Hank Blalock joined Tampa Bay on a minor league deal but almost instantly many expected him to share time at DH with Pat Burrell. While Willy Abar may be as good of a bet as Blalock is with the stick there seems to be no shortage of people who think perhaps a change of scenery may once again breath life into the 29 year old’s bat.
Had Blalock not hit a home run off Eric Gagne in an All Star game or hit 25 plus home runs in his first three seasons it’s like that Texas would have given up on him as he’s been injury prone, ineffective or both for the last four seasons.
Prior to last season when Blalock played in 123 games and hit 25 homers he had not topped 258 or 12 home runs over the two previous injury plagued seasons.
Thus far Blalock is hitting .300 with 3 doubles and 2 walks in 10 at-bats this spring. While the Rays said they planned to mainly use Burrell in the DH role this season it’s clear that if Blalock can keep up that type of production he’ll...
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