Chip

Ambres

That sounds nice, but Ambres is still batting just .237/.339/.444 in what was considered a make-or-break season. The 1998 first-round pick is going to need to do a better job of hitting for average if he hopes to have a career in the majors.

Ambres, a 1998 first-round pick, hit .241/.352/.449 and stole 26 bases in 35 attempts for Double-A Carolina this season. He figures to make it through waivers.

Ambres, a 1998 first-round pick, hit .241/.352/.449 and stole 26 bases in 35 attempts for Double-A Carolina last season. He’s never going to fulfill former expectations, but he still might end up as a useful reserve at some point. He just turned 25 this month.

The Red Sox probably won’t trade Jay Payton, but if they do, Ambres could take over as the team’s fourth outfielder. The former Marlins’ first-round pick is batting .328/.436/.566 in 60 games for Pawtucket. He’s just 25, so he should have a future.

Ambres probably isn’t the young regular corner outfielder the Royals have been looking for, but he has a good chance of becoming a quality reserve. The 25-year-old was hitting .294/.401/.495 with 19 steals for Triple-A Pawtucket. He’ll probably be used against lefties initially, but it would be nice to see him get a chance to start over Terrence Long. AL-only leaguers will want to keep an eye on him.

It was a two-run homer off Scott Kazmir. Ambres is 8-for-17 since joining the Royals. As we might have mentioned, it’d be nice to see him get some starts against right-handers.

Ambres apparently won’t start over Terrence Long against righties, but maybe Buddy Bell can play him over Emil Brown once a week or so? He’s showing he deserves an opportunity.

Ambres started in left field and hit seventh against left-hander C.C. Sabathia. He’ll need to play against some righties in order to have value in AL-only leagues. Hopefully, he will begin to take at-bats away from Terrence Long.

Ambres hasn’t been allowed to start against a conventional right-hander, but there he was batting second against Tim Wakefield tonight. He was pinch-hit for by Terrence Long against Mike Timlin in the eighth despite his nice game thus far. Ambres is 10-for-26 since being called up by the Royals, so he deserves more playing time.

The Mets rallied for a run in the top of the ninth to tie the game, then got things started when Lastings Milledge singled off D.J. Houlton with one out in the tenth. Carlos Beltran then singled to left followed by Milledge moving to third on a grounder by David Wright. With two outs and the tying run on third, Ambres pinch-hit for the pitcher’s spot and singed to left to put the Mets ahead. Billy Wagner then pitched a scoreless bottom of the inning to protect the lead, allowing Pedro Feliciano to pick up the win in relief.