What's your preferred 2012 lineup? (of players who will actually be on our team)

[PrinceEatMeat]

In theory Lucroy is good in the 2 hole, but he doesn't really project there well in the long haul. He doesn't have speed, and he won't continue getting on bas at a .364 clip. He does have the bunting ability Roenicke likes there though, which could make in work in the short-term until Weeks gets going. I would probably do it for now. I'm not sure I'd use Kottaras there either, but they could for now like I said. I think in the long-term I'd just swap Weeks and Hart. I think Hart works better at the top of the order. His best success was when he was batting either leadoff or in the 2 hole, and Rickie did well in the 5 hole last year. Obviously Rickie needs to get going a little first to justify that move, but I'd like to see this eventually.

 

Morgan/Gomez/Aoki

Hart

Braun

Ramirez

Weeks

Lucroy

Green

Izturis

Pitcher

[rluzinski]

If you want to get people on base in front of Braun you put the players with the highest projected OBP in front of him. Without looking, I doubt Aoki, Morgan or Lucroy have the highest projected OBP among the possibilities. If anyone cares about them, can just go to fangraphs.com and look up the rest-of-season ZiPS OBP projections for those guys. Not the end all be all but better than over-weighting 2012 production.

[Funketown]

Aoki is projected for a .287/.335/.398 line. The only guys with a higher projected OBP are Kottaras (.339), Weeks (.339), and Braun (.363).

 

That ain't good.

[rluzinski]

Aoki is projected for a .287/.335/.398 line. The only guys with a higher projected OBP are Kottaras (.339), Weeks (.339), and Braun (.363).

 

That ain't good.

 

Wow, thought Hart would be up there. Here are the updated projections:

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=rzips&team=23&players=0&sort=16,d

 

Apparently we have to hope that Lucroys great start represents some kind of epic change in expected performance and Weeks' and Ramirez's poor starts... don't. Looking at those projections, this is what I might do:

 

..... OK, anything I put down looks terrible. I have no idea what the Brewers should do. They have a million lefties and Izturis, Conrad and Maysonet are just worthless. Start Kotaras against righties at 1B. Replace Maysonet with a scrub 3rd catcher.

[Funketown]

It's ugly for certain. Here's what I'd do (once Gomez is back):

 

vs. RHP vs. LHP

CF Aoki 2B Weeks

2B Weeks C Lucroy

LF Braun LF Braun

3B Ramirez 3B Ramirez

RF Hart 1B Hart

C Lucroy CF Gomez

1B Green RF Aoki

SS Izturis SS Not Applicable

P P

This team needs a ton of things to go right to have a fighting chance. They ought to drop one of Ishikawa or Green; having two left-handed 1B on a roster doesn't do them any good. Green can hit better than Ishikawa and play 2B and 3B so the answer should be obvious, but Ishikawa guaranteed himself a roster spot two nights ago at least until the break. All I can say is that worse teams have made it to the postseason. For as awful as the first month was, they'll only be five back with a win today. Meh, I can't take much solace in any of this. Just gotta hope for something crazy!

[logan82]

Lucroy after 37 games this year: .337/.381/.510

Lucroy after 37 games last year: .324/.378/.459

 

How did that turn out?

[brewtank34]

This seems too obvious for Roenicke to do, but hey...

 

Aoki

Lucroy

Braun

Hart

Weeks

Ramirez

Ishikawa

Maysonette

P

 

Hart may not dig being in the 4 hole because he's too mentally soft to be able to protect someone of value (see last year w/protecting Prince), but he's the guy that needs to be there. Ramirez can be a great 6 hole producer for us while still protecting a faster Weeks. Putting Weeks behind Ramirez does not make sense when talking about being able to run the bases effectively. Conrad and Izturis should not see regular time ever again. Maysonette isn't much better, but has more upside IMO.

[pete]

I asked some Astros fans what they thought of Maysonet's defense and they said he was solid. It seems like they ought to use him more than they do. But as much as Rock is painful to listen to, he's a total company man and he gave the company line last night on the broadcast. Izturis is a good defender and getting any offense is a bonus. I wonder if Bianchi could be a decent SS. But ours in not to question why, ours is to buy tickets and cry.

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, I was going to post about Maysonet so far Pete. He's looked obviously superior to Izturis. Maysonet should be the regular starter at this point; I really don't think he'd be as bad as everyone is assuming. His defense even looks like it might be better than Izturis's at this point.

[Baldkin]

Was this before, or after he swung so ugly on a pitch he got called out for stepping across home plate?

[TooLiveBrew]

It's about physical talent, not one freak play. Maysonet is clearly a better hitter than Izturis at this point, & the gap on defense doesn't look very big at all... and might be in favor of Maysonet.

[Bombers]

Run with this RRR

 

Hart-1b

Aoki-rf

Braun

Ramirez

Lucroy

Weeks

Morgan vs RHP / Gomez vs LHP

Izturis/maysonet - whatever

 

Aoki plays everyday until proven otherwise.

[JohnBriggs12]

On the bright side, as little offense as Izturis provides, at least the Brewers aren't stuck with Clint Barmes and his .165/.190/.281 for $10.5 million over 2 years. Maybe those numbers will pick up with a few AB's against Randy Wolf, but the Brewers dodged a bullet there.

