If the young gun continues to bat .300 he should assume the lead off spot. He looks a little quicker around the base path than Springer too. Springer, being the team's leading HR hitter should be in the heart of the lineup after Correa in hopes to turn solo smashes into more RBI and protect Correa at the plate. I think this more traditional tactic opens up the lineup to a more potent offense. It opens up the 2 hole to try guys like Kemp, Marwin, Hernandez to really protect them in the lineup and give them a better chance to succeed...albeit, under a little more pressure to produce. I think it also opens up the 6/7 holes to guys like Gurriel, Reed, even a White to come through with RBI in lower pressure spots. 8 hole is really the hole, where either catcher bats. Then have marisnick or Hernandez as the speedy guy to hopefully get on base to turn the lineup back over and have a guy like Bregman who can be an RBI single/double hitter. This isn't really a thread to knock Springer down a peg because for all his faults he's done admirably during the bridge period but I believe it's time to assume some more traditional roles. I think the offense becomes more potent and relies on some teammates in more specific roles instead of hoping guys just hit homers all the time. Sample lineup: Bregman 5 - batting over .300 last 2 weeks Kemp/Gonzales 7 - lefty batting 2nd, couple guys who can get on base/move runners Altuve 4 - team's best hitter bats 3rd Correa 6 - team's clutch hitter bats cleanup Springer 9 - team's leading HR hitter in position to hit more RBI, protect Correa Gurriel DH - in position to do damage but from a lower pressure spot, looking for RBI Reed/White 3 - same situation as Gurriel, just get RBI/protect the guy ahead of you with a decent bat Gattis/Castro 2 - weak link batting 8th. Found change if they do anything Marisnick/Hernandez 8 - speedy guys to get on base, threat to score when Bregman hits Even though you may be counting on a guy to play over his head at 2 I think it changes the dynamic of the lineup where it's not the good half/bad half. 1-4 going springer, Bregman, Altuve, Correa just kinda blows the load and counts on the back half to produce on their own. Instead of using Gattis or Reed to protect the cleanup now they're in spots where they can just mash and not have too much pressure, hopefully turning in more sac fly RBI and giving the back of the lineup some pop instead of hoping their semi power threat is enough to protect Correa and turn in RBI in the middle of the order when that's not really who they've shown to be. I think this is a little more balanced through and through, hopefully mitigating what seems to be a on automatic momentum killer 5-9 spots Hinch has been sending out there. Sorry about the long post trying to splain myseff lol What do y'all think?
Springer still has solid OBP and power. Bregman has the ability to avoid the K.... and should also be able to move runners over when needed, or simply drive them in. Honestly, if Bregman plays up to expectations... you could slot any of the 1-4 in any order, and probably get similar production. The key to the overall success of this lineup remains what you can get out of 5-9, regardless of what order 1-4 is.
The lineup definitely needs to be lengthened so its not 1-4 vs 5-9 but I think that's a consequence of not having enough good hitters rather than sequencing. I'm okay with the current 1-4 grouping simply because they're the best four hitters and they should all be at the top of the lineup (/getting the most at-bats). Marwin's hit reasonably well in the 2-spot before, although really anyone should hitting ahead of Tuve, but that just seems like a change to make a change. As for having a power bat in the leadoff role: that's the on-going trend in the majors and one that several successful teams are employing. Here's a quote from a recent Hardball Times article on "First Class: The Ongoing Transformation of the Leadoff Hitter"
Leadoff - We don't seem to have anyone who naturally fits 2 Hole - Bregman/Altuve/Gurriel/Gonzalez 3 Hole - Altuve/Gurriel/Correa/Bregman Cleanup- Correa/Reed 5th Hole - Reed/Springer/Correa 6th Hole - Valbuena/Reed/Springer 7th Hole - Gattis/Valbuena/Reed 8th Hole - Castro/Gattis 9th Hole - Marisnick/Kemp
I'm of the mindset that you just need to put you best hitters at the top, all together. What order they bat in isn't too important. There are equal upsides and downsides for say hitting a guy 1st or cleanup. You hit them first they aren't getting the RBI opps, you hit a guy 4th maybe he's getting stranded too much. There are some exceptions, if a guy is an OBP machince, with no power, then yes he should be first. But some people feel the need to put a lesser hitter near the top, simply because he "fits" better. That is what I absolutely disagree with.
I'm in agreement with this. In general, Bregman's 8 BB's vs. 25 K's are something I'd like him to improve upon regardless..and especially if we're talking about moving him to the leadoff spot purposely
Agree with Bregman leading off. This is the lineup Id like to see throughout September: 3B Bregman RF Springer 2B Altuve SS Correa LF Gurriel/Rasmus DH White/Tucker/Singleton/Moran C Gattis/Castro/Stassi 1B Reed/Marwin/Valbuena CF Teoscar/Kemp/Marisnick Aplin and Fontana would be the only guys on the 40 man not called up. Next season would look like this: 3B Bregman RF Springer 2B Altuve SS Correa LF TBD (Cespedes, Braun, CarGo, ???) DH Gurriel 1B Reed C Gattis CF Teoscar Bench: Marwin, Marisnick, TBD catcher (Castro, Norris, ???) That lineup is among the deepest in baseball, although still dependent on a lot of unproven players.
