Marisnick plays defense only 2016 .209avg 2015 236 avg he is not a good hitter so just like singleton this should be his last year on the main roster.As well as preston tucker last try.
He's also one of the fastest guys on the team, so he has that value too. But definitely without an improvement at the plate, it would be hard to see the team going to year 2 of arbitration with him. Especially given that we have Teoscar and Fisher for minimum salaries and a few more guys that could be ready in 2018.
He would be another candidate. His defense isn't as good and definitely shouldn't play RF. He didn't hit well in his first cup of tea. He is also a LHB. That makes him less than ideal for our current roster. The same is generally true of Fisher, but we've not seen him in the majors yet.
Batting order should be this: Altuve 2B Bregman 3B Correa SS Beltran DH Springer CF Reddick RF Gurriel 1B McCann C Aoki LF Marwin, Reed, Gattis, Jake I think we will end up carrying 13 pitcher so 1 of the above guys will get scratched.
Pretty much set: OF Springer 3B Bregman 2B Altuve DH Beltran SS Correa OF Reddick 1B Gurriel C McCann/Gattis OF Aoki/Marisnick UT Marwin SP Keuchel SP McCullers SP McHugh SP Morton SP Musgrove SP Fiers RP Devenski RP Feliz RP Hoyt RP Sipp RP Harris RP Gregerson CL Giles Quintana sure would look good in that rotation but otherwise a completely stacked roster.
Why do you not want a hitter with an insanely high contact rate in the middle of our line-up? Further, why would you want him to displace a hitter that gets on base but strikes out a lot? Do you know how many rallies Springer would kill hitting fifth? Even as baseball evolves, and all the old standbys die on the vine, Altuve remains a quintessential #3 hitter. I'd even be ok, again, given his high-rate of contact, to hit him him 4th - my only hesitation being he might miss on some PAs. No, no - Springer is a terrific lead-off hitter and Altuve needs to hit 3rd or 4th.
Do you realize how many more at-bats Altuve will get as the leadoff hitter than the 3 hitter over a course of a season? Take a guess
My guess would be about 40 (2*162/9). That said, I expect Springer and Altuve to be closer in OBP for 2017.
Roughly 48 more plate appearances. That's the difference if you project Altuve/Springer stats for a full season at the 3rd/1st spot in the lineup
Reed needs to make the team over Aoki as long as Hinch can get him regular at bats. Aoki really has no role on this team imo.
Based on last year, when he logged 205 PA as a leadoff hitter and 429 as a #3 hitter, it's 44 more. But he still would have totaled 705 as a #3 hitter, which would have ranked 7th in all of MLB. So, fairly marginal. I'm more concerned with strikeouts and walks. Springer struck out 178 times last year. Jose Altuve struck 190 times... over the past three years combined. Where do you want all of Springer's strikeouts to occur? With Altuve, Bregman, Correa and/or Beltran on base? Meanwhile, Springer drew 88 walks last year. Altuve 93... the past two years combined. Altuve puts the ball in play at a remarkably high rate; I want him at the plate in high-leverage situations. I've even toyed with the idea of him hitting 4th because of how often his makes contact.
When did I say Springer "sucks so bad"? I said he strikes out a lot and that Altuve is significantly better at putting balls in play. In terms of maximizing run-scoring opportunities, I'd prefer Altuve get more of those plate appearances than Springer. I love Springer as our lead-off hitter - it's why I mentioned his walks. You want a guy who gets on base as often as he does leading off. He's ideal, frankly. AND... as a lead-off hitter, those strikeouts are far more tolerable.
A teams best overall hitter doesn't hit lead off, never has, never will. Altuve was easily our best hitter last year. You want them in a position where their hits are most productive, and guys leading off are coming up with less traffic than the 3 hitter will. Altuve will hit 3rd, the same way Bagwell did for years, because he's the best we have. If he falls off this year, then maybe you move him around.
It goes so contrary to the way baseball has been played for most of its history. There are a couple of reasons though that do favor Altuve hitting 1st over Springer: Stolen bases (despite Springer's speed and minor league numbers he's not been good in that regard) & Altuve doesn't have as much power. I'm in favor of Springer staying in the lead-off spot for now, but there are lots of ways we could construct the top 5 guys. It will also be interesting to see what Hinch does to break up the RHB.
