| NAME | POS. | COMMUNITY | ZiPS | ACTUAL |
| Xavier Nady | RF | .281/.338/.452 | .280/.340/.467 | .278/.330/.476 |
How about that? We were too pessimistic - perhaps we were too concerned about Nady's power-free showing with the Bucs in 2006 - but ZiPS pretty much nailed it. Escroll came the closest, guessing that Nady would hit .285/.351/.476 if we wasn't platooned (which he wasn't).
Speaking of platooning, much has been made of the fact that Nady hit pretty well against right-handed pitching this year, going .274/.322/.479. One problem, though, was that he hit about the same against left-handed pitching and, against lefties, was significantly worse than his career averages. That's a shame because Nady could form a heck of a platoon with Ryan Doumit if Nady went back to his lefty-killing ways and Doumit stayed healthy.
In truth, Nady's splits this year probably don't mean a whole lot. He probably will go back to hitting lefties better than righties. And let's hope he does, because consistency shouldn't be high on the list of things we want from Nady. His 105 OPS+ this year is only a notch above average for a rightfielder, he's not a great defender, and he probably won't stay healthy. (The concussion and digestive problems he suffered this year probably won't bother him again, but his hamstring could continue to be an issue.)
Nady's useful, but he's a role player, not a star. From a player like that, you should hope for huge platoon splits, because that's an inconsistency that's exploitable. If Nady puts up a 1.000 OPS against lefties and a .750 OPS against righties, and Doumit puts up an .865 OPS against righties like he did last year, then the Pirates have one of the best offensive right-field tandems in baseball even if Doumit is hurt half the time like usual. As it stands now, they're just a little above average.