Worth a Shot: Val Pascucci

It's amazing to me that this will be my second post about Pascucci. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the Mets did not give him a shot this season. Even with Moises Alou and Ryan Church missing significant time during the season, the Mets never even bothered to give Pascucci a look. Instead, they gave at bats to stiffs like Endy Chavez (weak hitter), Trot Nixon, and Marlon Anderson. It's obvious that the Mets have no confidence in Pascucci, but there are plenty of reasons why other teams should be interested in the 30 year old.

For starters, Pascucci can flat out hit. Since returning from a stint in Japan, Pascucci statistics have been remarkably consistent.

2007: .284 BA 34 HR 98 RBI .389 OBP
2008: .290 BA 27 HR 81 RBI .410 OBP

Simply put, those numbers are fantastic. Not only can Pascucci hit for power, but he has a great eye at the plate and gets on base frequently. Furthermore, Pascucci absolutely crushes left handed pitching. He hit .373 against lefties this season with 10 HR and a .476 OBP, which is absolutely absurd. His talents are not easy to find and I think whoever gives Pascucci a shot will get a potential diamond in the rough.

I'm sure there will be many GMs who will shutter at the thought of giving a 30 year old retread a realistic shot at the 25 man roster. But Valentino Pascucci is not a AAAA player. His statistics are too good to ignore and his talents are too rare to simply shun. At worst, Pascucci is a pinch hitter with power against lefties and who knows, Pascucci could be a great fit in a platoon.
(Photo: minorleaguebaseball.com)