My son has struggled at the plate this year. I've struggled with where to have him in the line up and here is why.
PA-23, AB-11, AVG-.182, OBP-.609 H-2, RBI-4, R-7, BB-10, HBP-2, SO-6, K-L-5, SB-7.
So the obvious, like I said he is struggling making contact with the ball. I have had him back and forth from the 2 spot to the 9 spot as a "second lead-off" man, mainly because up until last week he had a .900+ OBP. But here is what I can tell you just from his stats. First, he is patient at the plate and hes scored more than 3 times the amount he has gotten hits. However, you can see that out of 6 SO, 5 were looking. So I think that is an indicator that if someone is too patient at the plate it can begin to make them look at strikes too close to the zone. Now, what I have told him is that he needs to change one thing...expand his zone with 2 strikes. If it were not for the 5 K-L out of 6 SO I would say he's a great patient batter, but that stat indicates that he is looking to walk. There comes a time to be aggressive and there comes a time to be patient...2 strikes is not a time to be patient.
As to the original question and my son's stats...well, he has 2 hits and 10 BB and has scored 4 RBI's and 7 runs...my opinion, as walk is as good as a single in most cases.