Centerfield Stat Analysis (Part 3) - Gomez wins job

La Velle E Neal III is reporting that the Carlos Gomez has won the starting centerfield job so this short series of comparing meaningless Spring Training stats will now come to an end. Did the Minnesota Twins make the right decision though? It's tough to say and in my mind the starting centerfield job could really have gone either way to Span or Gomez. Perhaps the Twins giving it to Gomez signals a little more that this is primarily a rebuilding year. There is no doubt that Gomez is the centerfielder of the future and has the makings of a real special player but if the Twins were simply looking for the best leadoff hitter right now I think Span would have to be declared the winner. Looking one more time at the stats, Span's on base percentage has remained steady even climbing a few points to 404 which is 100 points better then Gomez who did manage to get his on base percentage up to 300. Span showed modest improvements in his slugging and batting average as well and even took another couple walks which is usually a good thing for a leadoff hitter. Gomez has kept improving in all of his stats as well though and really has caught up to Span in batting average and continues to really outperform him in slugging. His downfall really has been his lack of walks and higher number of strikeouts. Maybe he makes up for that though with his blazing speed (10 stolen bases this spring) and his extra base power. In a game I was following the box score last week, Span got a hit or a walk to lead off the game (can't remember which one), then Gomez hit into a fielders choice. He stole second and third however and appeared to be brought home by a sac fly. A quick glance shows that Span had a better at bat, yet Gomez really manufactured that run mostly on his own. I think that kind of excitement that game changing potential that helped him beat out Span. For whatever reason we'll soon find out if it was the right decision as the season is set to begin. Play ball!