In 345 plate appearances thus far, San Diego Padres second baseman Jose Pirela is slashing .260/.310/.348 with a .658 OPS. In June, the numbers went down by a notch, with a final June slash line of .231/.250/.330. We’re less than a week into July, however, he has only mustered one hit in seven at-bats, giving way to recently promoted Carlos Asuaje for two games.
These numbers are down, even by Pirela’s own standards. Last season, after 344 plate appearances, Pirela was hitting .288/.347/.490 with .837 OPS. He had 10 round-trippers and 40 runs-batted-in. This year, he has only homered twice and has 25 RBIs in 319 at-bats.