Piniella Names Batting Order

[Rob]

is it wrong of me to root for Theriot to tear his ACL in Spring Training?

 

Really? Wishing injury?

 

To be fair, getting Ronny in over Theriot would project to improve the team by a few wins over the course of a season. Theriot seems like a real nice guy and all, but the least he could do is take one disabling injury for the team.

 

unless ronny hits like he did in 2006, in which case you'd lose more games with him in the lineup.

 

Except that he's not projected to do that at all, is he?

[TruffleShuffle]

is it wrong of me to root for Theriot to tear his ACL in Spring Training?

 

Really? Wishing injury?

 

To be fair, getting Ronny in over Theriot would project to improve the team by a few wins over the course of a season. Theriot seems like a real nice guy and all, but the least he could do is take one disabling injury for the team.

 

unless ronny hits like he did in 2006, in which case you'd lose more games with him in the lineup.

 

Except that he's not projected to do that at all, is he?

 

yeah and i'm pretty sure that he wasn't projected to hit that way the first time either. that's the thing about projections, sometimes they're wrong.

[Beer Kaese]

There was a thread a few days ago about lineup. I put up what I thought we'd see, given what we have and know, from Lou on opening day. I nailed it. Not thrilled but we've got a light hitter (Theriot) and a pair of question marks (Soto and Pie).

 

One thing we know about Lou is that if a change is needed, he'll make one. He isn't insane, he won't run the same thing out day after day hoping for a different result.

 

One thing that's been in the back of my mind since I saw a guy from BP on ESPN. He/they projected Fukudome @ .296/.401 with a pronounced L/R split. If the Cubs find no other top or middle of the lineup left hand hitter I wouldn't be surprised to see Fukudome and Lee flipped in the lineup against RHP.

 

One thing that I wonder about is why is Soriano seen as such a poor leadoff hitter? What's a typical leadoff hitter's OBP, .370? Ok, so Soriano is about .035 off typical. Over the course of a season that's what, 28-30 times on base. When you factor in HRs, 2Bs, SBs and on the bases speed I can live with it just fine. I suppose you can agrue a waste of all that power but with only one legitimate left handed hitter I think you bat him in the middle of the lineup as long as he has decent power, which is Fukudome.

 

As far as Theriot ... He's a steady but unspectacular defender. He's not a bad hitter and his speed compensates for his lack of power. That said, I hope Cedeno is so good in ST that it keeps Lou up nights.

 

How about this lineup for opening day.

 

Fukudome

DeRosa

Lee

Ramirez

Soriano

Zambrano

Soto

Pie

Theriot

[soapy]

Theriot in the 2-spot isn't good, but it's hard for me to get too upset about lineups in January; especially when we've seen how much Lou changes his opinion on such things.

[Tyrant]

 

yeah and i'm pretty sure that he wasn't projected to hit that way the first time either. that's the thing about projections, sometimes they're wrong.

 

Amen. The weight given to various projections around here is a little baffling.

[Beer Kaese]

Theriot in the 2-spot isn't good, but it's hard for me to get too upset about lineups in January; especially when we've seen how much Lou changes his opinion on such things.

 

Unless Cedeno or Pie rock in Zona or we add a SS or CFer I'd expect to see The Riot #2 on opening day.

 

Parden the interruption, go right back to beating the dead horse.

[Vanilla Ice]

Theriot in the 2-spot isn't good, but it's hard for me to get too upset about lineups in January; especially when we've seen how much Lou changes his opinion on such things.

 

Unless Cedeno or Pie rock in Zona or we add a SS or CFer I'd expect to see The Riot #2 on opening day.

 

Parden the interruption, go right back to beating the horse.

 

It's a family site, guy.

[fiver]

Theriot in the 2-spot isn't good, but it's hard for me to get too upset about lineups in January; especially when we've seen how much Lou changes his opinion on such things.

 

Unless Cedeno or Pie rock in Zona or we add a SS or CFer I'd expect to see The Riot #2 on opening day.

 

Parden the interruption, go right back to beating the horse.

 

It's a family site, guy.

 

I believe you may have invisioned the wrong horse there, Thunder.

 

I'm with those that aren't getting upset about batting order presently. Lou isn't Dusty.

[TruffleShuffle]

 

yeah and i'm pretty sure that he wasn't projected to hit that way the first time either. that's the thing about projections, sometimes they're wrong.

 

Amen. The weight given to various projections around here is a little baffling.

 

i think it's good to look at projections, and unless you have a reason to doubt them, they're probably the best thing we have to go on. but cedeno has already massively underperformed his projections once, and it wasn't a sample size of 50 ABs - he had about 550 PAs in 2006. given his inability to adjust to mlb-caliber pitching that season, i think it's very likely that he won't be as good a hitter as the various projections would suggest.

[twothousandfive]

No matter how it shakes out, 6-7-8 have the potential to be pretty bad.

 

DeRosa's OPS is .750, lifetime. he was way above that in 2006, dropped to .790 last year. Soto is an unknown, and could run into problems once he's a known. Then even if Pie gets it together, he'll move up with Theriot likely moving down -- all the while counting on Fukudome to be as advertised.

 

There are going to be awful lot of easy outs this year, shortly after Ramirez bats.

