Justin Morneau

[thecrow124]

Lineup optimization says you should bad your best hitter second, Cutch should have been there from the start of last year.

I agree and disagree with this. Your best hitter should bat second, yes in an ideal situation. You want your best hitter up when he has the best chance do do damage. With Marte hitting leadoff, you need Cutch hitting third because it gives him a better chance to hit with runners on base. If we had a leadoff guy with an OBP around .400 then I could see the best hitter hitting second. With Marte getting on base at about a .330 clip it would not be advantageous to get Cutch the extra AB's in the two hole because he would in essence be nothing more than a second leadoff hitter. This however isbassuming that you are hitting the pitcher 9th in the lineup. If you were to hit the pitcher 8th then this entire statement would have to be revisited.

In an ideal world, when Polanco comes up he couldnbat leadoff and then Cutch could hit second. But until we find someone that can get on base enough I can't see hitting Cutch anywhere other than third.

 

[Darkstone42]

I agree and disagree with this. Your best hitter should bat second, yes in an ideal situation. You want your best hitter up when he has the best chance do do damage. With Marte hitting leadoff, you need Cutch hitting third because it gives him a better chance to hit with runners on base. If we had a leadoff guy with an OBP around .400 then I could see the best hitter hitting second. With Marte getting on base at about a .330 clip it would not be advantageous to get Cutch the extra AB's in the two hole because he would in essence be nothing more than a second leadoff hitter. This however isbassuming that you are hitting the pitcher 9th in the lineup. If you were to hit the pitcher 8th then this entire statement would have to be revisited.

In an ideal world, when Polanco comes up he couldnbat leadoff and then Cutch could hit second. But until we find someone that can get on base enough I can't see hitting Cutch anywhere other than third.

With Marte, though, even though he only gets on at a .330 clip, he essentially gets on second at that clip because he's such a good base stealer, so you might not lose that much in terms of getting Cutch RBI opportunities by batting him second.

 

[sychmd]

cutch leaves many people on third, especially with less than 2 outs. i dont think he is a prominent or reliable rbi guy. he is a good leadoff hitter, can be patient and will allow him to use the whole field which is actually when he has more power.
granted, on our team, we have many missing pieces in the middle of the order, but assuming some of those start to fill in with a trade, pedro getting better each year, or a mourneau signing to fit in at 3 or 4th in lineup.

 

[element1286]

I agree and disagree with this. Your best hitter should bat second, yes in an ideal situation. You want your best hitter up when he has the best chance do do damage. With Marte hitting leadoff, you need Cutch hitting third because it gives him a better chance to hit with runners on base. If we had a leadoff guy with an OBP around .400 then I could see the best hitter hitting second. With Marte getting on base at about a .330 clip it would not be advantageous to get Cutch the extra AB's in the two hole because he would in essence be nothing more than a second leadoff hitter. This however isbassuming that you are hitting the pitcher 9th in the lineup. If you were to hit the pitcher 8th then this entire statement would have to be revisited.

In an ideal world, when Polanco comes up he couldnbat leadoff and then Cutch could hit second. But until we find someone that can get on base enough I can't see hitting Cutch anywhere other than third.

My question is why does Cutch have to be the 'Run Producer?' A .400 OBP lead off hitter would be nice, but considering there will probably 5 guys who have a .400 OBP this year in entire MLB, one being Cutch, it isn't a realistic scenario.

 

[thecrow124]

My question is why does Cutch have to be the 'Run Producer?' A .400 OBP lead off hitter would be nice, but considering there will probably 5 guys who have a .400 OBP this year in entire MLB, one being Cutch, it isn't a realistic scenario.

He doesn't as long as there are other good options. I would love to have him lead off, but that is not the way our team is constructed. We are built, and I have said this before, like the 80's Cardinals. We just don't have the personnel yet to have everyone hit where they are supposed to or should be.

But on the other point, I guess .400 was a pretty high number to use, probably should have gone .380, but even still Marte is a long way from there.

 

[Etrius24]

Morneau was basically free.. He is not locked into a long term contract... and a fresh start might be just what he needed...He was flat lining in Minnesota since his concussion injuries. If nothing else the Bucs have a really deep lineup and bench now.. As has been pointed out in this thread they have set themselves up decently for platoons at the corners of the outfield and at first base.

 

[Etrius24]

I am not worried so much about Where they bat Cutch... I think that they have enough bats now that they can simply make do by playing the hot hand and utilizing the platoons they have. And with that they can field a decent lineup night after night.

we can quibble about where Cutch should bat.. but at least now he will have a couple of guys hitting behind him that will pose enough of a threat to offer protection.

 

[element1286]

He doesn't as long as there are other good options. I would love to have him lead off, but that is not the way our team is constructed. We are built, and I have said this before, like the 80's Cardinals. We just don't have the personnel yet to have everyone hit where they are supposed to or should be.

But on the other point, I guess .400 was a pretty high number to use, probably should have gone .380, but even still Marte is a long way from there.

I don't see the 80's Cards comparison, the Pirates have some speed at the top, but the rest are average(ish) runners.

Even .380 is high, if Marte was a .350 guy, I'd do it. Just as long as I never see Jordy Mercer in the two spot the rest of the year I won't complain though.

 

[Etrius24]

I think Mercer has been great! and in the future I think his average and OBP will improve... But element is right... Mercer does not make the lineup look great when he is hitting in the 2 hole right now...

When Marte gets back I think the lineup will be great..

Marte
Walker
Cutch
Morneau/Jones
Byrd/Tabata
Alvarez
Martin/Buck
Mercer

Lots of options there and lots of depth..

Sanchez and Snider are on the bench also..

without giving up the farm I really like what NH did for this offense.