I don't really have an issue with VanMeter playing, at least relatively speaking in the sense that he's just going to hang around for however many ABs he's going to get before we finally decide to move on. To be clear, that should have happened already, and I'm expecting a roster shuffle after the deadline, but it kind of is what it is.
What's annoying is seeing Cruz buried in the lineup, and in all likelihood seeing 1 less AB per game because of it. I can get with an argument that he should start producing better results before he is pushed up, but it's not like he's taking a slot away from someone else who is producing. The season should be about maximizing his ABs in the remaining months -- his cumulative stats, especially batting average (which the front office clearly and obviously does not care about in the slightest), aren't really that important. If he strikes out at a +40% K rate, that's going to be an issue after another few weeks, but otherwise the way to assess him is in how he's looking, how he makes adjustments, etc.
And geez, can't even get through writing a couple of sentences without VanMeter botching a routine ground ball. Honestly hoping against hope that we'll move on from him and Yoshi after this mini-series.
