Time to Shake Up the Order

[jh1spartanfan]

As of, right now the Tigers sit 12th in the MLB in runs. This is despite being 6th in avg and OBP, 8th in slugging. They are also, 5th in BA with RISP. I don't understand the philoshpy of hitting your two worst hitters 1 and 3. I think that it's time we move JP or Avila up to the 3rd spot, move Maggs down. Not really sure what we could do with the lead-off spot, maybe Betemit can hit lead-off? Or maybe even move Boesch up to lead-off, but Jackson really should be hitting 9th right now.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Its been discussed Ad nauseam.

 

[cmlfactor]

Don't understand Smoke's reluctance to bat Cabby 3rd. Why WOULDN'T you want to give your beast 1st baseman 20 to 30 more ABs a year?? Who knows...

 

[turok]

Don't understand Smoke's reluctance to bat Cabby 3rd. Why WOULDN'T you want to give your beast 1st baseman 20 to 30 more ABs a year?? Who knows...

Stubborn old coot comes to mind...

 

[jh1spartanfan]

Don't understand Smoke's reluctance to bat Cabby 3rd. Why WOULDN'T you want to give your beast 1st baseman 20 to 30 more ABs a year?? Who knows...

Agreed, it made sense when we had both Maggs and Polanco, who were both great at the time. Now it just doesn't make any sense, bat your best hitter third, or at least VMart. He's so stubborn and unwilling to change. I'd love to see a line-up like this:
1. Boesch
2. Betemit
3. Cabrera
4. VMart
5. Peralta
6. Avila
7. Maggs
8. Guillen
9. Jackson

 

[Mitchrapp]

I don't like Betemit that high. He k's way too much to be a number two. And BB at leadoff would suck.

 

[jh1spartanfan]

Mitch[/color]]I don't like Betemit that high. He k's way too much to be a number two. And BB at leadoff would suck.

I do agree with your statement about Betemit, and was thinking about putting Peralta there, but he's to good of an RBI producer right now. As, for Boesch, he's IMO our only reasonable option at this point. Everybody else, is way too slow or doesn't get on base enough. Jackson is hitting .240 right now, and putting him leadoff doesn't make any sense, and Boesch is the only one with decent speed. He's not a great option, but right now Boesch is the best option to lead-off.

 

[biggunsbob]

We have to try something... We are just not getting enough guys on base in front of Miguel and Victor..It really is frustrating.

 

[mjsb2]

The third spot in the lineup isn't as important as the 4th spot, so he's right to bat Cabrera 4th.

 

[biggunsbob]

The third spot in the lineup isn't as important as the 4th spot, so he's right to bat Cabrera 4th.

The problem we have is the lead off spot and the 2 hole.. I can forgive Magglio a tad because of his injury and age but Boesch is batting a fantastic .339 .379 .575.955 in 46 games batting 3rd.. Leave that spot alone and move Magglio down when they both play... The real problem is the top two spot and when Magglio bats third even though I am letting that go. No reason to have Alex and JP batting so low in the line-up..Boesch is hitting terrible in the 2 spot..202.269 .345 .614 in 31 games... What is unforgivable is Jimmy trying to force feed us Raburn and Magglio and Jackson at the top of the order at the same time.

 

[mhughes0021]

you had the worst 7, 8, 9 in baseball for YEARS and did nothing about it. So now all of a sudden we need to keep our only players that can get on base consistently at the bottom half of the order??....makes no sense.

Dirks
Boesch
Cabrera
VMart
Peralta
Avila
Betemit
Guillen
Jackson

is my order. F Ordonez...im thru.

 

[biggunsbob]

I agree it is ridiculous. One of the two Alex or JP should be move up at least.. I mean we are a station to station team anyway so we should not worry about how fast we are at the top of the order this year. I also am done with Magglio. We would have won more game this year without ho and a combination of Dirks and Wells when we had him in right.

 

[spockmaster]

even though i really liked the fister/pauley trade, i kinda miss wells. a dirks/wells platoon would have been really good in RF imo. neither of them are full time players but both have good platoon splits and play good defense. i dont like ajax at the top or maggs/guillen/raburn/kelly playing so much with their various defensive and/or offensive issues, but with the current roster, minor league system, and leyland's stubbornness concerning his lineup and kelly playing, theres really no way to fix it.

 

[Mitchrapp]

you had the worst 7, 8, 9 in baseball for YEARS and did nothing about it. So now all of a sudden we need to keep our only players that can get on base consistently at the bottom half of the order??....makes no sense.

