tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015756050247283814.post1060307165021685446..comments2024-01-23T08:03:30.875-05:00Comments on The Southpaw: A Fine Line(up)The Southpawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12978086362601077757noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015756050247283814.post-56112567432149899102008-02-18T22:25:00.000-05:002008-02-18T22:25:00.000-05:00Dear god...forget Eck-Reed. Hear the one about Rio...Dear god...forget Eck-Reed. Hear the <A HREF="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080217&content_id=2377010&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor&partnered=rss_tor" REL="nofollow">one about Rios-Eck?</A> Shoot me in the face.halejonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08705691174123402548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015756050247283814.post-14369425735377411122008-02-17T01:07:00.000-05:002008-02-17T01:07:00.000-05:00jonathan said:Oh and what about McDonald 8th, and ...jonathan said:<BR/><I><BR/>Oh and what about McDonald 8th, and Zaun the OBP machine (for the bottom of the lineup) last for "second leadoff" like they should probably do with pitchers in the NL?</I><BR/><BR/>I've often gravitated to moving the worst hitter to #8 in order to get to a simulation of top-of-the-order effectiveness sooner - though I had usually applied that reasoning to Hill rather than Zaun.<BR/><BR/>As far as the discussion of Overbay - I had an impression that turned out to be wrong which I cut out of my post for the sake of length - that Overbay struggled at #2 before he got hurt. but when I checked the boxes, it turns out that he only struggled there the first few games of the season. On May 18 he was returned to the #2 slot and had his best stretch of the season right up until the injury - hitting over .800 in OPS.<BR/><BR/>I had to admit I was wrong about his work at #2.The Southpawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12978086362601077757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015756050247283814.post-41064098560867339862008-02-16T15:03:00.000-05:002008-02-16T15:03:00.000-05:00You know, come to think of it I totally buy that s...You know, come to think of it I totally buy that <I>some</I> of his early season struggles last year were because he was trying to do something different in a "new role". But I still think otherwise the breakdown is largely the result of the seasons he was having (and thus where he was batting), and not the other way around. I may be a little over sensitive about this one because people ALWAYS get excited about the lineup spot thing (like last year when Vernon went on fire for like a week and that was obviously because he was batting leadoff) and it's a perfect example of a stat that might not mean anything. (Wait! Frank Thomas hits like a hall of famer when he's batting third!! What are we thinking?! :))<BR/><BR/>All I'm going to say about the second thing is UGH. And that it'll probably happen sometime because Reed can bunt, or something. UGH.halejonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08705691174123402548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015756050247283814.post-14561512808496293442008-02-16T11:12:00.000-05:002008-02-16T11:12:00.000-05:00It's not an argument I normally reach for, but in ...It's not an argument I normally reach for, but in the case of Overbay his scorching hot cleanup numbers come in about 330 PAs, which is no small sample size. He's also a plus bat hitting 5th (and cruddy pretty much everywhere else), which leads me to believe that in his case at least there's a certain comfort zone to hitting in that part of the lineup. I remember last offseason when all the Boston papers were over the moon for JD Drew and his .464? OBP hitting 5th. Didn't work so well for the Bosox last year, but this sort of argument has been used in the past. <BR/><BR/>In any event, I think we can all chink our beer glasses over the wrongness of ever going 1. Eck, 2. Reed...<BR/><BR/>Johnny WasThe Southpawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12978086362601077757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015756050247283814.post-35713697647872050282008-02-15T16:55:00.000-05:002008-02-15T16:55:00.000-05:00Oh and what about McDonald 8th, and Zaun the OBP m...Oh and what about McDonald 8th, and Zaun the OBP machine (for the bottom of the lineup) last for "second leadoff" like they should probably do with pitchers in the NL?halejonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08705691174123402548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015756050247283814.post-51061908930804415832008-02-15T16:54:00.000-05:002008-02-15T16:54:00.000-05:00Honestly, any time someone mentions player X bats ...Honestly, any time someone mentions player X bats better in a certain lineup position, I roll my eyes. Maybe (maybe!) the lineup around him could have a significant effect, but the idea that some guys thrive because they like certain numbers beside their name is just silly to me. Half the time it comes down to small sample size, and the rest it's cause and effect- like Lyle being on fire with the Brewers and winning the cleanup role.<BR/><BR/>I like Rolen at 3 <I>if</I> he's his own self. Wells at 6 is right, but probably not going to happen. To me the Overbay/Rios thing comes down to which you think is more important at the top of the lineup OBP or SB? (And wasting a few Rios HR with the bases empty). I lean towards OBP but it probably doesn't make much of a difference and who knows how they'll do in that respect next year anyway.halejonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08705691174123402548noreply@blogger.com