Is Will subject to some jinx?

PositionSPORTS

Byline: Bill Ballou

COLUMN: BASEBALL

The sophomore jinx is one of baseball's oldest traditions, but it is so subjective as to be worthless.

Take Mike Trout, who was American League Rookie of the Year last season and batted .326. He is average is down 40 points in 2013, but you could hardly say he's having a bad year.

On the other hand, Will Middlebrooks went into last night batting .205 after hitting .288 as a rookie in 2012. Is it the sophomore jinx or just a more realistic display of his true abilities?

Probably the latter, since Middlebrooks was pretty impressive when he played last year, but he didn't play all that much. He began the year in Triple A, then missed the last part of the year with an injury. It was the classic, small sample size.

Middlebrooks is young at 24, which was how old Dustin Pedroia was in 2007 when he was Rookie of the Year. Talk about disproving the sophomore jinx - Pedroia went from Rookie of the Year to Most Valuable Player. Pedroia, though, is the exception to most rules when it comes to baseball players.

Pedroia also had what amounted to a full season in Triple A when he made the jump to Boston while Middlebrooks had only played 40 games for Pawtucket. He may just be catching up right now.

Clearly, pitchers have found some weaknesses in his swing. Clearly, Middlebrooks has been swinging often at lousy pitches and getting himself out. If he can't figure out that part of things, his career is in trouble, but there is no reason to think he won't.

He doesn't have to hit .300 to be a valuable player, but .205 is not good enough. Still, Middlebrooks has shown signs both last year and so far this season that he might be one of those hitters who is better than his raw average. Mark Bellhorn was like that in 2004. Jason Bay was like that when he wore a Red Sox uniform.

Already this year, Middlebrooks has had a three-home run game. Come October, when the season is looked at via a rearview mirror, his two-out, two-strike double in Tampa Bay on Thursday night may turn out to be the most important hit of the year. On Friday night in Minnesota, his bunt in the 10th inning was part of another late-game rally.

He will get a lot of time to prove that 2012 was not a once-in-a-career season, since Boston has little depth behind him in the organization and Sox pitchers would mutiny if Pedro Ciriaco was at third base most nights.

Technically, Middlebrooks is a sophomore, not a rookie, but he has still played just 115 games in the...

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