This is a blog post I didn't expect to be writing. This is Juan Uribe's third year with the Dodgers. During his first two years, the only Dodger that I can remember playing on a regular basis and being worse was Andruw Jones. Juan Uribe was about as bad as you can be and play in 143 Major League games the last two years. On Opening Day, I clapped my hands together exactly one time when Uribe was introduced. I figured it was a new year and he hadn't done anything yet this year to deserve to be booed, but I wasn't going to be too excited about him. I never expected that he would become an important player on a World Series contender.
After two miserable years, I expected nothing from Juan Uribe. I mean, he hit six home runs and drove in 45 runs the last two years. He had a .204 batting average and a .293 slugging percentage in 2011 and that was the better of of his first two years with the Dodgers. Luis Cruz started the season for the Dodgers at third base. He was solid last year, but this year he forgot how to hit. Uribe didn't play much in April, but he got more playing time as the season went on. He's played well in the field all year. Somewhere around the end of May, I realized that Uribe was actually having a decent season at the plate as well. June wasn't so good, but other than that he's been consistent. My theory on building a lineup is that you have to have some stars in the middle of the lineup and then everybody else just has to make the pitcher work. You can't give the pitcher easy outs. Juan Uribe used to be an easy out, but not this year.
Besides being a good fielder and a solid hitter, you can tell watching the games that Juan Uribe is a good influence on Yasiel Puig and Puig needs some good influences. There are only a handful of players that can be good influences on Puig because he doesn't speak English. You can see the way Uribe and Adrian Gonzalez interact with Puig in the dugout. You can't really be a leader if you're a terrible player, so Uribe's valuable leadership is another good thing to come out of his solid season.
And then last night happened. I saw Uribe's home run in the second inning and I went to sleep with the Dodgers ahead 2-0. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that the Dodgers won 8-1. Then I checked the scoring summary and I saw that Uribe homered not once, not twice, but thrice. The Dodgers would have won even without Uribe, but it was nice to see him have a game like that.
Back in June, I said Juan Uribe's transformation from a terrible player to a decent player was one of the few positives from what looked like a year that would be miserable for the Dodgers. The season is no longer miserable, but nothing's changed with Uribe, except maybe that he's gotten even better. I have a feeling he's going to help make this season even more special in October.
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