Posted by Craig Brown on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 10:28 am

The descent of Lastings Milledge continues…

On Monday, Milledge broke his right ring finger squaring to bunt in a game for Triple-A Syracuse. He’s due to be examined by a hand specialist, but the best case scenario has him missing several weeks.

The injury comes weeks after opening the year as Washington’s starting center fielder. However, when the Nats stumbled out of the gate, losing their first seven games, management looked to make an early change. Milledge was an easy target as was swinging his way into oblivion… Collecting just four hits in his first 26 plate appearances and striking out 10 times. It took just seven games for Milledge to play his way out of a starting role in Washington.

Optioned to Syracuse to work on his plate discipline and defense, Milledge wasn’t getting the message. In 83 plate appearances for the Sky Chiefs, Milledge had 16 strikeouts against just three walks and was hitting .253/.277/.316 at the time of his injury. The power, the average, the promise… It’s all unfulfilled.

Milledge turned 24 just before Opening Day, so it’s crazy to completely write him off, but he’s certainly running out of time to make a positive impression and provide the production that would lead his employer to believe he can be a contributing major league player.

Milledge has now made appearances in the major league (for the Mets and Nats) over the last four seasons, appearing in a total of 260 games. Over that time, he’s accumulated 1,004 plate appearances and has a line of .261/.326/.400. In other words, he’s fallen well short of the promise that led Baseball America to tout his “lightening quick bat speed,” “strength to hit for average and power,” and “above average speed he uses to his advantage on the bases and in the field.” As the Mets top prospect prior to the 2006 season, Baseball America summed him up in a way that got fans in New York excited: “With his package of five tools, Milledge has few peers in the minors, and he has produced throughout his minor league career.”

The expectations quickly turned sour and after appearing in parts of two seasons in the Mets outfield, they shipped him to Washington in the Ryan Church deal. Last year for Washington, Milledge started for the majority of the season but again failed to capitalize on his promise, hitting just .268/.330/.402.

He’s always been a bit of a free swinger, chasing balls out of the strike zone 31.8% of the time. Some players can thrive swinging at a bunch of pitches (think Vlad Guerrero) but it’s not working more Milledge. His lack of discipline has led to a depressed contact rate of 65%. Pitchers know this, so he’s seen a steady diet of sliders over the last two seasons. Last year, Milledge hit .210 when his at bat was resolved with a slider.

When he makes contact, good things usually happen. Last year his .305 BABIP was right in line with his career mark, but a strikeout rate north of 20% and a lack of walks, ensures his overall numbers will remain around league average.

The Nationals don’t want to give up on Milledge and they shouldn’t. At 24, there’s still plenty of time for him to regain his footing and become a productive major leaguer. But for him to do that, he’ll need to recognize his weaknesses (bad plate discipline, the slider, etc.) and work to correct them. While he will almost certainly never fulfill the promise he flashed as a young minor leaguer, but if he can get back on track, there’s no reason he can’t have a productive career. Or he could go the other way where he doesn’t work to make the necessary improvements and he becomes a journeyman who bounces from organization to organization, looking for playing time. The injury comes at a time that finds Milledge at a crossroads.

The broken finger isn’t the end of the line, but it’s certainly a big step back. Time is running short.