Both
Will Middlebrooks and
Stephen Drew have over 100 more at-bats than
Jose Iglesias. Despite that edge in playing time, Drew has exactly
six more hits (41) and Middlebrooks
one more (36) than Iglesias (35). If you want to add some fancy-schmanzy sabermetrics into the equation, Iglesias has a WAR of 1.7—exactly the same as Drew and far superior to Middlebrooks' -0.8. Then, there's the old-fashioned eyeball test. Iglesias has made
several phenomenal plays at both short and third already—handling 65 chances flawlessly (1.000 fielding percentage). Oh, did we mention he's hitting .449? At what point do we stop saying, "Well, he's not going to hit .400 all year"? Granted, but will Stephen Drew ever see .300 this year? Equally unlikely. So, what is the controversy? Farrell can easily justify going with the "hot hand" of Iglesias
at some position every day—at least until he falters. No brainer.
