Brignac’s struggles at plate challenge worth in field

Brignac’s struggles at plate challenge worth in field

George Christian Pappas, ESPN Radio

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- On most nights, Reid Brignac’s defensive prowess at shortstop wows fans, teammates and the opposition like a running reel of Sports Center Web Gems. His play speaks to Joe Maddon’s mantra, “We catch line drives.”

Watch the 25-year-old dart behind second base to snare sharply hit balls, or dive after drives smoked to the hole between third base and short before firing across the diamond, taking away would-be base hits from the most talented batsmen of the American League.

Brignac frequent acrobatic displays of glove-wielding wizardry have helped the Tampa Bay Rays tally more points for Web Gems than any other team, as calculated by ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” crew.

The Rays are tied with the White Sox for the AL lead with a .987 fielding percentage.

But nearing the midpoint of the season, the offensive component of Brignac’s game as the Tampa Bay Rays’ everyday shortstop — or the lack thereof — is a concern that has not yet been remedied.

With the All-Star break only a week away, Brignac’s batting average rests at .187. He’s left the yard only once this year, hitting a solo shot June 8 against the Los Angeles Angels. His squeeze bunt in the 10th inning of the same game plated the go-ahead run in the Rays’ 4-3 victory to seal the sweep of the Halos. He left California with two of his season’s nine RBI.

As the Rays trail the Red Sox and Yankees for the top spot in the AL East, Maddon has to ask himself how long this can go on before the shortstop’s cold streak in the batter’s box hampers his team in the second-half standings.

Maddon readily admitted that Brignac’s struggles are a concern.

He nearly flatlined at the plate in May, rapping out four hits in 41 at-bats to finish .098 for the month, and rounded out June about 100 points higher with a .196 average.

“When a guy hits that badly that early, that’s a tough hole to dig out of,” Maddon said.

The hitting struggles haven’t been localized to the shortstop position. Catchers John Jaso and Kelly Shoppach pair for a .198 average. Together with Brignac, they have helped weigh down Tampa Bay’s team batting average to .244, which ranks 11th out of 14 AL clubs. The mark is the lowest by any Maddon-coached team and the worst franchise history.

Yet the Rays manage to contend in baseball’s toughest division, fueled by sound defense and dominant pitching.

And Brignac has been a key contributor on that front.

“His defense has been great and we’ll just continue to work on him,” Maddon said.

Brignac sat for three of six games on the club’s latest road trip to Milwaukee and Houston. Elliot Johnson and Sean Rodriguez saw more time in the lineup at shortstop and second base, respectively.

Johnson’s average dropped from .218 to .204 after a 2-for-15 performance.

On the other hand was Rodriguez, who has reached base in five of his last six games, including a 3-for-4 day with two runs scored from the leadoff spot in the Tampa Bay’s 5-1 victory over the Astros June 24.

The Rays won five of the six games on the road to pull within two games of the division lead.

But don’t get carried away: Rodriguez is only hitting .219 on the year, bringing the focus back to Brignac.

“I thought he had turned the corner on the last road trip. I definitely saw what I thought were better swings,” Maddon said.

Brignac’s only hits on the road came against Houston on June 25, in which he went two-for-five and plated a run in the Rays’ 7-2 win. He has helped his cause, hitting .250 over his last 10 games and collecting a hit in six contests during that span.


“I’m just looking for some kind of sign or indicator that he’s getting better, and I think I am,” Maddon said.


George Christian Pappas covers the Tampa Bay Rays and Major League Baseball for ESPN Radio Gainesville/Ocala. He is finishing his degree in journalism and Spanish at the University of Florida. You can send him questions or comments at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on Twitter @gpappas99.

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