As the Stros playoff hopes fade with each passing loss, the Chronicle’s Stros beat writer — Jose de Jesus Ortiz — continues to show that he does not truly understand baseball and, as a result, has become a conduit of Stros propaganda to the public.
Fresh off his woeful analysis of Preston Wilson, de Jesus Ortiz blows it again with this fawning column entitled Patience, coaching help turn Taveras around in which he contends that good coaching from the Stros coaching staff has helped Taveras generate his current 22-game hitting streak and make him a good player again. In so doing, de la Ortiz shows that — despite covering baseball on a daily basis — he is incapable of properly analyzing the subject that he covers. For example, de la Ortiz observes as follows:

“As a rookie in 2005, Taveras was the Astros’ most pleasant surprise while finishing second in the voting for National League Rookie of the Year honors. He steadily improved his defense and used his near world-class speed to leg out infield singles.
[Stros Manager] Phil Garner opted to sacrifice offense for defense at shortstop, but somehow Taveras’ solid offense wasn’t deemed strong enough to keep his strong defense on the field as Chris Burke got hot in late May.”

As noted last season here, Taveras had a below National League-average season in 2005 and had no business being considered for Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Although Taveras’ defense did improve over the course of last season, Taveras was one of the worst hitters among regular players in the National League last season. His slugging percentage (.341), on-base average (.325), extra-base hits (20 in 635 plate appearances), walks (25) and runs created against average (-13) were all far below an average National League hitter. Moreover, Taveras is even worse this year with a .329 slugging percentage, .324 on-base average and an RCAA of -17, meaning that Taveras has generated 17 fewer runs this season than an average National League hitter would have generated making the same number of outs that Taveras has made. Even Taveras stolen base rate (34 out of 45 or 75%) is not all that great considering his speed. In short, Taveras is not a good offensive player and, as noted in this earlier post, has absolutely no business batting lead-off in the relatively rare occasions that he should be playing.

de la Ortiz goes on to extol Taveras’ current 22-game hitting streak, which is one of those misconstrued statistics that is often used to suggest a ballplayer is better than he really is. In truth, Taveras has hit mostly singles during his streak and, thus, has still been a below National League-average hitter during those 22 games. Although that performance has been marginally better than Taveras usually would provide over a 22-game span, it still does not make Taveras even an average National League hitter and certainly does not mean that Taveras “has turned his season around.”
Taveras is fast and fun to watch run. And yes, he is an above-average centerfielder defensively and will have an occasional good game where his speed will make a difference. But that does not change the fact that Taveras is a below National League-average hitter and is not having a good season. The real story here is that the Stros’ reliance on below National League-average hitters such as Taveras, Wilson, Ausmus, and Everett is one of the primary reasons that the club is now playing like a below National League-average team, is unlikely to make the playoffs this season and will likely trend downward in coming seasons unless that reliance is lessened. Indeed, about the only positive thing that can be said about Taveras’ play is that at least he is playing better than Jose de la Ortiz is thinking or writing.
Taveras’ career batting statistics are below.
Update: Kevin Whited catches de la Ortiz in yet another embarrassing column.

The hitting statistics are defined here