At some point, I have to believe that Doug Melvin is going to realize that he can’t have players like Travis Ishikawa and Cesar Izturis on the Major League roster, since Ron Roenicke apparently has little (if any) idea how to use bench players correctly. (See, e.g., Kotsay, Mark, 2011 NLCS Game 3).
Until that time comes, though, we’ll do our part to help RRR figure things out.
I know that, because they’re on the Major League roster, it might appear that TravIsh and Izturis are functional hitters. This is not true, especially in Cesar’s case.
Moreover: I realize that, when you look at your lineup card, Izturis is listed as a switch hitter, which — technically speaking — makes him your only right-handed option off the bench. Keep in mind, though: Cesar Izturis is a switch hitter in the same way that I’m bilingual: because I have vocal chords, I’m physically capable of speaking Italian. That doesn’t mean I can actually do it, of course.
(Actually, that’s a bad analogy, and not just because I know how to say “wine” and “beer” in Italian: while I have some ability to speak and write English, Izturis suxxxx from both sides of the plate.)
