Starting Lineup as of now? (Designated lineup thread)

[Ennder]

Can anyone post the league-averages by lineup slot (from last year, perhaps)? I think that'd be an interesting contribution to this discussion. I would, but don't know where to find them. Thanks in advance.

League and then Brewers

1st - .277/.341/.427/786 -- .272/.369/.497/.866

2nd - .277/.339/.422/.760 -- .270/.329/.452/.781

3rd - .293/.369/.492/.861 -- .305/.362/.586/.948

4th - .280/.365/.492/.857 -- .285/.382/.589/.971

5th - .270/.339/.438/.777 -- .264/.312/.466/.778

6th - .274/.342/.448/.790 -- .270/.323/.431/.754

7th - .267/.326/.411/.737 -- .261/.306/.419/.725

8th - .255/.325/379/.703 -- .232/.317/.339/.656

9th - .187/.241/.269/.510 -- .182/.237/.283/.520

 

 

No idea how to make that look nice in yuku.

 

There is a good reason it always felt like the top of the order was doing all the work. From #5 through #9 we were a well below average offensive team last year.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow - thanks, Ennder. Where do I mail my subscription fee? Looking at that #5 slot, especially, I think the Brewers really can be well above league-average. They would've been last year, too, but thankfully Ned 'knew' enough to hit Estrada 5th. Ugh. What do us stoopid fanz no?

 

Line by line, I think the Crew can/should be better than all of those - and Kendall looks to have the chance to be a great #8 for us - his OBP should be well over .325, and his SLG shouldn't be too far in either direction from .379. This team is going to be incredibly good.

[gregmag]

The main reason I don't put Kendall high is he is probably not going to play in at least 1/3 of our games. That way the top of your lineup and most of your everyday players stays pretty stable day to day.

This is a good point, and similar logic bolsters the argument for hitting Cameron second. Ned, for better or worse, seems to like a set lineup. The guys likely to play CF in April -- Gross and Gwynn -- work in the 2-spot. Well, in Gwynn's case, he works as well there as anywhere; I could see even Ned starting that spot with Kendall when Gwynn plays, which wouldn't be ideal but probably would work better than sticking Hardy up there. Anyway, the point is that keeping Cameron out of the middle of the lineup will probably make his return less disruptive to Yost's (*involuntary shudder*) game plan.

Greg.

 

[Tbadder]

Opening Day line up:

 

 

 

1. Weeks 2B

 

2. Gwynn CF

 

3. Braun LF

 

4. Fielder 1B

 

5. Hart RF

 

6. Hall 3B

 

7. Hardy SS

 

8. Munson C

 

9. Sheets

 

 

 

Gross has to be the pinch hitter for late game opportunities, although I could see where some may think Dillon is good enough. I'm assuming that Kendall is hurt.

 

 

 

26th game of the season:

 

 

 

1. Weeks 2B

 

2. Cameron CF: the thinking here is that Cameron gives Weeks max possibility to steal, and he's the 3rd best stealer on the team as well.

 

3. Braun LF

 

4. Fielder 1B

 

5. Hart RF: one of the keys to the season, Hart must protect Fielder, otherwise it's walk city for Fielder

 

6. Hall 3B

 

7. Hardy SS

 

8. Kendall C: guessing here, but I expect Rivera nd Munson to get lots of time behind the plate, how about a tri-platoon. If the Crew cut Rivera expect Palwhateversano to be on a AAA/MLB yo-yo all season.

 

9. Suppan

[TooLiveBrew]

Ned, for better or worse, seems to like a set lineup.

...

Anyway, the point is that keeping Cameron out of the middle of the lineup will probably make his return less disruptive to Yost's (*involuntary shudder*) game plan.

 

Involuntary shudder seconded. I just hope whatever lineup that gives Ned that "sequence" he apparently needs is one with Cameron batting second.

[ryanbraun75]

2B: Rickie Weeks (.295 25 HRs 66 RBIs .370 OBP)
CF: Mike Cameron (.265 27 HRs 73 RBIs .330 OBP)
LF: Ryan Braun (.335 43 HRs 120 RBIs .365 OBP)
1B: Prince Fielder (.310 47 HRs 130 RBIs .345 OBP)
RF: Corey Hart (.325 28 HRs 88 RBIs .365 OBP)
3B: Bill Hall (.285 24 HRs 78 RBIs .350 OBP)
SS: JJ Hardy (.300 25 HRs 85 RBIs .355 OBP)
C: Jason Kendall (.270 2 HRs 49 RBIs .345 OBP)

[davemakovec]

2B: Rickie Weeks (.295 25 HRs 66 RBIs .370 OBP)

CF: Mike Cameron (.265 27 HRs 73 RBIs .330 OBP)

LF: Ryan Braun (.335 43 HRs 120 RBIs .365 OBP)

1B: Prince Fielder (.310 47 HRs 130 RBIs .345 OBP)

RF: Corey Hart (.325 28 HRs 88 RBIs .365 OBP)

3B: Bill Hall (.285 24 HRs 78 RBIs .350 OBP)

SS: JJ Hardy (.300 25 HRs 85 RBIs .355 OBP)

C: Jason Kendall (.270 2 HRs 49 RBIs .345 OBP)

Two of these really stand out to me - Weeks and Fielder - Weeks with a .235 BA had a .375 OBP last year, and Prince with a .280-ish BA had a .395 OBP. How does he hit .310 and only have a .345 OBP?

 

[igor67]

Hardy following Cameron is attractive from a baserunning standpoint. Cameron gets a pretty fair chance to steal, or advance on balls in play which apparently he does well.

