Espinosa's K's are up, BB's are down. His OBP, and Slugging% are lower. His wOBA is 5 points lower. His BABIP is way higher so he got luckier. At best, he is the same hitter as last year. His hitting is not the reason we improved this season.
Lombo is not a good hitter. .326 OBP fueled by his BA. He has no power. Overall his wRC+ is 88 which means he is lower 12% lower than the league average hitter.
Again, on both counts, BATTING AVERAGE COUNTS especially when you refer to them as "hitters". Hell, when you refer to "hitting", batting average count more than anything. It's actually the only thing that counts for a "hitter".
A "hitter" doesn't "fuel" his OBP with his batting average. A "hitter" fuels his OBP with walks, Dan Uggla, for example. Dan Uggla is a terrible hitter (ask any Braves fan) but he has a .340 OBP.
