Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Pirates have activated veteran third baseman Brandon Inge from the disabled list. He will start on Tuesday against lefty Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies batting seventh.
Regular third baseman Pedro Alvarez has been terrible so far this season, batting .150 with 23 strikeouts in 60 at bats. Defensively,he already has three errors on the season to lead the team.
The Pirates need to ask themselves is Inge really an upgrade? Here is a guy who had an on-base percentage of just .286 last season with the Oakland Athletics. He is 35-years-old, so the chance of him improving are slim to none.
If those numbers aren’t enough to convince you, take a look at these. In his AAA rehab assignment in Indianapolis, he hit .150 with 17 strikeouts in 60 at bats. Basically those are the same numbers as Alvarez, but Inge was doing it against a lower level of talent.
In my opinion, Inge is done as a big league player. He hit a couple of important home runs for the A’s last season but was ineffective for the most part. The Pirates are playing well right now and if they are going to change things up, it needs to be for the better, not just to get Alvarez out of the lineup.
You know things are bad when they are trotting out Russell Martin to play third as they did three days ago. The time has come to look outside of the organization for help, because what is on the roster now is not the answer.
Darren Pare is a Pittsburgh Pirates writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter at dpare71, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
