Agreed, what we really need is for Walker and Alvarez to go back to their norms then the hitting IS good enough. DD
I have a question for you with your constant idea that we are a bat short. When you say that, what kind of bat do you mean? let’s say this is the lineup that develops and this is their OPS+ going forward (rest of the season numbers- not total numbers so flush the bad start for some guys). Peña- 110 Altuve-110 Yordan- 150 Paredes-125 Diaz-110 Walker-110 Dezenzo-100 Smith-100 Meyers- 90 That’s pretty realistic I think-and doesn’t have any bad hitters in there. It nets out to a top 8 or 10 overall lineup in baseball. That’s plenty good enough to win a WS if the pitching keeps up and we have guys doing what they are supposed to. What that lineup doesn’t have is anyone else who scared the pants off you other than Yordan? Is that a problem? Maybe. I’d say probably. But here’s the problem- that means the only way you can really substantially improve it (we’d improve the lineup by playing our best 9 more often btw) is a trade for a huge- top 10 or top 20 type bat in MLB. A guy sort of like Kyle Tucker. I can’t see that happening. If the way I predicted it to go down happens I can’t even see much chance for marginal upgrades to be honest. Having no bad offensive players is about as good as you can get on this squad I think. And we are quickly approaching that place when Yordan comes back if we play Altuve at 2B more.
I get the frustration at losing the white Sox series. It sucks. But you probably shouldn’t let Dezenzo dropping an easy fly ball in RF to lose us a 7 inning game change your outlook on the entirety of the season and how you feel about it to this point in time.
But that lineup puts Altuve or Dezenzo at 2B, which they seem adamantly opposed to. So that is your hole to upgrade.
Your assessment is a bit optimistic on Pena (who's never been above 102 OPS) and Smith (who's been dropping off in playing time and OPS+ as the season progresses). Pena may have improved his skillset this season, we'll see if he maintains the production. I don't think you've got to get a top-20 MLB bat to improve that lineup. Your outfield in that projection is 100-100-90. Any above-average OF bat is going to make a difference. Preferably a lefty bat to balance things a bit.
I look at it several ways - first, I don't think that the lineup will do that. I think that it is really likely that one or two of the guys nose-dive from performance or from injury. Also, the fact is that two of those guys are rookies is concerning, and I am not counting on them both to be good. What caliber of bat? Obviously the best possible would be nice, but realistically someone with around an 800 OPS would work. I want the line up consistently extended a bat because that helps make up for less stars in the middle - and it also keeps inferior hitters out of the line up.
Sure. But if Smith and ZD are both good and Rodgers and Dubon suck that’s where we end up I believe. We shall see.
I would bet you whatever you want that Peña has a finishing kick much better than 102. I think I undersold him at 110. I believe he’s leveled up and have been talking about that since spring training.
I think we could keep inferior hitters out of the lineup by making the decision to do so which would be pretty easy. We just have to want to. We got rid of Taylor Scott so I’m of the opinion maybe we are starting to take the scissors away from Espada so he can’t stab himself in the neck with them.
First of all, I think playing Altuve at 2b under 25% of the time is an organizational decision and that will not change. Rodgers, Dubon, or ? must be in your projected 9 Secondly, DFAing Scott was a perfect storm. MLB rules required somebody to go and Scott was the only real option. I'm not convinced it would have happened if they had a choice. I do not see a position player returning/ being promoted which would trigger something similar. Yordan would just send Salazar down I think Matthews will not be a factor this year, if at all. I think if/when Melton pushes his way up then Chas is the odd man out not a starter.
Having 3-5 guys at 120+ is not the same as having 7 guys at 110+. A good lineup needs depth, but it also needs production at the top. You are talking about the 3rd best bat being 110. 3rd and 4th best: 2024: 124, 116 2023: 142, 130 2022: 134, 129 2021: 131, 131 2020: 124, 117 2019: 150, 137 2018: 114, 105 2017: 146, 141 When facing post season level pitching you should account for a bat being potentially less productive. If you have a team full of 100-110 guys, they could easily he under 100 vs playoff pitching. If you have 3-4 guys who are 120+ they should still be able to get 110+. Your lineup must be deep, but also have multiple star level producers.
If you have a lineup full of 100 or 110 hitters than undoubtedly many of them will perform worse in the playoffs than that. There are also the ones that go Jeremy Pena and win LCS and WS MVP’s. I don’t think it matter how you get to 110, just that you get there.
