The Astros won't be shy moving players around defensively. There is no reason Springer cannot slide over when Marisnick is starting some games in center.
Sure... with a defender who's better than Gomez or Fowler were... and who's approaching his big money arbitration years...and he may discover (or may be advised) that his value as an everyday leadoff CF is slightly higher.
Fowler and Gomez were very resistant to being moved around, Springer thus far hasn't shown such a strong preference. Also, Hinch has shown a willingness to move guys around quite a bit. Time will tell...... I just don't think it is unrealistic to believe that Marisnick is going to get a fair amount of at bats and time in center.
For what purpose though? The team is not significantly worse defensively with Springer in CF. The team is significantly worse at the plate in any lineup that includes Marisnick as a starter.
The team is significantly better defensively with Springer and Marisnick in the outfield together, and Marisnick is the better defensive center fielder. I agree that the Astros are worse at the plate with Marisnick in the line up, but that hasn't stopped Hinch from rolling out line ups that don't have the best 8 hitters in it.
In the past, the drop-off between a Marisnick and a Pressley/Teoscar/Gomez/Rasmus ended up being pretty insignificant. Beltran/Reddick/Aoki are all historically set to out-perform Marisnick by a much bigger discrepancy at the plate... one that outweighs any possible defensive lapse in an OF without Jake. And as it is, its not like any OF combination they trot out there is going to be bad... Springer can handle CF. Lastly, there's an overwhelming emphasis on them improving the lineup to the point of developing more consistency at the plate and scoring a ton more runs... no more niche players.
Reddick doesn't outperform Marisnick against left handed pitching. Marisnick isn't great shakes against lefties, but Reddick is down right horrible, and has been getting worse. Honestly, Reddick's glove was not very good the last 1.5 seasons either. Aoki isn't any better against lefties than Marisnick either, and his glove is below average. Beltran crushes lefties, but he is likely to need days off and also will likely see a good amount of time at DH. No more niche players? What do you think Aoki is? He is the epitome of a niche player. He doesn't have speed, he is a poor fielder, he doesn't have power... he does one thing well, and that is make contact. The emphasis on improving the line up was because the Astros had too many easy outs. It doesn't mean that the Astros will not trot their 8 best hitters out there every single night.
I agree Marisnick will play a lot against LHPs as team currently is constructed. Doesn't mean I wouldn't like a better option to fit with current roster. I'm not overly fond of Aoki either. Here's to hoping some prospect steps up to fill role as corner OF vs LHPs and backup CF.
Are you sure about Aoki's numbers against lefties? And as far as having too many easy outs goes... on many nights, Marisnick was the EASIEST out. If he doesn't improve at the plate, he will not warrant regular playing time. The defense will not suffer significantly with him not being there. This is a far cry from the Brad Ausmus special circumstances... as his role with working with the pitchers, along with his stellar defense at a vital position for it, kept him safe.
Last year in around 110 plate appearances, Aoki had a .557 OPS against left handers. In roughly the same amount of plate appearances, Marisnick was at .701 and Reddick at .367.
hmm... a vast change from his career numbers against lefties, I suppose. I'd expect him to get back closer to his career .745 OPS. I do expect him to hit lefties far better than Marisnick.
I'm hoping, probably irrationally, that Teo will figure out how to play a tolerable CF or that Jake will figure out how to hit a little. Either one would be a perfect 4th OFer. Not sure which is more of a pipedream. With the roster they have, I'd lean toward defense.
Neither is necessarily a pipe dream. Both have the talent. Teoscar has sometimes gotten good reviews for his defense, even though it looked sketchy in his brief appearance last year. For Marisnick it isn't unusual for guys to suddenly hit. Sometimes those guys just figure it out in their prime years, sometimes they are one year wonders, and some are just inconsistent year to year. I'd settle for what he was in 2015. Against LHP, I expect Marisnick to be in RF. If Gattis is catching, Aoki in LF and Beltran at DH. If McCann catches, I think Beltran plays LF and Gattis DHs. Beltran has only played 2 games in LF in his career and that was back in 2000.
