Pitchers who can hit the long ball

After hearing about the overall solid performance that Dontrelle Willis had Wednesday there is an elite company for pitchers who are good at hitting homeruns. Willis' two homers, 3 RBI offensive output was enough to at least tie the game against the Mets yesterday. The Marlins, behind Willis' 8 innings of work (7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) prevailed 6-3. It's a rarity these days for pitchers who can slug for power. The Cubs' Carlos Zambrano has 5 homeruns for the season.

I think for a bench player or utility guy it's embarrassing when of a starter pitcher on the team has more homeruns. That's not what you call a confidence builder. If you think about a pinch hitter probably gets around 15-20 less at-bats than a starting pitcher in the NL, though sometimes gets to play as a fill-in and receives at least 3 at-bats per game. My theory is if a pitcher has a higher batting average than a bench player plus a good on-base percentage and more homeruns why not use them as pinch hitters.

I know many coaches don't want to run the risk of injury to a pitcher or effect their natural strong arm by swinging a bat. The only defining difference is that they could drive in the deciding run to win a game in late innings. Managers knew to look over such statistics and take this into consideration. I wouldn't be surprised if teams used pitchers to pinch hit in the playoffs this year. The Mets may want to test a strategy with Tom Glavine since he is known for being a good contact hitter. A team can't go wrong if this move is effective.