Set lineup?

[mark1]

From the Repulsive. I like this lineup, although I'm worried that I agree with Brenly. After we signed Alomar, this is the lineup I would have put out. Finley and Alomar give us some speed at the top of the order, Gonzo and Richie give us good pop, and Cintron and Hillenbrand should have alot of RBI opportunities. I expect a big year from Alex, and Hillenbrand had 97 RBI's last year. It remains to be seen what we get out of 7-8. Spring training in two weeks! YEAH!!!

1. Steve Finley CF

2. Roberto Alomar 2B

3. Luis Gonzalez LF

4. Richie Sexson 1B

5. Alex Cintron SS

6. Shea Hillenbrand 3B

7. Danny Bautista RF

8. Robby Hammock C

 

[BC867]

Excellent. I hope he sticks with it.

I think Joe, Jr., laid the law down. I believe there was reference to him in the article.

If BB also talks with his ballplayers instead of through the Press, we could be a good team, and fun to watch again.

 

[Yuma]

I actually like this lineup. I also think that the Giants, Rockies, Dodgers, and maybe the Padres didn't do enough to keep us out of the playoff race. The Padres will be intriguing this year, but if our young guys can have good years we will be hard to match in the west. This coming from a guy who was mad we didn't make enough moves in the offseason!!

 

[Evil Ash]

Originally posted by mark1
From the Repulsive. I like this lineup, although I'm worried that I agree with Brenly. After we signed Alomar, this is the lineup I would have put out. Finley and Alomar give us some speed at the top of the order, Gonzo and Richie give us good pop, and Cintron and Hillenbrand should have alot of RBI opportunities. I expect a big year from Alex, and Hillenbrand had 97 RBI's last year. It remains to be seen what we get out of 7-8. Spring training in two weeks! YEAH!!!

1. Steve Finley CF

2. Roberto Alomar 2B

3. Luis Gonzalez LF

4. Richie Sexson 1B

5. Alex Cintron SS

6. Shea Hillenbrand 3B

7. Danny Bautista RF

8. Robby Hammock C

I think that would be a pretty solid lineup with only one exception ... Finley shouldn't be hitting leadoff, Alomar should. Finley doesn't steal bases that often anymore and has a tendency to swing for the fences which isn't a good trait for a leadoff hitter.

 

[SweetD]

Re: Re: Set lineup?

Originally posted by Evil Ash
I think that would be a pretty solid lineup with only one exception ... Finley shouldn't be hitting leadoff, Alomar should. Finley doesn't steal bases that often anymore and has a tendency to swing for the fences which isn't a good trait for a leadoff hitter.

I think Finley has a lot more speed than Alomar does. I like Finley at leadoff. He makes good contact with the ball and still get around the bases.

 

[Djaughe]

Re: Re: Re: Set lineup?

Originally posted by SweetD
I think Finley has a lot more speed than Alomar does. I like Finley at leadoff. He makes good contact with the ball and still get around the bases.

I agree - Alomar throughout his career has been an awsome no. 2 guy.

 

[Evil Ash]

Re: Re: Re: Set lineup?

Originally posted by SweetD
I think Finley has a lot more speed than Alomar does. I like Finley at leadoff. He makes good contact with the ball and still get around the bases.

He has more speed but he doesn't really use it (well for base stealing purposes anyways). He's a smart baserunner and is very good at going from first to third on a base hit, which wouldn't be bad a for a leadoff hitter.

My main concern with Finley at leadoff is that he has extreme hot and cold spells as a batter. This isn't a good trait for a leadoff hitter.

However in saying that, if he is willing to ease up on his swing for contact purposes and he is more willing to steal bases this season then I wouldn't have a problem with him being the leadoff hitter.

 

[SweetD]

Traditionaly Finaly has been hitting in the 5-8 range and been looking more for the HR than to get on base. I hope he does well if not we might be looking for a lead-off hitter again.. like every year.

 

[Ryanwb]

I'm still not sold on Danny Bautista....

