Ditto for me. Take advantage of all the walks Bagwell draws by hitting him at 3. Where did Richard Hidalgo go? Remember him? Future of the organization? That 40 home runw guy with the best arm in the outfield? Does he have Joe Namath knees now, or something? If he came back to some semblence of form (why can't he hit .280 with 30 homers at least?) the Astros might turn into a hell beast of 70's Reds proportions. We can dream...
Of course, a great deal of those walks could just be a result of hitting in front of Berkman. If you bat Kent there, he could very well have as good, if not better, OBP than Bags. I guess what you have to ask yourself is who is the better RBI guy to bat at 5th. At this point, I would say Kent...but it is close. I don't know if you can go wrong with either configuration.
Of course, a great deal of those walks could just be a result of hitting in front of Berkman. If you bat Kent there, he could very well have as good, if not better, OBP than Bags. Except Bagwell has a history of this. He did it with no protection, with Bell behind him, with Alou behind him, with Berkman behind him, and then again behind Berkman. Ultimately, Bagwell is going to get on base over the long haul, with or without protection, I think. Kent, even with Bonds behind him, has never been a crazy OBP guy -- good certainly, but not Bagwell like. Plus, with Bagwell's shoulder issues, he's not the power guy he was a couple of years ago. He's also a great (smart) baserunner. I'd rather have him on base for Berkman & Kent than having Kent on base for Berkman & Bagwell.
I'm voting for: 3. Bagwell 4. Berkman 5. Kent For everyone raving about how Kent went off this year batting ahead of Bonds, have you forgotten that he won the MVP batting 5th. His track record in the 5-hole is solid. Other reasons for this order: -It's worked before. This would be the batting order spot rach of these players has predominatly played throughout their career (and had their success with). -Bags and Berkman are better on-base guys, thus setting the table for a clutch RBI guy like Kent. Even though Bagwell is my favorite Astro, I still see his clutch hitting in RBI situations as less than stellar. -Keeps R-L-R combo intact as previously mentioned. -Kent will get plenty of pitches to hit if guys are on base ahead of him (namely Biggio, Bagwell, and Berkman).
This thread piqued my curiosity, so I did a bit of statistical research. Over the last 3 years, Kent has hit primarily in the #4 slot. There, he's hit .313/.387/.542 over a span of nearly 1500 ABs. At #3, in 341 at-bats, he's .323/.388/.613 (all stats per ESPN). He's spent less than 15 at-bats at any other given position in the order.... The really cool thing is (again over the last 3 years) he's hit .297 with RISP and 2 out, .301 with RISP, .332 with runners on, and .408 with the bases loaded, though we can expect that number to drop precipitously once he puts on on an Astros uni; and again, most of these numbers were compiled batting cleanup. So what I get from the stats is that Kent has hit really well in RBI situations even when he didn't have protection from Bonds (i.e., when Kent was batting #4). Therefore, with the relative strength of the Astros lineup, he should be able to hit effectively, drive in runs, and what have you, at #5, and so I'm going to jump into the Bagwell/Berkman/Kent camp as well...
1) Biggio 2) Bagwell 3) Berkman 4) Kent 5) Hidalgo 6) Blum 7) Ausmus 8) Lugo 9) Pitcher Rational: 1) Gets Bagwell, Berkman, Kent more at bats by moving them up in order. 2) Gets team more at bats since best on base guys get more atbats while Lugo and Ausmus bat 7th and 8th. 3) Pitcher can bunt over Lugo more easily than other options at eight with having two good RBI men after pitcher. Lugo is the prototypical number 8 (if such a thing exists) hitter and batting average is preventative of making him a top 2 hitter. 4) Want to have someone at least as good as Blum behind Hidalgo. With Ausmus and Lugo as 7 and 8, Hidalgo would need to be 5. 5) Biggio gets leadoff by default. 6) Ausmus isn't fast enough for 8th or good enough to bat elsewhere. --------- Drawbacks. Bagwell doesn't drive in as many runs. Will need a third catcher on roster --------- I could also see Blum being moved to number 2 with Bagwell going to 4 or 5 since I doubt any manager would consider Bagwell at the number 2 spot. I myself think it is just wrong, but don't see a better alternative. Berkman should bat 3 since he has highest OPS. I counter the drawback that Bagwell will drive in less runs with Berkman and Kent driving in more since they'll have the team's on base guys before them. If someone had some serious testicles, they might propose putting Hidalgo at the second spot. Historically, Hidalgo has had the OBA (even in 2001, but not 2002) among the current assemble of bats that would dictate he should be the number two hitter if one was against Bagwell. But that option is a manager killer.
