Alexei is an interesting case. He's wildly inconsistent in his skills set. While his hit rate has remained pretty constant over the last 4 seasons (29.5%), his BB/K rate has fluxated wildly (30%, 74%, 33%, 61%), as has his xBA (289, 248, 283, 268). His PX has gotten worse and his GB% is way too high (average about 46.5%) and only 8% of his fly balls were HRs in 2011.
So, guessing what Alexei is going to do offensively this year is tough. Who knows what he's going to do.
Mark my words, if PK loses a lot of playing time at 1B, Alexei's errors are going to skyrocket. I'd be interested to see how many errors PK has saved Alexei over the years.
But, he's always healthy (knock on wood) and has the speed so we'll see what happens (but speed is useless if he doesn't get on base). I'm guessing he's plateaued, but he's at the age (30) when most hitters reach their peak (30-31).
Keeping fingers crossed.