[Dmiles23]

Well... after listening to Yost on tonights Winter Warm-Up, I think 4 spots in the order are settled. He mentioned that the top 7 hitters in the order have 20+ homer potential. That leaves out Kendall and the pitcher. He also said that he would definitely have Fielder batting ahead of Braun, because he wanted to give Braun more chances to steal... and he wouldn't be running with Fielder at the plate. So that puts Fielder 3 and Braun 4.

 

Also, from this I'm guessing that since he didn't want Braun batting ahead of Fielder, he won't want Hart batting ahead of Fielder. Even though I'm not sure this would be my line-up... this is my guess for Yost:

 

1. Weeks

2. Hardy

3. Fielder

4. Braun

5. Hart

6. Hall

7. Gross/Gwynn/Dillon/Kapler

8. Kendall

9. Pitcher

 

and

 

1. Weeks

2. Hardy

3. Fielder

4. Braun

5. Hart

6. Cameron

7. Hall

8. Kendall

9. Pitcher

[tigerbrew]

Well... after listening to Yost on tonights Winter Warm-Up, I think 4 spots in the order are settled. He mentioned that the top 7 hitters in the order have 20+ homer potential. That leaves out Kendall and the pitcher. He also said that he would definitely have Fielder batting ahead of Braun, because he wanted to give Braun more chances to steal... and he wouldn't be running with Fielder at the plate. So that puts Fielder 3 and Braun 4.

Yeah, Yost mentioned that he's planning to switch Braun and Prince in the lineup, allowing Braun to be more aggressive on the baspads. I think that's a good idea.

 

Moreover, Prince is the more patient hitter with the higher OBP, he may be more ideal at #3 than Braun. Braun is the more aggressive hitter and may be more ideal at #4 where he can slug in more runs. Plus with Hart and Cameron behind him, Braun will do a lot more running and base stealing than last season.

 

My batting lineup is:

1. Weeks

2. Hardy

3. Prince

4. Braun

5. Hart

6. Cameron / Gross

7. Hall

8. Kendall

 

The #4, #5 and #6 hitters possess good base stealing speed, and along with Hall at #7, they have good power too. I think the lower part of this Brewers lineup should generate more runs than last season, especially if Hall bounces back.

 

[Ennder]

I ran the Brewers/Cubs ZiPs projections through the lineup analysis tool and this is what it found.

 

 

It projects 4.998 R/G for the Brewers and 5.034 R/G for the Cubs.

 

 

It basically sees our two offenses as a wash or a slight advantage Cubs. That is with Soto at a .825 OPS and Fukudome with a .842 OPS which both seem high to me.

[rluzinski]

I hope that's not the lineup tool from Baseballmusings.

[Ayt]

I see Cameron batting second. He has better speed and a higher OBP than Hardy. He also sees 4+ pitcher per plate appearance, which will allow Weeks to steal more bases.

 

I also think they prefer Hart's power in the 5 slot.

[liveforoctober]

Looks like Braun will be hitting behind Fielder per Ned Yost. Here's the quote ... they are talking about base stealing...

 

Ned: Yes, we hope to. We feel that we have four guys that can steal 20 bases this year -- Rickie Weeks, Cameron, Braun and Hart. We have to probably move Braun behind Prince Fielder so we can allow him to run more, but I like to run against anybody when it makes sense. We have more baserunners than we did last year, plus we have Cameron who went from first to third more than anyone in the Major Leagues the last two years.

 

It isn't "earth shaking" news ... but it is a bit of a surprise for me...

 

Thoughts?

[Ennder]

I could care less about the stolen bases but I do like having both Hart and Braun behind Fielder against righties. I think Fielder is going to see a lot of BB's and we need to have guys who can hit righties behind him to drive him in.

[Bnowell4evr]

Hello everyone this is my first time posting Ive been a lurker for a while though. The Winter is getting to me Im fiending for some BASEBALL!

Anyways I'm having a hard time figuring out who I want to bat 2nd for us. Like you guys have mentioned Mike Cameron takes plenty of pitches and is the king of going from first to third. Him and Rickie on the bases before Prince Braun and Hart is gonna drive pitchers nuts. However I really like Cameron batting 6th for us behind Prince, Braun, and Hart. The fact that hes a proven clutch hitter with his .302 average with runners in scoring position the last 3 years makes me want to bat him behind those guys. In a perfect world, JJ Hardy would play like the monster he was in the first half and become alittle more disclipined at the plate.

Heres what Im thinking the lineup should look like 25 games in.
1. Rickie Weeks 2B
2. JJ Hardy SS
3. Prince Fielder 1B
4. Ryan Braun LF
5. Corey Hart RF
6. Mike Cameron CF
7. Bill Hall 3B
8. Jason Kendall

Craig Counsell IF
Gabe Gross OF
Tony Gwynn Jr. OF
Joe Dillon 1B/3B
Eric Munson C

SP Ben Sheets
SP Yovani Gallardo
SP Jeff Suppan
SP Carlos Villanueva
SP Chris Capuano

CL Eric Gagne
8th David Riske
7th Salomon Torres
6th Derek Turnbow
6th Guillermo Mota
LR Dave Bush
LS Brian Shouse

My only question is what do we do with Seth Mclung and Gabe Kapler? They seem like the odd men out along with Vargas. Does Mike Cameron take up a roster spot while hes suspended? and does Tony Gwynn Jr have any options left? If Cameron doesnt take up a spot and Gwynn has any options I have to believe TGJ is the odd man out when Cameron returns. I hope thats not the case because I love the speed TGJ gives us off the bench.

[logan82]

Not terribly useful, but I thought it might be interesting to look at what each player loses off of his stats per spot he is dropped in the batting order. Based off of 18 PA per spot in the order using last years stats. As always if you see a mistake let me know. I get sloppy woth stuff now and then.

 

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pKN8HdBGjC9LVeUzB9o8vNg