As a response to the thread title, I think Kent will hit in Minute Maid Park about half the time, and various other MLB parks the other half. As a serious response though, I like the RLR of Bagwell Berkman Kent.
after seeing everyone's responses... here's my order 1) Lugo He's got better speed than Biggio and more of a threat to steal. 2) Biggio Doesn't have great speed anymore, but still fast enough to not be a double-play threat. He's also a better contact hitter than Lugo... so he'll atleast advance the runner instead of striking out (which is what Lugo does more often) 3) Kent He'll be awesome with Berkman protecting him in the lineup. He's one of the best RBI hitters of today, why waste that fact by putting him too early in the lineup? 4) Berkman Will have a breakout season being sandwhiched between Kent & Bagwell. He's the best hitter on the team, so let's load the basses up for him! 5) Bagwell He has great plate discipline and won't mind taking alot of walks. That'll be key since he'll get pitched around just about everytime. 6) Hidalgo He's the X Factor for next season. If he can play as well as we all know he can, this is one scary team to face! But if it wasn't for his defense, I think we'd see Ward here instead. 7) Blum He may switch places with Hidalgo if Hidalgo doesn't cut down on the strikeouts. 8) Ausmus I think Ausmus could be on of the best #8 hitters in the league. If he still had his speed, he would probably be hitting #2 with Biggio leading off. 9) Pitcher Now if we could just get one more starting pitcher stud... i'm ready to go to Vegas and put my money on the Stros' for next season!
Julio Lugo has a career .332 OPB, which is probably skewed by a halfway, non-sucky on-base percentage his first year. Other than that, its been roundabout horrific - If he has to bat at the top of the order, something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. I'd just like to reiterate that I agree with Joe Joe Bagwell, Berkman, Kent in the 2-4 spots.
didn't he just have 2 breakout seasons? if berkman produces just like that ever single season, which he might, the astros are very lucky.
So what is the reason behind moving Bags back to the #3 hitting slot? I just do not get it (though it is not ridiculous). What is your source? Another question; will Kent see good pitches to hit at the #5 slot? The "myth" (I hope) out there is that he did better hitting in front of Bonze. How will he perform hitting in front of a much less respected Hidalgo, Blum, Ward or Ausmus?
That's the $64K question. The lineup's not set in stone, but I presume (notwithstanding some out of left field whim on Jimy's part) that he'll start the season batting 5th. That could change if injury or ineffectiveness force a need. Kent has hit extremely well in the past (won an MVP) batting behind Bonds with little protection, but he was much more effective last year hitting in front of him. So, to answer your question, nobody has the slightest idea. Best case scenerio has Hidalgo hitting like an above average RF'er (a return to 2000 form seems like a pipe dream) out of the 6-hole. My personal preference for an opening day lineup would be: LF - Biggio 3B - Blum 1B - Bagwell CF - Berkman 2B - Kent RF - Hidalgo C - Ausmus SS - Lugo Frankly, the makeup of the 3-4-5 spots is infinitely less important than the 1-2 spots in the lineup. If Biggio can't get on base at a .370+ clip, the offense will struggle. Blum could be a great #2 hitter, he'll see a ton of good pitches.
yes... he had been bad in the past, but last season he showed alot of improvement with patience at the plate. that's why jimmy bumped him up in the batting order... i think (and wish) to see him continue this improvement! true... he has broken out of mediocre into all-star calibre the past two seasons, but i think he'll break out of 'just all-star status' to the top 5 players in the league. he'll have that kind of breakout season!
