventures” like Nelson Cruz and Delmon Young, options include Steve Pearce, Ryan Flaherty, and Steve Lombardozzi (who is starting to see some reps in LF at Norfolk). Still none of these could serve as a backup in center.

The best option we have in the organization is probably Francisco Peguero. Peguero will be eligible to come off the disabled list soon, which puts Lough’s roster spot in serious jeopardy. The 25-year old slashed .316/.354/.408/.762 in the PCL in 2013. Not particularly impressive on its own, but he has “presented himself well”  (as Buck would say) during his rehab stint in Norflolk. Peguero is 10-32 with 5 RBI. Peguero may not be anything more than a AAAA player, but at this rate, I’d be happy to see if he can be closer to replacement-level than what we’re getting out of our fourth outfielder.

This team has a slew of other problems, don’t get me wrong. But I find it unacceptable that at the quarter pole of the 2014 season, one of our outfielders has twelve more hits than I do.