 

[PDXChris]

I think this team is missing a true lead ff guy and that may hurt us down the road

 

[boondockdrunk]

Originally posted by mark1


1. Steve Finley CF

2. Roberto Alomar 2B

3. Luis Gonzalez LF

4. Richie Sexson 1B

5. Alex Cintron SS

6. Shea Hillenbrand 3B

7. Danny Bautista RF

8. Robby Hammock C

I would switch Alomar with Cintron then put Hillenbrand 5th and Alomar 6th. Just my two cents.

 

[Ryanwb]

This is a nice lineup IF Roberto Alomar returns to his old form, but I doubt that will happen. I would prefer to see Kata in there.

 

[BOB_Man24]

I think you use this lineup for a few games, and then adjust from there.

The key difference from last year, should be at least a couple of days consistancy. Give the lineup some time to see if it works or not...

 

[Lefty]

Originally posted by Ryanwb
I'm still not sold on Danny Bautista....

Chad Tracy will be given every opportunity to become the 4th outfielder. I think if Danny can get back to his pre-injury form that will only make this offense better.

 

[Yuma]

Did you guys forget the very good job that Finley did when he was the lead off batter this last season? I remember everyone marveling at the job he did when he did lead off.

 

[Ryanwb]

Originally posted by Zona90
Chad Tracy will be given every opportunity to become the 4th outfielder. I think if Danny can get back to his pre-injury form that will only make this offense better.

What is pre-injury? That 1 1/2 months that he played at a high level, he hasn't show anything yet......we'll see though

 

[Lefty]

Not only the beginning of the 2002 season but his 2001 postseason.

I would really like to see what Danny could do if he gets 500 at-bats.

 

[schillingfan]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Set lineup?

Originally posted by Evil Ash
However in saying that, if he is willing to ease up on his swing for contact purposes and he is more willing to steal bases this season then I wouldn't have a problem with him being the leadoff hitter.

No offense, but this makes no sense.

Why does he need to make contact? As a leadoff hitter, his primary responsibility is to a). get on base and b). try and get a lot of pitches. Will easing up on his swing for contact purposes result in more base hits?

The reason that Finley should be lead-off hitter is that he has the second highest OBP on the team to Luis Gonzalez. And the fact that he does have some speed and runs the bases well is a bonus to the OBP.

 

[Evil Ash]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Set lineup?

Originally posted by schillingfan
No offense, but this makes no sense.

Why does he need to make contact? As a leadoff hitter, his primary responsibility is to a). get on base and b). try and get a lot of pitches.

Very true! The problem is that Finley isn't always consistent in these 2 areas.

When Finley is on fire, he takes a lot pitches and hits it to all fields.

However, when Finley is going through one of his cold spells he doesn't do these things.He either
a) Strikes out (and usually looks rather pathetic doing so)
b) hits a weak groundball to the 2nd baseman
or c) hits a weak fly ball to right or right-center field. When he is doing either b or c during his cold streaks, he usually does so on the 3rd or 4th pitch of the AB. He also seems to be trying to pull the ball all the time during his cold streaks

I guess I'm the only one that remembers how bad Finley looks when he's in one of his cold streaks.

Will easing up on his swing for contact purposes result in more base hits?

In short, yes.

The reason that Finley should be lead-off hitter is that he has the second highest OBP on the team to Luis Gonzalez. And the fact that he does have some speed and runs the bases well is a bonus to the OBP.

This is a fair point and I wouldn't mind having him to start as the leadoff hitter. Just don't expect him to last the season hitting leadoff.

 

[BC867]

Batting Finley leadoff last season seemed to provide the discipline/incentive to not put every ball into the air.

Rather than being the extreme streak hitter that he's been, he hit in the .380's for all of his appearances in the leadoff spot.

Until we get a legitimate leadoff hitter, I think it was a great idea.

I'd also rather see Alex Cintron batting second and Hillenbrand 5th, with Alomar lower in the order . . . rather than Alex 5th.

I still believe that Cintron is a future batting champion. Batting him in the power-5th spot this early in his career may detract from his potential (as it did to Spivey, when he was moved to Gonzo's #3 spot).

 

[mark1]

Last year Finley hit .292/.373/.438
when leading off in 89 at bats. If he can duplicate that this year, we will have a very nice leadoff hitter.