Upton is not going to be hitting number 2. He is securely entrenched in the 3 hole. Our 3-6 is pretty much set as:
3- Upton
4-LaRoche/Montero
5- Reynolds
6- Montero/LaRoche
Agreed, having Upton batting #2 would be a complete waste of his talent. The team needs someone like Parra in the two hole because he can take pitches and put the bat on the ball allowing the leadoff hitter to see some moves from the pitcher. I would like to see Montero in the #4 spot early in the year, or possibly #5 behind Reynolds and Upton. This will put LaRoche in the six spot because he is a notoriously slow starter.
Much like the Oscars this year, I have a thought about what should happen but at the same time have one that is more likely to occur. I expect AJ to sport the following line-up on opening day:
1. Young (CF)
2. Drew (SS)
3. Upton (RF)
4. LaRoche (1B)
5. Reynolds (3B)
6. Montero ( C )
7. Jackson (LF)
8. Johnson (2B)
9. Haren (P)
This line-up would allow Hinch to follow his beloved right, left, right, etc. line-ups. In the end, this would not be too different from the optimal opening day line-up:
1. Drew (SS)
2. Parra (CF)
3. Upton (RF)
4. Montero ( C )/Reynolds (3B)
5. Reynolds (3B)/Montero ( C )
6. LaRoche (1B)
7. Jackson (LF)
8. Johnson (2B)
9. Haren (P)
For whatever reason, I have heard that Parra will have to outperform CY in Spring Training (as if last season didn’t count) to win the starting job; and that might not even be enough. The Front Office has sunk so much cash into CY (Six Years, $31 Million ending in 2013 including team option) that they don’t want but NEED him to succeed.
Lead-off hitter is still a question mark for this team and forcing CY into the role is not going to help his ‘development’ (think square block, round hole). Chris is just too much of a free swinger (See Rueben Rivera) to succeed in the lead-off position and quite possibly in the majors as well. The sooner AJ realizes that the quicker the team offense will lose an anchor. On the other hand, Drew is not a lead-off hitter either. He lacks the knowledge needed to become a good base stealer in this league. Kelly Johnson might be able to handle the lead-off spot but he needs to prove that he can recover from the injuries he experienced over the previous season that hurt his offensive production. At this moment, Stephen Drew is the best person for the lead-off job.
Overall, the team offense has been improved through some good free agent acquisitions. LaRoche provides a power threat at 1st, something the Diamondbacks desperately needed last season, and Kelly Johnson (should he return to form) is a good defensive second baseman with some pop in his bat. Whatever line-up is put out there, one thing is certain, this team has gotten rid of one thing that plagued them last season: easy outs.
