Whatever happened to Greg Dobbs? He burst onto the scene during spring training in 2007, a new acquisition let go by the Mariners, hitting the cover off of the ball all over Florida. For the next two seasons he was a consistent and, dare I say, clutch pinch-hitter and a vital part to the Phillies late-inning offense. His overall OPS for the two seasons combined was .798 (102 OPS+).
But in 2009 and so far in 2010, Dobbs has been in a steady decline a combined .644 OPS (68 OPS+). In hindsight, we know that he was actually bothered by a calf injury last season, so possibly, you could attribute some of his decline to the injury. But in 2010, he appears to be healthy. If injury is not the issue, the other event could be poor luck, in other words, he could be hitting the ball hard but right at defenders.
Unfortunately, that's not the case either. As the graphic shows [courtesy of Fangraphs.com], in 2010, Dobbs' line drive rate has plummeted while his fly ball rate has, well, rapidly risen like a pop fly off of a home run swing.
Dobbs has always had a bit of a long uppercut swing, and pinch-hitting certainly isn't easy, so perhaps Charlie Manuel and Milt Thompson can do some work with him. But until they figure something out, this type of skill set isn't helping anybody, Dobbs or the Phillies.
-----------------
Ad: Support BS&S.com site and visit PhillyPhaithful.com for some "Good Schmidt".
