The subject of the fourth segment of the series of posts analyzing the key Stros players (previous posts here, here, and here) is thirdbaseman Morgan Ensberg, who is enjoying one of the best seasons of any hitter in Stros history.
Ensberg is a late bloomer out of college baseball, who came up through the Stros’ farm system with fellow USC baseball star Jason Lane. Interestingly, Lane was always considered the better prospect, but Ensberg was the one who burst on to the Stros scene first with his strong first full season in 2003.

Unfortunately for Ensberg and the Stros, that first season coincided with the tenure of former Stros manager Jimy Williams, whose inexplicable prejudice against young players prompted him to platoon Ensberg that season with the far inferior Geoff Blum (-23 RCAA (ouch!)/.295 OBA/.379 SLG/.674 OPS). As noted in this post from last season regarding Williams’ managerial limitations, a good case can be made that Williams’ decision to take away at bats that season from Ensberg by platooning him with Blum was the difference between the Stros winning the NL Central Division in 2003 and finishing second to the Cubs by a measly one game.
For the first half of 2004, Ensberg endured the difficult combination of Williams as manager and tendonitis in his right elbow that hampered his capacity to drive the ball. Accordingly, his offensive productivity plummeted and he ended up platooning much of the season with Mike Lamb, who had a much better 2004 season than the one he’s having this season.
Despite his bad 2004 season, Ensberg has bounced back to become one of the five best hitters in the entire National League this season. If he finishes out this season at the same level that he has played to date, Ensberg will join Bagwell, Berkman, Moises Alou, and Richard Hidalgo as having one of the top ten most productive hitting seasons in Stros history. With this fine season in hand, the 30 year old Ensberg joins Berkman, Oswalt, and Lidge as a fine nucleus for the Stros to build around over the next several seasons.
Ensberg’s stats are here.