One of the bright spots of the 2003 season has been the continued development of second baseman Orlando Hudson. In the post-Alomar era, Blue Jay fans have suffered through the disasters of Carlos Garcia and Joe Lawrence, the mediocrity of Homer Bush and Tomas Perez, and, in recent years, a Grebeck-Frye-Berg patchwork quilt of decent, if unspectacular utilitymen filling the position. Finally in Hudson, the Jays have an everyday major leaguer who just might hold the job for a few years.

Orlando can do a little bit of everything. He hits for a decent average, will take a walk, can run a bit and even has a little pop - almost a Robbie Alomar lite. What's more, at 25, it's likely that Hudson has some developing left to do. Who knows, he might just grow up to be Ray Durham.

Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of Hudson's game is his defence. Despite some early jitters and the occasional hiccup, Hudson plays a pretty mean second base, and has established himself as the second best defender on the team. Yeah, that's a little like being the second best "Rocky" movie, but Hudson is a legitimately fine second baseman. He ranks near the top of the league, not only in fielding percentage, but also in Zone Rating, and under Bill James Win Shares system, Hudson trails only Seattle's Bret Boone in fielding Win Shares at second base (as of Aug 10).

Hudson is also one of the more noticeable Blue Jays. Over at Batter's Box, Dave Till is compiling a resource of the more colourful mannerisms and habits of Blue Jays past and present. The "O-Dog" has a phonebook worth of these all by himself - the way he wears his hat slightly askew, the contortions he goes through to avoid pitches just off the plate, the ever present wad of whatever-that-is that lives in his bottom lip, the little point to the sky after every base hit, or the glove tap to the chest and the "My bad" he gives to teammates after a mistake.

Hudson is certainly a distinctive player, and a welcome dose of personality on a team that - uniform burnings and purple butt-kissing aside - has never been rich in colourful characters.

About the only thing the second baseman can't do is hit left-handed pitching:

Hudson VS Lefties

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2002	.184	.184	.286	.470
2003	.181	.244	.217	.461

Hudson VS Righties

	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2002	.308	.361	.497	.858
2003	.306	.363	.446	.809

Now it should be noted that Hudson only has a 140 plate appearances against lefties, which is a small sample size, and small sample sizes are usually unreliable. That said, most guys who hit .180 through their first 140 PAs don't last long enough to see their 200th.

On the basis of these splits, Hudson should seriously consider abandoning switch-hitting. Not that he'll start hitting .300 against lefties - he won't - but if he can mirror the splits of hitters like Carlos Delgado and Eric Hinske, who typically lose 50 points in average to lefties rather than 125, he'll put far more runs on the board than he does now.

I'm sure there'd be some reluctance on Hudson's part. Players generally don't like to narrow their skill set, and it's true that left-handed hitters are platooned more often than switch-hitters, but if you hit .180 against lefites, they're going to platoon you anyway.

Becoming a full-time left-handed hitter would almost certainly improve Hudson's overall numbers, and could make him one of the better offensive second basemen in the league. If these splits persist, don't be surprised if Jays management pushes him in that direction.