Dirks
Boesch
Cabrera
VMart
Peralta
Avila
Betemit
Guillen
Jackson

is my order. F Ordonez...im thru.

Now I like this. And if JL is set on Cabby at 4, move BB down one and put Jhonny P. or Avila at 2.

 

[Thumb]

I agree with msjb, Cabrera should stay put, he works better there as long as we don't go 1-2-3.

Almost every manager puts his big Slg. guy 4th, Leyland is not a pioneer.

And if you did bat him 3rd and we went 1-2 out, then even if Cabrera gets on, it's with 2 outs, better for him to lead off the next inning off and get on and give Vmart a better chance of advancing him.

Boesch should be 3rd.

We don't have anyone who can realistically lead-off much better then Jackson, without removing Jackson from the linup.

Jackson
Peralta
Boesch
Cabrera
Vmart
Maggs
Avila
Guillen
Betemit/Kelly

But the order is of little concern if guys are not going to start hitting.

 

[beez]

I agree with msjb, Cabrera should stay put, he works better there as long as we don't go 1-2-3.

Almost every manager puts his big Slg. guy 4th, Leyland is not a pioneer.

And if you did bat him 3rd and we went 1-2 out, then even if Cabrera gets on, it's with 2 outs, better for him to lead off the next inning off and get on and give Vmart a better chance of advancing him.

Boesch should be 3rd.

We don't have anyone who can realistically lead-off much better then Jackson, without removing Jackson from the linup.

Jackson
Peralta
Boesch
Cabrera
Vmart
Maggs
Avila
Guillen
Betemit/Kelly

But the order is of little concern if guys are not going to start hitting.

Swap Avila n Maggs

 

[bdtay71]

I agree with msjb, Cabrera should stay put, he works better there as long as we don't go 1-2-3.

Almost every manager puts his big Slg. guy 4th, Leyland is not a pioneer.

And if you did bat him 3rd and we went 1-2 out, then even if Cabrera gets on, it's with 2 outs, better for him to lead off the next inning off and get on and give Vmart a better chance of advancing him.


I like Avila batting 8th and here's why. He's both young and a C. You bat him lower in the order where he doesn't feel the pressure of having to hit for a high average and he thrives, as he has been. He's still a young guy and despite the fantastic season he is having, I would still consider him to be unproven, as far as batting average is concerned. If he is still hitting like this next year at this time of the season then I would say move him up. But for now, I like him where he is at in the line-up.

Boesch should be 3rd.

We don't have anyone who can realistically lead-off much better then Jackson, without removing Jackson from the linup.

Jackson
Peralta
Boesch
Cabrera
Vmart
Maggs
Avila
Guillen
Betemit/Kelly

But the order is of little concern if guys are not going to start hitting.

Swap Avila n Maggs

 

[mjsb2]

I agree with msjb, Cabrera should stay put, he works better there as long as we don't go 1-2-3.

Almost every manager puts his big Slg. guy 4th, Leyland is not a pioneer.

And if you did bat him 3rd and we went 1-2 out, then even if Cabrera gets on, it's with 2 outs, better for him to lead off the next inning off and get on and give Vmart a better chance of advancing him.

Boesch should be 3rd.

We don't have anyone who can realistically lead-off much better then Jackson, without removing Jackson from the linup.

Jackson
Peralta
Boesch
Cabrera
Vmart
Maggs
Avila
Guillen
Betemit/Kelly

But the order is of little concern if guys are not going to start hitting.

Exactly.

The third batter in the lineup bats with no runners on and 2 outs more than any other spot in the lineup.

Both the 4th spot in the lineup, and the 2nd spot bat in more important situations, and are thus more important spots in the lineup. Even though he'll get 15-20 less PAs by batting 4th, he will bat in more important situations with much greater frequency.

 

[zoombabyzoom]

1. LF Boesch
2. 3B Betemit
3. C Avila
4. 1B Cabrera
5. DH Martinez
6. SS Peralta
7. RF Ordonez
8. 2B Guillen
9. CF Jackson

 

[Thumb]

Swap Avila n Maggs

I have Avila behind Maggs for a reason.

If you notice the lineup goes R,R,L,R,S,R,L,S,S or L

Makes it tougher on a bullpen to use specialists if you spread the directional hitters out.

This way after Vmart if they bring in a Righty to face Mags, then Avila benefits, or they have to make a switch.