The Return of Derrek Lee

[CubinNY]

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the importance of Lee in the lineup. I think his performance in terms of power is almost as big a question as Wood or Prior.

 

One thing that Lee has been good at throughout his career is pitch selection. He's posted good to very good OBP thoughout most of his career.

 

I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to move him up to the 2nd slot behind Soriano.

 

In my world Soriano would be hitting lower in the order, but that doesn't look like it will happen.

 

Something like

 

Soriano

Lee

Murton

Aramis

Barrett

DeRosa

CF/RF (I don't think JJ will be around to start the season)

Izturis

 

 

Thoughts?

[Soriano12]

Soriano

Lee

Murton

 

No. Just No.

[Rob]

I'm all for DLee batting second... anything to keep Izturis from batting there.

[CubinNY]

Soriano

Lee

Murton

 

No. Just No.

 

Ok. Why not?

[Soriano12]

Soriano

Lee

Murton

 

No. Just No.

 

Ok. Why not?

 

Well, we would probably lead MLB in solo HR's.

[CubinNY]

Soriano

Lee

Murton

 

No. Just No.

 

Ok. Why not?

 

Well, we would probably lead MLB in solo HR's.

 

Lee has a career OBP of .363

Murton has a career OBP of .370

 

Aramis is a lock to hit at least 25 HRs.

[Omar]

Didnt Lee bat 2nd a lot in 2004?

[shnsajax]

Didnt Lee bat 2nd a lot in 2004?

 

Some but mostly 6th.

batting 6th 324ab's: .312 .384 .552 .936

bating 2nd 112ab's: .232 .336 .429 .765

 

Personally I don't put too much into the splits, but I would not really even consider batting Murton 3rd and Lee 2nd. I would flop Aramis and Lee before Murton and Lee.

[oldstyle81]

Soriano

Lee

Murton

 

No. Just No.

 

Ok. Why not?

 

Well, we would probably lead MLB in solo HR's.

 

Lee has a career OBP of .363

Murton has a career OBP of .370

 

Aramis is a lock to hit at least 25 HRs.

 

exactly

[BigbadB]

I don't think it's necessary unless the alternative is Izturis. The more times the best hitters hit, the more likely they do something good with the bat. 2nd or 3rd in the order won't matter that much to Lee, but because of Lee's power, it would make more sense to put Murton in front of him.

[Soul]

It's not as outrageous as it might sound, but I don't think Murton is likely to slug at high enough levels to make me happy with him in the 3rd slot.

 

And I don't think it's fair to put him in that position yet, either. 3 hole is the pressure-cooker in MLB. You are expected to be THE stud. The Bonds. The Pujols. The Lee. I like Murt but he's not ready for that yet.

[UMFan83]

Hitting Derrek Lee second defeats the purpose of having high OBP guys at the top of the lineup. They are there so that hitters like Lee can drive them home. You would be completely wasting his power by hitting Soriano and Lee 1st and second..

 

 

 

 

 

unless you hit the pitcher 8th and Murton 9th or something :)

[CubinNY]

Hitting Derrek Lee second defeats the purpose of having high OBP guys at the top of the lineup. They are there so that hitters like Lee can drive them home. You would be completely wasting his power by hitting Soriano and Lee 1st and second..

 

 

 

 

 

unless you hit the pitcher 8th and Murton 9th or something :)

 

My point is that Lee may have lost some power with the writst injury.

 

But either way, if Soriano hits a solo HR and then Lee follows it is still two runs.

 

My thinking is that Lee has decent enough speed and a pretty good OBP. If he doesn't hit for a lot of power or less power he could be pretty good in that slot.

[MPrior]

I'm not completely averse to the idea, but Soriano, Murton, Lee is probably better. Either way, the most important thing is to get the better hitters early in the lineup, and keep Izturis in the 8 spot, where he can do the least damage.

[WrigleyField 22]

Hitting Derrek Lee second defeats the purpose of having high OBP guys at the top of the lineup. They are there so that hitters like Lee can drive them home. You would be completely wasting his power by hitting Soriano and Lee 1st and second..

 

 

 

 

unless you hit the pitcher 8th and Murton 9th or something :)

 

I've been saying this all along!

Soriano

Lee

Ramirez

Barrett

Jones

Izturis

Pitcher

DeRosa

Murton

 

:wink:

[soapy]

If Lee's power was an issue, I'd consider hitting him 2nd, sure. If that happened I'd have no problem with Murton or Ramirez hitting 3rd. Having said that, I think the best option is having Murton in the 2-hole.

 

I really hope this isn't an issue though. They are going to need Lee hitting HRs.

[CuseCubFan69]

First of all regarding Lee, I hope things are going better with his little girl. I'm not sure how focused he'll be if she is still having a lot of problems and I wouldn't blame him for a second if he struggles. Saying that I might slide him to the 2 spot just to take the pressure off him mentally and physically.