[bhogg]

What's the address for the site that gives runs scored projections based on different lineups (ex: how many more runs will the cubs score if Soriano hits 5th, produces as normal, etc).

[sneakypower]

http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/LineupAnalysis.py

 

Fairly laughable results, usually.

[hardcorecubfan]

This is probably the most disapointing thing I can come from this is that Lou does not read NSBB, that is the only thing I can think.

Maybe we can get Len and Bob to suggest it to him.

[nilodnayr]

According to Cubs.com, Piniella has named his batting order if the season started tomorrow. As expected, it sucks.

 

Soriano

Theriot

Lee

Ramirez

Kosuke

DeRosa

Soto

Pie

 

Not too horribly unrealistically I'd like

 

Soriano

Fukudome

Lee

Ramirez

Soto

Pie

DeRosa

Pitcher

Theriot

[Roast]

How about instead of wishing injury, we wish for something that will still keep him out for the season without being too particularly hurtful or mean. I can think of two things:

 

1) Having his work visa denied for the season, thereby forcing him to stay in Oz as mayor of the Oompa Loompas for another year.

 

2) Inconsolable grief over the death of his favorite pet goldfish, which would render him bedridden for the season.

 

3) The Cubs realize Theriot sucks and bench him.

 

C'mon, now. OO was at least being realistic.

[WrigleyinEngland]

Just listened to the Q & A from the convention. He definetely is going to use Pie at the bottom of the lineup ( He states it's to have a little speed at the bottom) this has to mean one of 2 things, they are counting on Pie not hitting at all and have him as a dead rubber at #8 playing him due to his abilities in the field or b) they can say anything they like as he's going in a deal to get a better player. I can't believe that anyone would think it is an advantage to put a guy who struggles with off speed pitches and balls out the strike zone at #8 it's a recipe for him not to succeed (except the days he hits in front of Z!!)

[abuck1220]

where would you like him to hit?

[WrigleyinEngland]

I'm not even sure he's ready to hit in the majors at all and if i can get K Greene from San Diego or Bedard from Baltimore i take that option. I would like him to see some fastballs so i'd at least start the spring with him at #2 or #7. If you hit him at #2 you could take the pressure off him by getting him to bunt and some hit and runs if Soriano gets on. If his bat does catch up with his glove he definetely would be a top of the lineup candidate. I certainly like his upside in the #2 hole rather than the riot.

[nick23]

I'm not even sure he's ready to hit in the majors at all and if i can get K Greene from San Diego or Bedard from Baltimore i take that option. I would like him to see some fastballs so i'd at least start the spring with him at #2 or #7. If you hit him at #2 you could take the pressure off him by getting him to bunt and some hit and runs if Soriano gets on. If his bat does catch up with his glove he definetely would be a top of the lineup candidate. I certainly like his upside in the #2 hole rather than the riot.

Batting him 2nd is an awful idea. Why would you put someone that's going to struggle getting on base that high up in the order? If you want him in a non pressure situation the 8th spot is perfect. I think the whole seeing fastballs in the 2 spot is a dying myth. Why would a pitcher throw Pie a fastball when he can get him out with breaking balls? No matter where he bats in the order Pie will see plenty of breaking balls.

[abuck1220]

it's bad enough they have the second worst obp guy batting second already. they certainly don't need the worst obp guy batting second.

 

also, batting him second would significantly increase the pressure on him, not decrease it.

[WrigleyinEngland]

I'm not even sure he's ready to hit in the majors at all and if i can get K Greene from San Diego or Bedard from Baltimore i take that option. I would like him to see some fastballs so i'd at least start the spring with him at #2 or #7. If you hit him at #2 you could take the pressure off him by getting him to bunt and some hit and runs if Soriano gets on. If his bat does catch up with his glove he definetely would be a top of the lineup candidate. I certainly like his upside in the #2 hole rather than the riot.

Batting him 2nd is an awful idea. Why would you put someone that's going to struggle getting on base that high up in the order? If you want him in a non pressure situation the 8th spot is perfect. I think the whole seeing fastballs in the 2 spot is a dying myth. Why would a pitcher throw Pie a fastball when he can get him out with breaking balls? No matter where he bats in the order Pie will see plenty of breaking balls.

 

385,346,358,349,341,410 are his OBP totals when he has more than 200abs the only time he has struggled to get on base was his first and only season in the majors. With a career OBP of 358 he would actually be a better lead off hitter than Soriano if he can replicate those type of totals. He would be a perfect #2 hitter with his speed and his Left handed bat before Lee, Ramirez. I just don't think sticking him in front of the pitcher will help him see better pitches and succeed.

[Tyrant]

With a career OBP of 358 he would actually be a better lead off hitter than Soriano if he can replicate those type of totals.

 

Except he won't replicate those totals, and even if he did post a .358 OBP, his SLG would be far below Soriano's. So, no, he wouldn't be as good of a leadoff hitter as Soriano.

[nilodnayr]

where would you like him to hit?

 

I'd hit him 7th. If Theriot is going to be on the team, hes the best guy for the 8 hole.

[Balsa]

Hendry finally gets an OBP guy, and Lou bats him fifth.

 

Figures.