George Springer: Should he lead off?

I remember the salad days of my youth, watching great baseball, seeing Rickey Henderson bat 3rd.

 

That's a great quote, I'm going to borrow it in the future.

But, to be fair, some people think better than others.

 

That's true. I bet he agrees with that and would be interested in running out Altuve at the top instead. He hasn't really given us real alternatives (from what I remember) as to what a lineup should look like with Springer not at the top

 

It should be the auto-reply to "it is what it is". Like an idiom-filled version of King of the Hill "yep" "yup" "mmm hmmm"

 

"Yeah man I'll tell ya what, ya talkin' about them dang old condom dispensers... Put little ol' 50 cents in there and try to hit that coin return... bang on that thing... Talkin' bout her needs." -- Boomhauer

 

You started the thread with a question. Were you not genuinely interested in answers?

 

No, I don't think Marwin's hot May is enough to elevate over Springer's vastly better career.

 

Altuve was/is an MVP candidate hitting 3rd and that has been statistically his strongest position in the order and you want to move him. Marwin has had 1 good month in his career (not saying it won't continue) and you want to move him. Reddick's 3 year splits with OBP is 20 points lower than Springer. You want to make 4 changes in the top 5 of the lineup with a lineup that is producing more runs than any team in the league. I just find it baffling.

 

Didn't you already make the mistake of discounting Springer's 2017 as being "in regression"... when as of now, he's very much in line with his career numbers?

Meanwhile, you have no doubts that Marwin will keep up his production over a full season, with several more AB's/game... after just one tremendous month (where he was still not playing everyday)?

I know, I know... you "think the way you think."

 

And thats exactly why they don't bat them 1-2-3 (in any order)... when in reality, those 3 are the best hitters on this team and should be getting the most AB's.

Moving them ALL down one makes no sense.

In the end, I know you're going to keep arguing this till Springer is not your lead-off guy, but he does get on base well, he does run the bases well, he does work the count, and he's always going to be an extra-base threat with his bat.

I'm sure in a month, after Bregman brings his overall traditional numbers up... you'll be advocating for him to crack your 1-3.

You think the way you think...

 

Sure; but when you say things, "Everyone thinks the way they think." - it gives the impression that you weren't really interested in engaging anyone else's opinion.

 

Quotes from Hinch:

“From pitch one of the game, our opponent has to deal with virtually every outcome,” the Astros’ Hinch says, as Springer “can drive the ball out of the ballpark or he can work a walk, and that’s a rarity.”

“I consider it a luxury to have such a good middle of the order that I can play with where I put the likes of George Springer.”

“On the internal side, George Springer provides a lot of energy for our team. He is a little bit of the heartbeat of what goes on, and I don’t know how to measure that, I don’t know how to gauge that versus other teams, but I know that George’s energy is infectious at the top of the order, so him being first makes more sense than any of the other guys.”

"...The premise is just we’re trying to create the most dynamic offense we can to score the most runs.”

https://theringer.com/2017-mlb-prev...n-george-springer-kyle-schwarber-2e49f6ff7c58

 

You're advocating for a guy with a career slashline of .220/.282/.358/.641 against LHP to be our lead-off hitter? Never mind, his overall career slashline is significantly worse than Springer's.

 

Thanks.

I don't see how anybody is arguing on how this offense is set up. It is the most dynamic offense in baseball... has a chance to be the most dynamic offense in Astros history (something I had my doubts on early on in the season)... is likely going to reach 300 runs scored before any other team has scored 200 runs... and yet people are STILL b****ing about the batting order.