Tracey on the DL; Whitesell Recalled

[binkar]

After a good showing by Tracey (except for how incredibly slow he is), he has been placed on the DL with an oblique strain. Hopefully Whitesell can get into a groove and help us out.

 

[Dback Jon]

Great - right after he shows something offensively...

 

[JS22]

From what I've heard, Whitesell is tearing it up in AAA again.

Classic AAAA player?

 

[Skkorpion]

Amazing.

 

[BC867]

I'd still like to see Mark Reynolds moved to 1B permanently.

I believe it would make it easier for him to fulfill his potential on offense. A Matt Williams type of #5 hitter -- consistent low average, plenty of RBI's.

Because Williams was a great fielding 3B and Reynolds is athletic but sub-par as a thrower.

Now, the question is . . . is there a line drive hitting 3B prospect in our system?

 

[az240zz]

can anyone explain Hinches move of PH'ing Whitesell last night. A lefthanded batter against a left handed pitcher. Especially when he had 2 righthanded batters on the bench.

 

[Ryanwb]

can anyone explain Hinches move of PH'ing Whitesell last night. A lefthanded batter against a left handed pitcher. Especially when he had 2 righthanded batters on the bench.

Yeah, I barked at the TV over that move too.... More so though because it was Whitesell. I don't think Whitesell has the mental capacity to play at this level. He plays very nervous, likely because his last chance to prove himself is right here right now.

 

[Dback Jon]

I know he didn't want to use Snyder because you don't want to waste your only backup catcher. That is a move all managers will do.

Who else was on the bench?

 

[JS22]

Ojeda, I think?

 

[binkar]

Azcentral had mentioned that Whitesell was going to get the start at first today. I wonder why Hinch changed his mind.

I hope Whitesell's production can translate from the minors to the majors. My concern with Whitesell is he is yet another person in the lineup who struggles with the high strikeout numbers. With Upton, Drew, Reynolds, Young, and now Whitesell, we have nearly a whole lineup who is prone to striking out.

Drew has looked terrible recently.

 

[BC867]

Drew has looked terrible recently.

It's the ol' Cleanup jinx.

Put a line drive hitter into a power position that he is not suited for and he will try and fit that role.

Another D'back hitter who will ruin his potential if we don't add a legitimate cleanup hitter to the lineup between Upton and Reynolds.

Josh Byrnes just doesn't get it. Anyone can hit effectively anywhere in the batting order -- not.

 

[DWKB]

A Matt Williams type of #5 hitter -- consistent low average, plenty of RBI's.

Reynolds would be best suited hitting 4th, more so than 5th.

The average number of batters in an inning is 4 (league avg of .333 OBP meaning 1 in 3 get on base). Because of this, the #4 hitter sees a lot more PAs with Runners on Base than the 5th hitter does.


The optimal lineup (including Tracy before he hit the DL) would be something like this:

Lopez
Upton
Tracey/Byrnes
Reynolds
Snyder
Young
Drew
Byrnes/Tracy
Pitcher

 

[JS22]

I'm not a big fan of Upton hitting #2. He is perfect as a #3. Moving him to #2 hurts his RBI chances.

What I don't understand, is Drew hitting #4. Is it a simple lefty / righty thing?

 

[DWKB]

I'm not a big fan of Upton hitting #2. He is perfect as a #3. Moving him to #2 hurts his RBI chances.

What I don't understand, is Drew hitting #4. Is it a simple lefty / righty thing?

Upton has more offensive value to his team than his RBIs, namely his .400+ OBP and general speed around the bases. The extra 40+ PAs he'd get hitting 2nd all year vs 3rd all year would more than make up for the extra RBI opps he'd see.

 

[BC867]

I'm not a big fan of Upton hitting #2. He is perfect as a #3. Moving him to #2 hurts his RBI chances.

I agree. A guy who can hit the ball as hard as Upton belongs in the heart of the batting order following the 1-2 hitters, commonly referred to as the bread-and-butter guys . . . whose jobs it is to get on base for the heart of the batting order.

Batting Upton 2nd puts him too close to the bottom of the batting order preceeding him and gives the D'backs two better opportunities to get someone on base for him.

What I don't understand, is Drew hitting #4. Is it a simple lefty / righty thing?

I'm sure the motivation is to have the left-handed hitting Drew batting fourth, separating the righties Upton and Reynolds. It's good baseball.

But we need a left-handed hitting (here I'll say it again) middle of the order guy.

That's not Drew or Tracy. We don't have such a guy on the roster. Tony Clark is too old. And Whitesell is too new (although he did hit one out, and his first RBI's of the year, tonight).

Correction: Whitesell doubled in our first 2 runs. A good clutch hit, which gave the D'backs control from the start.

 

[binkar]

Byrnes or Tracey in the 3 hole? You can't be serious.