NFBC Message Boards

I like how the Indians have inched LaPorta up the lineup, he is a clean up hitter....



Ross Gload is hitting third tonight for the Phils. Some Managers bat the position and not player. When Votto missed a couple of games, Cairo hit third, I don't get it...



Matt Weiters is hitting seventh, and deserves to hit seventh. It is taking this guy awhile to produce at the Big League level. Some expected a Mauer with power. He may just be an AJ Pierzynski....



Six of the nine players in the Dodgers lineup tonight do not have a NL home run this year.

Five, have none at all this year....



John Jaso leads off for Tampa. Before last night, he had three hits in August. A Manager favorite....



Surprisingly, the Nats do not have one regular hitting under .260 in tonight's lineup, while the Rockies have FIVE...





Smarter than you or I Tony LaRussa has his pitcher hit eighth. I've heard his reasons. It still makes little sense....



Cleveland has only three players of fantasy importance in their lineup...



ARod is sandwiched by Thames and Kearns in tonights Yankee lineup...



[ August 10, 2010, 05:37 PM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]

1.Larussa drives me nuts.

2.The cards always play baseball the right way.They hit the cut off man,hit behind the runner,all the little things that win games.

Originally posted by DiamondKing:

1.Larussa drives me nuts.

2.The cards always play baseball the right way.They hit the cut off man,hit behind the runner,all the little things that win games. Agreed.

Pujols and Holliday get the acclaim, as they should. But, I love watching Brendan Ryan play the game. A marvel, really.

Smarter than you or I Tony LaRussa has his pitcher hit eighth. I've heard his reasons. It still makes little sense....

I know you love Ryan, I really do, but without digging too deeply, isn't it possible that some combination of the pitcher and pinch hitters creates a better hitter than Brendan Ryan?



I get the batting the pitcher 8th in some instances. If your would-be 8th hitter has a great OBP and little else then he is going to be way more likely to get a run than an RBI, and you want your RBI guys 8th, not your run guys. Of course, if his OBP is so good why would you have him that low in the order anyway?



Also, it could be useful if you give a sh!t about alternating your righties and lefties in the lineup. Neither of these situations applies to tonight's game, however.

Omar Vizquel continues to hit 2nd for the Sox. He's hitting nearly .290 and his OBP is around .360.



I don't think I've seen a hitter bounced around the lineup more this year than Alexei Ramirez. He's hit 9th, lead-off, 2nd, 7th, 8th, and tonight he's hitting 6th just behind slugger Mark Kotsay. The only other hitter that comes to mind that's bounced around more is BJ Upton.



The Brewers lineup with Cain and Dickerson 1-2 tonight looks awfully strange. R Weeks is now in the 3 spot.



Outside of Ichiro, the Mariners didn't have a batter in their starting lineup hitting .255 or higher. The A's, on the other hand, don't have a batter hitting below .255 in tonight's lineup except for the just-promoted Carter.



Side note: Tim Lincecum gives up 4 earned in the first inning and throws 35 pitches. Rough night for many pitchers tonight.

tonight he's hitting 6th just behind slugger Mark Kotsay:D



[ August 10, 2010, 10:22 PM: Message edited by: bjoak ]

Originally posted by bjoak:

quote:Smarter than you or I Tony LaRussa has his pitcher hit eighth. I've heard his reasons. It still makes little sense....

I know you love Ryan, I really do, but without digging too deeply, isn't it possible that some combination of the pitcher and pinch hitters creates a better hitter than Brendan Ryan?



I get the batting the pitcher 8th in some instances. If your would-be 8th hitter has a great OBP and little else then he is going to be way more likely to get a run than an RBI, and you want your RBI guys 8th, not your run guys. Of course, if his OBP is so good why would you have him that low in the order anyway?



Also, it could be useful if you give a sh!t about alternating your righties and lefties in the lineup. Neither of these situations applies to tonight's game, however. [/QUOTE]I heard him say that he wants two things out of batting the pitcher 8th.



1- Keep Albert at max at bats



2- Give Albert more RBI possibilities after his first AB.



Still think its dumb.



Cardinal Baseball: I miss Whitey!



[ August 11, 2010, 06:18 AM: Message edited by: Dub ]

Keep Albert at max at batsI have no idea what this means.



In any event, I don't usually take managers, owners, or GMs at their word. (Might be a symptom of being an A's fan.) I do think it is way easier to make excuses than to say, "My shortstop sucks worse than my pitcher so I am batting him ninth."

Originally posted by bjoak:

quote:Keep Albert at max at batsI have no idea what this means.



In any event, I don't usually take managers, owners, or GMs at their word. (Might be a symptom of being an A's fan.) I do think it is way easier to make excuses than to say, "My shortstop sucks worse than my pitcher so I am batting him ninth." [/QUOTE]Meaning he will definitely get an at bat in the first inning and possibly get one more AB by the end of the game, than if he batted (lets say) 4th.



Hence, after the first inning, assuming the pitcher is an automatic out, Pujols can come to bat (potentially) with the bags full, rather than only two on.



Brian: I am the messenger. I am just reporting what he said in a TV interview when asked the question. I go on record saying its dumb!



Edit: I found this on a quick google: Goes to point two

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/artic ... ight-slot/



[ August 11, 2010, 02:08 PM: Message edited by: Dub ]

I have no idea how switching the 8 and 9 guys earns Albert extra at bats. I understand the second point that more guys might be on for him. I still go on record saying that Ryan is batting ninth because he is that bad of a hitter. They're just not going to say that to the press. Sorry, Dan, I don't mean to keep kicking your proverbial horse.



I also think in any event that it is neither a dumb move nor a smart move. It reminds me of how in 1972 when the Tigers were on a losing streak, Billy Martin picked his line-up out of a hat and won the first game of a double-header 3-2. He went back to the regular line-up in the night game and lost 9-2.



Whether it is right or wrong, you could play this entire season a million times with Ryan 8th, and a million times with him ninth, and on average you'd be lucky if one line-up averaged 1/4 of a win more than the other.

read the article from the link- then you will have the #'s and the answer and you will then not "have no idea" to use a triple negative. in fact- from the article and from the #'s they ran- the st louis' pitcher should bat 7th.

Originally posted by bjoak:

I have no idea how switching the 8 and 9 guys earns Albert extra at bats. His point was to compare to the alternative of batting the pitcher 9th and Albert 4th. LaRusa was clear- I was not.

Originally posted by headhunters:

read the article from the link- then you will have the #'s and the answer and you will then not "have no idea" to use a triple negative. in fact- from the article and from the #'s they ran- the st louis' pitcher should bat 7th. I didn't realize the article was research at first and then read it after my last post. As opposed to "having no idea" the article says 2-3 runs over a season which matches EXACTLY with my quarter win estimate. I'm not sure how that equates to how I have no idea.



The only thing I had no idea about was how Poodles will earn extra at bats which the article mentions NOTHING about. I still have no idea why they would ever bat him 4th instead of third but THAT is an awful idea. No matter who you put ninth, you don't take the bat out of his hands.



I think the article also clearly states that the estimate changes depending on which model you use, which I would say means too close to call. Which is not a surprise. I have read endless amounts of material on line-up construction previous to this and it all amounts to the same thing--it doesn't mean much.



[ August 11, 2010, 05:54 PM: Message edited by: bjoak ]