Photograph by dwhartwig on Flickr
Lance Berkman hit 14 home runs in 404 at-bats last year, including just one in his 106 at-bats as designated-hitter-for-hire with the New York Yankees. That means we should probably be surprised by the six he hit in five games between April 11 and April 15. As of Monday, he's got six home runs in 49 at-bats, which is truly impressive—it's reached the point where, over a full season, he'd top 60 home runs, which would probably get him a raise.
It's also something he did in his miserable 2010 season, just before being traded to the Yankees. Between June 25 and July 8, a 12-game period, Berkman hit six home runs, two doubles, and, for good measure, a triple, all in 40 at-bats. He even bunched five of the home runs together—they came between July 4 and July 8, along with the triple, a period in which he hit .538 and slugged 1.846. Those don't even look like baseball stats.
Berkman looks great this season. He's pulled home runs and hit them to the opposite field, he's hit for average and worked counts, and, most strikingly, he's proven himself to be a perfectly competent right fielder, even though he's nearly as slow as advertised. The Cardinals are well on track to making back their $8 million investment in a player who everyone else thought was a first baseman.
But great weeks and bad weeks are part of baseball's long season, and while it's impossible to maintain an even keel when Berkman is hitting home runs and line drives like it's all he knows how to do, it's important not to let it change your expectations too drastically, lest you renounce the Cardinal faith next time he goes 3-20.
