2B Josh Barfield: Game-winning homer
by Chuck Murr of IndiansInk.net, August 23, 2009 at 11:14pm ET
Josh Barfield Profile
Josh Barfield led off the top of the 12th inning with a home run to give the Columbus Clippers a 2-1 win at Indianapolis.
Barfield (.246) hit his third homer of what has been a very frustrating season for the 26-year-old who has shown signs of resurgence.
Barfield has had three very disappointing years with the Indians after being acquired from the San Diego Padres following the 2006 season. After hitting .280 as a rookie with the Padres, he hit only .117 (7-for-60) in his first 16 games for Cleveland and though he recovered to hit .278 that May and .317 that June, lost his job to raw rookie Asdrubal Cabrera by August.
He had only one RBI after July 28 that year and was 7-for-43 after Aug. 4.
It didn't get any better in 2008. Barfield was sent to Triple-A Columbus, where he hit .255 in 62 games to earn a call to Cleveland. He appeared in only two games before injurying his finger on a checked swing. He had surgery and didn't play until September. In 12 games for the Indians, he hit only .182.
This year, Barfield had renewed hope after learning to play the outfield during spring training -- but he's spent most of the season at Columbus. In 17 games with the Indians, he wnet 8-for-20 with five runs and two RBI. In 60 games with the Clippers, he now has three homers, 20 runs and 34 RBI.
Barfield was taken off the Indians' 40-man roster and outrighted to Columbus in early August. In his last 10 games, however, he has hit .302 with two homers, four doubles, four runs and four RBI. He has continued to show poor plate discipline, however, striking out nine times without a walk. He has drawn only 20 walks with 99 strikeouts the past two years at Triple-A. Those numbers are worse with the Tribe: 14 walks and 107 strikeouts.
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