[Bull]

First of all regarding Lee, I hope things are going better with his little girl. I'm not sure how focused he'll be if she is still having a lot of problems and I wouldn't blame him for a second if he struggles. Saying that I might slide him to the 2 spot just to take the pressure off him mentally and physically.

 

If you want to take pressure off him, he's always said he prefers hitting 6th. Maybe sliding him to 5th if he struggles wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

That said, I don't expect him to struggle. He won't hit like he did in 2005 but I think we can expect .380/.570/.950 from him

 

2005 = 1.080, carreer = .863

[wade]

Would the three hole be too much pressure on Murton, or would he get tons of fastballs with Ramirez behind him and excel? That would be interesting.

[Soul]

I'd much rather hit Murt 2nd. He would appear to be well-suited to that slot.

 

If Lee lost his power and was moved to the 2 hole, then I'd probably move Ram to #3 and then look for someone else such as Barrett or even Jones to hit 4th-----leaving Murt @ 5th.

 

Either way, if Lee loses too much power and can't hit 3rd, we're probably in serious trouble.

[CuseCubFan69]

First of all regarding Lee, I hope things are going better with his little girl. I'm not sure how focused he'll be if she is still having a lot of problems and I wouldn't blame him for a second if he struggles. Saying that I might slide him to the 2 spot just to take the pressure off him mentally and physically.

 

If you want to take pressure off him, he's always said he prefers hitting 6th. Maybe sliding him to 5th if he struggles wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

That said, I don't expect him to struggle. He won't hit like he did in 2005 but I think we can expect .380/.570/.950 from him

 

2005 = 1.080, carreer = .863

 

I'm for whatever works!

[Banedon]

Hitting Derrek Lee second defeats the purpose of having high OBP guys at the top of the lineup. They are there so that hitters like Lee can drive them home. You would be completely wasting his power by hitting Soriano and Lee 1st and second..

 

 

 

 

 

unless you hit the pitcher 8th and Murton 9th or something :)

 

My point is that Lee may have lost some power with the writst injury.

 

But either way, if Soriano hits a solo HR and then Lee follows it is still two runs.

 

My thinking is that Lee has decent enough speed and a pretty good OBP. If he doesn't hit for a lot of power or less power he could be pretty good in that slot.

 

So then wouldn't it be a better idea to start out the season with Lee in the 3 spot and make this as a midseason adjustment if his power isn't there? I just don't think you can make the assumption that it won't be there.

[goonys evil twin]

So then wouldn't it be a better idea to start out the season with Lee in the 3 spot and make this as a midseason adjustment if his power isn't there? I just don't think you can make the assumption that it won't be there.

 

While spring training stats are not a good way to determine who should get jobs, you should be able to get a good idea of Lee's power. It shouldn't take until midseason to make such a determination. If Lee doesn't have his power, or reverts back to his 2004 numbers, this offense is going to need mega-production from other guys to make it into the top half of the league. They need to get something significantly higher than his career .276/.363/.500 line, I don't even want to imagine what would happen if he's below that.

[Banedon]

So then wouldn't it be a better idea to start out the season with Lee in the 3 spot and make this as a midseason adjustment if his power isn't there? I just don't think you can make the assumption that it won't be there.

 

While spring training stats are not a good way to determine who should get jobs, you should be able to get a good idea of Lee's power. It shouldn't take until midseason to make such a determination. If Lee doesn't have his power, or reverts back to his 2004 numbers, this offense is going to need mega-production from other guys to make it into the top half of the league. They need to get something significantly higher than his career .276/.363/.500 line, I don't even want to imagine what would happen if he's below that.

 

Aramis didn't have his stroke going until May last year and he wasn't even coming off of a major injury. I don't think it would be a fair assessment to say that if Lee has a bad spring that he's "lost his power".

[goonys evil twin]

So then wouldn't it be a better idea to start out the season with Lee in the 3 spot and make this as a midseason adjustment if his power isn't there? I just don't think you can make the assumption that it won't be there.

 

While spring training stats are not a good way to determine who should get jobs, you should be able to get a good idea of Lee's power. It shouldn't take until midseason to make such a determination. If Lee doesn't have his power, or reverts back to his 2004 numbers, this offense is going to need mega-production from other guys to make it into the top half of the league. They need to get something significantly higher than his career .276/.363/.500 line, I don't even want to imagine what would happen if he's below that.

 

Aramis didn't have his stroke going until May last year and he wasn't even coming off of a major injury. I don't think it would be a fair assessment to say that if Lee has a bad spring that he's "lost his power".

 

But didn't Aramis look great in the spring? Considering how he looked after the injury last year, I think people in the know should have a good idea about where he's at by the end of spring training. That doesn't mean just having good stats in the spring. They should be able to tell if his swing is off, if his wrist is hindering him, etc.