He was brought in to be a platoon DH against right handed pitching who can also fill in at multiple positions. He hasn't been good in the field and he hasn't hit lefties but he has done a very good job against right handed pitching.
Betemit vs righties - .311/.366/.542 for an OPS of .907 in in 148 at bats.
If they could just figure out 3B so that Betemit can play like originally was planned it would help the team out a lot. Nick Markakis is going to be back in a couple of weeks so Chris Davis isn't going to be playing RF for much longer. I don't know if they will try him out in LF or if they will go to a platoon of Pearce and Avery in LF for the rest of the season. I suppose it will depend greatly on if Avery has made the necessary adjustments and how good or bad he looks against the breaking ball this time around.
What they really need to do so that everyone can go back to their normal positions is find a 3B that can play good defense. It doesn't matter if it's a good hitter or not they just need to improve the defense at 3B. It can be Andino, Flaherty, or a trade but they need to stop playing Betemit at 3B everyday.
Chris Davis wasn't impressive at 1B but Reynolds and Betemit haven't been either. I would rather see Chris Davis finish the rest of the season as the everyday 1B so we can have a full season to determine what he is going to be going forward. Chris Davis is a part of the future and Reynolds is not so they shouldn't care if Reynolds is upset because he hasn't earned playing time this season.
Reynolds vs lefties - .273/.396/.432 for an OPS of .828 in 44 at bats. He has had a disappointing season overall but he has done good in limited at bats vs left handed pitching. I don't hate him against right handed pitching but Betemit has done so much better that it's hard to consider Reynolds as a DH against right handers.
This is how I think the positions should be when Markakis returns:
1B - Davis
3B - Andino/Flaherty/trade
DH - Betemit/Reynolds
LF - Avery/Pearce
For the most part I would keep Betemit and Reynolds at DH but they can each get a start at 1B (both) or 3B (Betemit) every now and again. I know Reynolds has the 2nd highest OBP on the team but he can't be counted on to make a productive out to move a runner and he can't play defense. I don't see how he is anything more than a DH at this point and with Betemit doing so well against right handed pitching it's hard to see Reynolds as anything more than a platoon DH going forward on this team.
I'm sure none of this will happen though because it just makes to much sense. Reynolds will continue to play 1B, Betemit will continue to play 3B, and Davis will DH when Markakis comes back.
