Kleskolella!!

Matt Bruce

One of the great things about a weekly gig like this is the freedom to write about what I want. Sometimes, but not nearly often enough, this translates into writing about who I like. Keep that in mind as you traverse this laundry list of things written while my clothes dried. I'll be careful not to turn this into one of those middle school mash notes, though anything is surely better than last week's Limerick monstrosity.

When it comes to quirky fan favorites, there is no better place to begin than Ryan Klesko. The other day on Yahoo! Clubs, I found a fan club for him with 150 members, of whom the most active posters were Braves fans who remain bitter about his being traded. Even with the search widget, I had a hard time finding a player with a fan club of even half that many members. At least those other players can likely claim to be in better shape, not to mention better facial hair grooming.

Still, Klesko must be doing something right on the exercise front these days. Against the Phillies on Tuesday, the 220-pound behemoth scored three runs and stole two bases, giving him 14 steals for the season. His 15th theft of the year, Thursday against Chicago, put him in a tie for 14th on the National League leader board, one behind Shawn Green and Jason Kendall.

Forgive me for boggling, but I guarantee you the 13 men ahead of him would beat him in a footrace. What's more, Klesko's been caught just thrice. Of the 13 more prolific stealers, only Eric Young (36-for-43), Pokey Reese, and Cliff Floyd (both 19-for-22) sport better percentages. Maybe the move to first base has allowed my defensively challenged idol to save his energy for the base paths?

He may not have been previously known for speed, but one thing Klesko could always do is hit for power. Through August 2 he had 21 home runs to go with some newfound plate discipline, leaving him at .317/.403/.596. Not counting his 6-for-17 stint in a 1993 cup of coffee, those would be career highs for batting average and OBP.

He slugged .608 in 1995, then set career marks with 34 homers and 93 RBI a year later. Since then he's had three disappointing seasons around 20 homers and 80 RBI, a pace he is well on his way to eclipsing. Think of it as Gary Sheffield power rather than Jim Thome power: Despite some whiff problems when he was younger, Klesko has 47 walks this season against just 52 strikeouts.

Okay, so he still can't hit southpaws (.244/.322/.385). Lots of left-handed sluggers have had drastic platoon splits -- that is why pitchers like Boston's Rheal Cormier are so valuable, not to mention right-handed platoon mates like Oakland's Olmedo Saenz. Against righties, Klesko hits .340/.428/.664, and away from his pitcher-friendly home park he hits .321/.406/.692.

Two weeks ago at Colorado, Klesko hit the game-tying home run in the ninth inning and the game-winner in the 10th. The last time in my memory a player did this, Ryne Sandberg took Bruce Sutter deep twice in 1984. Some difference are obvious: Sandberg's heroics happened on national TV against a strong candidate for the Hall of Fame in the course of a pennant-winning season. Klesko's Padres will finish last this year, with the Rockies probably one spot up from them.

Meanwhile, atop the same division the Giants continue to win with an offense that must overcome the league's most extreme pro-pitcher park effect, as shown by Dave Paisley here a couple days ago. While we're on the subject of power-hitting brutes, nobody better illustrates the San Francisco home-road split than Bobby Estalella. By the way, there may not be a more underrated player in the league than Estalella.

At Pac Bell Park, he's hit .259/.382/.494 with four home runs in 85 at-bats. Not bad for a 25-year-old catcher, especially since he's hit three of those homers in the 15 games I've been to. One of them is the longest ever hit by a Giant at their new ballpark -- Barry Bonds owns at least the next four, yet every day, when they show the top three on the scoreboard, Estalella reigns supreme. Call him "THRILLHO" if you happen to catch that Simpsons reference.

From his home numbers you may think he's okay. On the road, however, Estalella has socked his way to .284/.403/.587 with seven dingers in 109 at-bats. As it happens, his career to date (both home and road) amounts to what would make quite an impressive season: 144 games, 427 at-bats, .241/.339/.485, with 25 homers and 75 RBI, 63 walks and 119 strikeouts. Almost exactly in the Klesko archetype, except that his low OBP is attributable almost entirely to low batting average -- both have gotten a big boost this year anyway.

While Klesko's inability to hit lefties keeps him on the bench nearly a third of the time, Estalella's position and pitching staff are the apparent cause for still more missed action. He has started just two of Kirk Rueter's 21 games (and Rueter was hammered in both).

Doug Mirabelli, no slouch himself at .242/.344/.410 (okay, not much of a slouch) has not only been Rueter's personal catcher but also gotten the lion's share of work with young Joe Nathan and old Mark Gardner. For a time, the only pitcher Estalella was sure to catch was Livan Hernandez, though he seems to be winning Shawn Estes and Russ Ortiz over to the dark side.

San Francisco's depth at catcher may come in handy in a pennant race where Estalella is good, healthy and well-rested. Their divisional and wild card rivals may be in decent shape behind the plate, but Todd Hundley is not healthy, Mike Piazza will not be well-rested and neither Arizona catcher is all that good.

The Rock says I should wrap this up. The Rock also reminds me that, as he provides theme music for Estalella, my own theme music sequel column is long overdue (not to mention my personal responses to all contributors). Did anyone catch what he said at the Republican convention, though? I missed it, and I'd love to see a transcript, but that's also a topic for some other time, if ever.

about the author

There's a revolution a-cooking in the Matt Bruce kitchens, as he works to make ballpark dining better through science. Explain that neither Chick-O-Beany Chews nor the genetically altered All-Day Sunflower Seed sounds very appealing at mb@strikethree.com.