This guy has all the tools to become a triple crown type threat!Maybe not,but it seems like he takes awhile to get goin ,does he come to camp out of shape?Hes in a position to have the best yr of his life with the guys he has been surrounded with.What kind of season do you think he is goin to have?
I think will have a great year with everyone around him in the line up. He had an off year last year because of the slow start but I wouldn’t expect that to happen again this year at least not to the degree at which it did in 07.
I still can't figure out what happened to him last year. After the all-star break he was vintage Berkman, but before that... He just had a complete power outage. It wasn't just homers; he wasn't hitting doubles at all. His slugging percentage was barely above his batting average. But yea, I seriously doubt we'll see that again. This should be his biggest RBI year ever. You never know how things play out though.
i'll bet that his knee after the off-season surgery bugged him a lot more than he let on. i recall him running, or actually, limping around the bases. he didn't look as fast as he used to be, and he also looked more out of shape.
fast forward to this year. he is running much better, no noticeable limp, looks more fit--and is stealing third! the real lance is back!!!
I think with good hitters around him Berkman has a shot at Nl MVP this year. The can't really pitch around him so I see him batting around .320 with about 40 hr's or more and hopefully about 120 rbi's with a slugging percentage of around 850. Am I being a little too optimistic or do you think this is realistic.
Its going to be really tough considering either Fielder or Howard will probably hit 50 HR's. Considering Pujol's (when healthy) in this arguement makes it damn near impossible.
Maybe the guy who said .850 meant OPS, not slugging?
Also, I disagree that Berkman sucked up till the All-Star break last year. IIRC, he started turning it on around Memorial Day '07. Started hitting homers and doubles again... it was for the 6 weeks prior to that... that things weren't going well, and only Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence were carrying the offense on their own.
This year is going to be sweet in comparison, that's for sure.
Mebbe, but that would be a pretty big down year. He's reached 1.000 ops three times in his career. I'd really love to see him get back there this year. If he could get his career ops over 1.000, I think he'd have a shot at getting into the hall (assuming he plays for another 6-7 years).
Maybe he meant Berkman will have an awesome offensive year except he'll walk like 5 times? Seems unlikely... but frankly, with the amount of times I've had to watch Berkman get walked in the past few seasons... I'D TAKE IT. Heh.
Stop talking about Berkman with a 1.000+ OPS... you're making me drool and I haven't had lunch yet.
He was definately a dissappointment last season before the All-star break and I like our new additions to the team. Hopefully Berkman gets started early and doesn't stop till the playoffs are over > _> high hopes maybe =/
First baseman Lance Berkman left Saturday's game against the Cubs in the fourth inning with a neck spasm.
Berkman played defense in the bottom of the third, but while the Astros were batting in the fourth, he was officially removed from the game. Darin Erstad replaced Berkman at first base.
Berkman grounded into a double play in his first at-bat and grounded to second in his second and final plate appearance. His status is listed as day-to-day.
