To me, it's no coincidence that the seven game winning streak started on a night that both Andruw and Nomar got hurt, and left the game. Since then, Andruw and his < .200 average has returned to the everyday lineup, but Nomar hasn't. This has allowed Joe Torre to shuffle things around and play 1 more younger player in every game - leading, almost directly in my opinion, to the recent success.
I wanted to post this as soon as both stars left the game that night, but thought it better to wait to see how things worked out. Sitting down Andruw now would allow Kemp, Pierre, and Ethier to all play at the same time (something we've rarely seen this year). All three of them are playing at a much higher level than a slumping Jones (and perhaps at a higher level than he'll ever get back to). Jones (because of that terrific contract) would still play, obviously, but his use might be more as a pinch hitter/late game defensive sub (for Pierre, most likely).
Not sure that I'm entirely on point with my argument, but the arguments I've heard for keeping Jones in the lineup (break the slump eventually, legit home run threat, great defensively) aren't really winning me over anymore.
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