Random thought while waiting for the rain to stop ...Jimmy Rollins' season-opening power surge has sparked a new round of silly questions about whether his RBI potential is being wasted in the leadoff spot of the Phillies' lineup. Rollins is one of the best leadoff hitters in the game, and the Phillies would be wise to keep him there, regardless of how many homers he hits.
But here's a lineup idea that may merit some consideration: Carlos Ruiz (left) in the No. 2 hole.
Ruiz has seemingly emerged as the Phillies' starting catcher because he handles the bat better than Rod Barajas. Ruiz doesn't strike out much, has decent power and runs well for a catcher. I like Shane Victorino in the No. 2 spot, but with Victorino's blazing speed, he could give a boost to the bottom of the lineup. In the 8-hole, Victorino could act almost like a second leadoff hitter, and if he gets on base, the Phillies can do a lot of the bunting and hitting-and-running that they've talked about with their pitchers.
In 1996, catcher Joe Girardi often batted second and had success for a Yankees team that won the World Series. I think Ruiz can be equally effective.
Thoughts?
6 comments:
I'm happy Manuel has seemingly relegated Barajas to the backup role. An expensive backup though.
i'd rather keep ruiz near the back of the lineup. not because he's a bad hitter, but he seems like he's doing a good job of turning the lineup over.
personally, i think this would be a better lineup
rollins
utley
burrell
howard
helms
victorino
rowand
ruiz
hamels(:-D)
keeps the L/R/L/R thing going so we don't have LOOGY's shutting down our lefties. you could potentially have ruiz behind howard. plus this would be even more protection for burrell. he had some outstanding numbers last year with howard behind him. oh, and the best protection for howard is keeping men on base in front of him(rollins/utley/burrell will all have good OBP this year)
Paul LoDuca often bats second for the Mets too.
Moving Victorino to 8 would also give Jimmy Rollins some more RBI opps. [I agree with you on leaving him at 1]
I think Victorino should bat No. 8. I haven't seen that blazing speed that everyone has been promising from him (thrown out trying to steal 3d and thrown out at the plate on a Howard single). If Ruiz can just worry about moving the runner, taking a pitch or 2 to let Jimmy steal (like Lo Duca does with Reyes), then, yeah, he would be ideal in that spot.
Good point, Tom G., about Lo Duca batting second for the Mets. That's another situation where a catcher in the No. 2 hole works.
One problem with your lineup, Jamie: I think the Phils would prefer Burrell over Helms in the No. 5 spot behind Howard. Burrell is a better hitter than Helms. Batting Utley in the No. 2 hole isn't a terrible idea, though. During spring training, I spoke to Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus, and he advocated batting Rollins-Utley-Howard in the 1-2-3 spots, simply because the top three hitters in a lineup get the most at-bats. Personally, I think Utley is ideal in the 3-hole, and Howard is the perfect cleanup hitter.
Lo Duca: he's a fantastic number 2 hitter. but he has a special skillset that ruiz doesn't have. his patience is unreal and he has the uncanny ability of taking every AB 5+ pitches it seems. he works a pitcher like no other. ruiz OR victorino doesn't have that ability.
with rollins/utley/burrell/howard you get your 4 best hitters up right away AND you break up the LL that may happen. and as i said before. the best protection is keeping people on in front of howard.
i think howard is the perfect clean up hitter, but utley hit his best at the 2 hole. it seemed as he was more patience in that hole. he didn't feel as if he had to drive the runners in but get on base instead. he had a 403 OBP in the 2 hole compared to a 370 OBP in the 3 hole.
when burrell had howard hitting behind him last year he pulled in a .412 OBP with more than a .900 OPS
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