[rluzinski]

I agree about giving Aoki a good look:

 

Vs. LHP

Aoki RF

Hart 1B

Ramirez 3B

Braun LF

Lucroy C

Weeks 2B

Gomez CF

Whatever SS

 

Vs. RHP

Aoki CF

Hart RF

Ramirez 3B

Braun LF

Kotaras 1B

Lucroy C

Weeks 2B

Whatever SS

 

I'd would move Weeks back up as soon as he gets out of his funk, however.

[reillymcshane]

On the bright side, as little offense as Izturis provides, at least the Brewers aren't stuck with Clint Barmes and his .165/.190/.281 for $10.5 million over 2 years. Maybe those numbers will pick up with a few AB's against Randy Wolf, but the Brewers dodged a bullet there.

 

Nice one.

[MVP2110]

Right now I'd probably go against righties with

RF Aoki

CF Morgan

LF Braun

3B Ramirez

1B Hart

C LuCroy

2B Weeks

SS Ransom

Lefties:

1B Hart

RF Aoki

LF Braun

3B Ramirez

C Lucroy

2B Weeks

CF Gomez

SS Ransom

[Bombers]

I run with this

1B Hart

RF Aoki

LF Braun

3B Ramirez

C Lucroy

2B Weeks

CF Morgan/Gomez platoon

SS Ransom

[PrinceFielderx1]

I'd go with this full-time for now,

 

Hart 1B

Aoki RF

Braun LF

Lucroy C

Ramirez 3B

Weeks 2B

Morgan/Gomez CF

Ransom/Izturis

[hart attack 2006]

I typically don't get worked up about lineups, but I just don't understand Hart leading off. Leads the team in extra base hits, doesn't get on base at an exceptional rate, doesn't steal anymore. I'm aware that he doesn't seem to like the pressure of protecting 3/4 hitters, but he's had plenty of sucess in the 6 hole over his career.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I typically don't get worked up about lineups, but I just don't understand Hart leading off. Leads the team in extra base hits, doesn't get on base at an exceptional rate, doesn't steal anymore. I'm aware that he doesn't seem to like the pressure of protecting 3/4 hitters, but he's had plenty of sucess in the 6 hole over his career.

 

The Brewers seem to be scoring more runs with Hart and Aoki at 1 and 2 in the line-up. It has stabilized the top half of the order. Why mess with what is working?

[EdRomero11]

LF Aoki

SS Ransom

RF Braun

1B Hart

C Lucroy

3B Ramirez

2b Green

CF Morgan/Gomez

 

 

I know, Ransom in the 2nd hole is not great but I would ride the hot hand between Ransom, Green, our cf platoon.

[ewitkows]

Why move Braun?

[EdRomero11]

He has a stronger arm than Aoki

[adambr2]

Strange...I was just assuming the other day, that with all these injuries and AAA players out there, there just isn't enough to remain competitive enough offensively. Then I looked over the lineup. Lucroy is back in a month. If, if by then, Weeks' horrible slide ends (likely), and Ramirez puts up his usual strong second half (history would tell us, pretty likely), then when Lucroy comes back, we have an everyday lineup of

 

RF Aoki

1B Hart

LF Braun

3B Ramirez

C Lucroy

2B Weeks

SS Ransom

CF Gomez/Morgan

 

And weirdly enough, sheesh, that actually is a good lineup.

 

I just wish Aoki would slide into the leadoff spot already. Aoki is as prototypical of a leadoff man as we have. If you're going to insist on having a power guy in the leadoff spot, as least do something correspondingly that makes sense, like having the pitcher bat 8th.

 

Unfortunately I'm afraid that Hart isn't batting 1st so much for his power as for the fact that Roenicke's sole preferred qualification for a #2 hitter is "good bunter".

[adambr2]

1) RF Aoki

2) 1B Hart

3) LF Braun

4) 3B Ramirez

5) C Lucroy

6) 2B Weeks

7) SS Ransom

8) CF Morgan/Gomez

 

At #1/#2, ENOUGH already with the power hitter leading off fetish! Hart is the second best slugger on our team, and he belongs in a spot where he can cash in on more RBI opportunities, even if that means just moving down a spot. He's not a strong OBP guy at all. There is no reason to bat him leadoff other than habit. Meanwhile, Aoki is as much as we can ask for in a leadoff guy. He can get on base at a .360 clip, that's whats most important. He isn't going to steal many bases, but his speed his adequate for leading off.

 

Braun at #3, obviously. I'm okay with leaving Ramirez at cleanup because A) Roenicke isn't going to change it, and B), he looks like he's starting to have his second half run which he is historically known for.

 

Lucroy certainly belongs no further down than 5th. Aoki/Hart/Braun/Ramirez/Lucroy is a very nice #1-#5. I don't know if you can really put Weeks behind the last two, there is nothing left to do with Weeks other than hope he turns it on and becomes a big asset in that 6 spot -- unless you want to spell him a couple days a week with Green, in which case Green also hits 6th.

 

Ransom hasn't been fantastic by any means, but I feel like he's shown enough defensively to feel fairly comfortable leaving him as the everyday starter when Izturis returns, because really, I just can't bear to see "Izzy" back in the starting lineup every day. That leaves Morgan/Gomez.