Hunter Pence has reached the point where it is painful to keep him on a fantasy roster.

Not because he isn’t hitting. Slumps never bother me. Good hitters don’t slump forever. Any game can be the game they start hitting again.

Last season Dustin Pedroia hit .182 in April. Then, on May 3, 2007, everything turned around. Pedroia came into the game on a 1 for 14 slide. His average had hit a season low .172. Five games later he was hitting .267:

May 3: 1 for 3, 1 R, RBI
May 5: 2 for 2, 1 RBI
May 6: 3 for 4, 1 R
May 8: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3RBI
May 9: 2 for 4, 2 R

So I’m not worried that Pence is hitting .161 and has gone 0 for 10 in his last three games. What worries me is the Astros giving up on him. He was benched on Sunday and again today. There’s nothing I hate more than a hole in the lineup. It is bad enough juggling catchers without having to worry about Hunter Pence.