It's Time to Realize It, Delmon Young Isn't Very Good

It's June 23rd 2012 and I am typing this at 10:03 AM and I finally get it. I get why Delmon Young was traded to Minnesota for Matt Garza. I get why Delmon Young was traded to Detroit. . I get why the Atlanta Braves had no interest in trading for Delmon Young in th offseason. I get it.

Truth is, Delmon Young just isn't that good.

I was confused why a guy who had such a successful 2010 season was traded for virtually nothing last season, and was even more confused when Delmon Young finished the 2011 season strong, hitting for a lot of power including 5 home runs in the postseason. It all makes sense now, though.

This is a player who has damaged his career because he is so in love with himself and thinks so much more of himself than what he really is. He's really just a platoon player, and his stats support that. Against right handed pitching, Young has a career OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .711, and against left handed pitching his OPS is .823.

Quite the difference, and those splits seem to be getting worse by the season. In 2012 he has an OPS of .612 vs right handed pitching and an OPS of .836 vs left handed pitching.

However, Young has managed to get playing time on a daily basis for the most part this season. It's almost like the Tigers organization believes he's above his platoon splits, and continue to let him bat 5th behind Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, even though Young has not done much at all this season.

The hope for Tigers fans at this point is Victor Martinez comes back as soon as he ca, but then Jim Leyland will probably put Young in left field over more deserving players such as Andy Dirks or Quintin Berry (Yes, that's how bad Young is).

However, this wasn't always the case with Young. He was the first pick in the 2003 draft, and was a no doubter to be the #1 pick. However, between throwing his bat at an umpire, and being arrested for an alleged hate crime, Young has shown he would just rather waste any talent he had because he just doesn't care.

Delmon Young also still think he's not a DH, and almost refused to play DH when asked in spring training about possibly being the DH. That's just what you want, a player who doesn't want to help his team out, but rather, worries only about himself.

Delmon Young had so much potential, but it was wasted, and that's a shame.

Picture credit: zimbio.com
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