Mark Ellis, Quite the Cyclist

In a late-night game on the West coast, Mark Ellis’ 10th inning broken-bat single to center earned him his first career cycle and the 17th in club history.  The hit capped a 4 for 5 night and brought Ellis to 8 for 12 since the birth of his first kid Briggs.  “I’m gonna go home and try to have another” Ellis said last night. 

The real story here is that maybe this will jump-start Ellis this season.  The recent hot streak bumped his average up to .264 for the season and has pushed his RBI total to 26 (half of what he has had in each of his 3 last seasons).  But it might not just fuel Ellis’ season at the plate, it may get him a little closer look for the Gold Glove down at second this year.

 more after the jump

Last year Ellis turned in the single greatest fielding year by a second baseman.  A .997 fielding percentage last year (best ever for a season) garnered Ellis nothing.  Ellis himself has joked to reporters that he doesn’t hit well enough to win the award.  Mark Grudzielanek had 4 errors last season (twice what Ellis had) but he happened to hit .297 at the plate.  He also has 3 errors this season to Ellis’ 4.

But there’s still time for Ellis to get back into shape on the field.  He could win a Gold Glove yet.  If he goes errorless the rest of the season he would end up with the same numbers, or better, than Grudzielanek had last year.  Carrying over his recent hot streak through September could just give him the nod over harder hitting second baseman.  Hell, if Ellis’ wife pops out twins by the end of the season, he may win the MVP before it’s said and done.

(Writer’s note:  it’s amazing that I spelled Grudzielanek correctly before googling it.  Maybe I should have been in Scripps).