Pitcher no longer batting 8th? I'm out of the loop

[OldSchoolSnapper]

So I'm as big a die hard as the next guy, but without television and pretty crappy Internet it's hard to follow the Brewers as much as I want to ... I've noticed they've quit the whole pitcher in the 8 hole, but I never heard about this. When did they start doing this and what was the rationale?

[bullox]

At the end of May, when the Brewers started turning this thing around. It's been a few months.

 

Sunday, May 25th Rivera started for Kendall and hit in the 8 hole. The next day Kendall was back in the starting lineup batting 8th also.

[razzzorsharp]

Did we ever get hard numbers whether this worked or was the sample size too small?

[bullox]

Well, one aspect of it worked - Kendall has only GIDP once this year and that was well after the experiment ended. One of the benefits of him hitting 9th was hitting in to less double plays, of which he had done quite a bit in the past.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Man, it's been that long? I guess I never paid attention to it.

[1992casey]

A huge reason for the change was that Hardy made it clear that he hated hitting in front of the pitcher.