Opening Day Lineup

[Cubfanintheknow]

Here--apparently--is your 2012 Chicago Cubs Opening Day lineup:

 

DeJesus RF

Barney 2B

Castro SS

LaHair 1B

Soriano LF

Stewart 3B

Byrd CF

Soto C

Dempster P

 

It's today's lineup against the Dodgers. Not a line-up that will strike fear in opposing pitchers by any means. It'll be interesting to throw up this thread (both literally and figuratively) on August 1st to see how much it's changed.

 

Thoughts?

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-cubs-showcase-opening-day-lineup-20120330,0,7569968.story

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Thoughts?

 

 

http://www.tankzone.co.uk/images/fov/16/85007/TANK%20WITH%20ACCESSORIES%20SIDE.JPG

 

 

Is it time for the 2013 draft yet? Because that's when this all pays off, I guess.

[Hawk4Hall]

It's gonna be a LONG year.

[Andy]

I know no one cares if we win any games this year, but Barney 2nd and Soto 8th? REALLY?

[Little Slide Rooter]

So we'll have Ryan Dempster on the mound being backed by this lineup vs. Clayton Kershaw. Fair enough. Go Cubs Win.

[Guest]

So we'll have Ryan Dempster on the mound being backed by this lineup vs. Clayton Kershaw. Fair enough. Go Cubs Win.

 

 

uhhhh wat

[UMFan83]

So we'll have Ryan Dempster on the mound being backed by this lineup vs. Clayton Kershaw. Fair enough. Go Cubs Win.

 

Clayton Kershaw got traded to the Nats? Damn that's huge news.

[mookie]

It's actually worse, Strasburg.

 

9 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 21 K 1 BB

[UMFan83]

I know no one cares if we win any games this year, but Barney 2nd and Soto 8th? REALLY?

 

It was a little tip Dale got from Dusty. "Catchers gotta hit 8th dude"

 

Yeah that's terrible. I knew the lineup looked weak, but seeing the lineup together in that particular order mades me sad. I keep looking down the list looking for the "heart of the order" and it never comes.

[Sammy Sofa]

So we'll have Ryan Dempster on the mound being backed by this lineup vs. Clayton Kershaw. Fair enough. Go Cubs Win.

 

 

uhhhh wat

 

NOTIMETOCHECKMUSTBEPOSTINGALWAYSBEPOSTING

[jersey cubs fan]

I know no one cares if we win any games this year, but Barney 2nd and Soto 8th? REALLY?

 

It was a little tip Dale got from Dusty. "Catchers gotta hit 8th dude"

 

Yeah that's terrible. I knew the lineup looked weak, but seeing the lineup together in that particular order mades me sad. I keep looking down the list looking for the "heart of the order" and it never comes.

 

Meh, the order doesn't bother me nearly as much as the players who are in the order. Nobody but Castro has a strong case for hitting in the first inning.

[mookie]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

[Guest]

I know no one cares if we win any games this year, but Barney 2nd and Soto 8th? REALLY?

 

It was a little tip Dale got from Dusty. "Catchers gotta hit 8th dude"

 

Yeah that's terrible. I knew the lineup looked weak, but seeing the lineup together in that particular order mades me sad. I keep looking down the list looking for the "heart of the order" and it never comes.

 

Meh, the order doesn't bother me nearly as much as the players who are in the order. Nobody but Castro has a strong case for hitting in the first inning.

 

Pretty much this.

[Guest]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

 

 

Castro. Dude's gonna go HAM this year.

[woodchip2153]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

 

 

Castro. Dude's gonna go HAM this year.

 

Which means 2nd is the best place for him. Shouldn't 3rd actually be your 4th best hitter?

[Guest]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

I'm guessing you'd never see the three lefties in a row. Once Jackson settles in with his high OBP, I'd guess you'd see something like this:

 

DeJesus

Jackson

Castro

Rizzo

Soriano

Stewart

Soto

Barney

[mookie]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

I'm guessing you'd never see the three lefties in a row. Once Jackson settles in with his high OBP, I'd guess you'd see something like this:

 

DeJesus

Jackson

Castro

Rizzo

Soriano

Stewart

Soto

Barney

 

Yeah, we need another bat or 5.

[Little Slide Rooter]

So we'll have Ryan Dempster on the mound being backed by this lineup vs. Clayton Kershaw. Fair enough. Go Cubs Win.

 

 

uhhhh wat

 

NOTIMETOCHECKMUSTBEPOSTINGALWAYSBEPOSTING

 

Crap. My bad. Still, replace Kershaw with Strasberg, and the sentiment remains.

[Guest]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

I'm guessing you'd never see the three lefties in a row. Once Jackson settles in with his high OBP, I'd guess you'd see something like this:

 

DeJesus

Jackson

Castro

Rizzo

Soriano

Stewart

Soto

Barney

 

Yeah, we need another bat or 5.

That lineup depends on:

 

- how well Rizzo and Jackson develop and how quickly

- can Stewart bounce back to being league average or better?

- Is it the good Soto or was his disastrous k-rate last year indicative of his future?

 

Get positive answers to those questions and you're really just a strong OF replacing Soriano away from a pretty decent lineup.

[Guest]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

 

 

Castro. Dude's gonna go HAM this year.

 

Which means 2nd is the best place for him. Shouldn't 3rd actually be your 4th best hitter?

 

Lineups are never going to be made that way. At least not anytime remotely soon. Good thing it barely matters.

 

And why 4th? Wouldn't it be 3rd, if anything?

[woodchip2153]

DeJesus

Castro

Soto

Rizzo

Stewart

Jackson

Soriano

Barney

 

Even with the kids, I have no idea who to hit third.

 

 

Castro. Dude's gonna go HAM this year.

 

Which means 2nd is the best place for him. Shouldn't 3rd actually be your 4th best hitter?

 

Lineups are never going to be made that way. At least not anytime remotely soon. Good thing it barely matters.

 

And why 4th? Wouldn't it be 3rd, if anything?

 

It's been awhile since I've read The Book, so I may get this wrong. I think it's because the the 3rd hitter in your lineup comes to the plate with nobody on or two outs too frequently, therefore you actually want a better hitter (at least a higher OBP) batting fourth and a slugger (someone like Soriano) batting 3rd.

[treebird]

barney hitting second isn't a huge deal, but it is disheartening. i was hopeful we were past doing stupid things of this nature.

[jersey cubs fan]

barney hitting second isn't a huge deal, but it is disheartening. i was hopeful we were past doing stupid things of this nature.

 

Going off of everything Sveum has done and said, I fully expect a lot of goofy/unnecessary/stupid things at least in the short-term.

[KingCubsFan]

barney hitting second isn't a huge deal, but it is disheartening. i was hopeful we were past doing stupid things of this nature.

Agreed. Although, at Cubs Convention, Sveum said he would use spring training performance to construct the lineup to take advantage of hot streaks coming out of spring training. So he's probably (hopefully) batting Barney second because he's been on a recent tear. Once he goes back to being Darwin Barney, hopefully Sveum drops him back down.

[Guest]

barney hitting second isn't a huge deal, but it is disheartening. i was hopeful we were past doing stupid things of this nature.

 

I get the feeling they/he genuinely thinks Darwin Barney has improved and not that he thinks it's a good idea to put a bad hitter at the top of the order.

 

We shall see.