Slow News Day at Foxsports Rumors

[Backtobanks]

Piniella: Cubs pitchers will bat 9th

 

Cubs manager Lou Piniella was talking about the importance of the eighth spot in the lineup and used the examples of the Cardinals' Tony La Russa and Milwaukee's Ned Yost batting the pitcher there. "Thank God I haven't been hit with those questions here," Piniella said. Which, of course, prompted the question. "We'll just leave the pitcher right where he's at, and we'll let Tony and Ned do what they want," Piniella said. "I like it the conventional way." -- Chicago Tribune :lol:

Edited March 14, 2008 by Backtobanks

[Derwood]

well with Theriot leading off, you'd be putting Pie at 9th. ;)

[17 Seconds]

Piniella: Cubs pitchers will bat 9th

 

Cubs manager Lou Piniella was talking about the importance of the eighth spot in the lineup and used the examples of the Cardinals' Tony La Russa and Milwaukee's Ned Yost batting the pitcher there. "Thank God I haven't been hit with those questions here," Piniella said. Which, of course, prompted the question. "We'll just leave the pitcher right where he's at, and we'll let Tony and Ned do what they want," Piniella said. "I like it the conventional way." -- Chicago Tribune :lol:

 

If Lou is even considering batting Theriot leadoff during any regular season game, then I don't think he has the right to make fun of anybody else's lineup making abilities. Not even Dusty. Well, maybe Dusty.

[nilodnayr]

Ryan Theriot is just about the most tailor made player to bat 9th behind the pitcher as could be. STFU Lou.

[Anthony]

Batting any pitcher not named Babe Ruth any higher then ninth should get the manager horsewhipped. If I were the GM of the Cardinals and LaRussa starting doing that, I'd take his wine away.

[NCCubFan]

Batting any pitcher not named Babe Ruth any higher then ninth should get the manager horsewhipped.

Micah Owings begs to differ.

[Post Count Padder]

I think Zambrano should bat cleanup.

[Roast]

Batting any pitcher not named Babe Ruth any higher then ninth should get the manager horsewhipped. If I were the GM of the Cardinals and LaRussa starting doing that, I'd take his wine away.

 

Care to elaborate on that statement?

 

Dontrelle Willis? Micah Owings? Hell, even Zambrano. If they're a good/better hitter than your 8-spot, why not give them a couple more at bats by moving them up in the lineup?

[Fred Hornkohl]

Batting any pitcher not named Babe Ruth any higher then ninth should get the manager horsewhipped. If I were the GM of the Cardinals and LaRussa starting doing that, I'd take his wine away.

 

Care to elaborate on that statement?

 

Dontrelle Willis? Micah Owings? Hell, even Zambrano. If they're a good/better hitter than your 8-spot, why not give them a couple more at bats by moving them up in the lineup?

 

You're gonna bat Zambrano ahead of whom ????

 

04/02 - 09/30      AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS
Zambrano           81    8   20    2    0    2   28    5    1   27  0.247  0.256  0.346  0.602
Theriot           533   80  142   30    2    3  185   44   48   50  0.266  0.325  0.347  0.672
Cedeno             74    6   15    2    0    4   29   13    3   18  0.203  0.234  0.392  0.626
Pie               177   26   38    9    3    2   59   20   14   43  0.215  0.271  0.333  0.604
Fontenot          234   30   65   12    4    3   94   29   21   43  0.278  0.333  0.402  0.735

[dew1679666265]

Batting any pitcher not named Babe Ruth any higher then ninth should get the manager horsewhipped. If I were the GM of the Cardinals and LaRussa starting doing that, I'd take his wine away.

 

Care to elaborate on that statement?

 

Dontrelle Willis? Micah Owings? Hell, even Zambrano. If they're a good/better hitter than your 8-spot, why not give them a couple more at bats by moving them up in the lineup?

 

You're gonna bat Zambrano ahead of whom ????

 

04/02 - 09/30      AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS
Zambrano           81    8   20    2    0    2   28    5    1   27  0.247  0.256  0.346  0.602
Theriot           533   80  142   30    2    3  185   44   48   50  0.266  0.325  0.347  0.672
Cedeno             74    6   15    2    0    4   29   13    3   18  0.203  0.234  0.392  0.626
Pie               177   26   38    9    3    2   59   20   14   43  0.215  0.271  0.333  0.604
Fontenot          234   30   65   12    4    3   94   29   21   43  0.278  0.333  0.402  0.735

 

Cedeno apparently...

[ISUCubsFan]

Batting the pitcher 8th isn't as bad as most people think. The benefit is that the pitcher (assuming he's the worst hitter) is as far away from your best hitter, who normally bats 3rd. The drawback is that your worst position player gets a few less AB's. Which effect has more pull on your runs scored is debatable, though I've seen statistical arguments for both sides.

[Anthony]

Batting any pitcher not named Babe Ruth any higher then ninth should get the manager horsewhipped. If I were the GM of the Cardinals and LaRussa starting doing that, I'd take his wine away.

 

Care to elaborate on that statement?

 

Dontrelle Willis? Micah Owings? Hell, even Zambrano. If they're a good/better hitter than your 8-spot, why not give them a couple more at bats by moving them up in the lineup?

 

 

Sure. First off, with all of those guys, their sample size is so small that you can't truely say whether or not they would be good hitters, most of the time, a starting pitcher rarely gets 150 at bats. If any of them were great hitters, they would play in the field instead of pitch. Secondly, if you have a team where you have pitchers that are better then the guy who bats in the 8 hole, you need to fire your GM. LaRussa does stuff like this to make it seem like he is a "brilliant" baseball mind, when in reality it's counter productive.