Thursday, February 26, 2004
Lineup Experimentation
Spring is great. Only in Spring can you get two articles discussing lineups in the same newspaper, and have them be radically different.
Bob Finnigan writes about the possibility of moving Ichiro to the No. 3 spot in the order. This would have a ripple effect to keep the lefty-righty alternating through the heart of the order and move Bret Boone to fourth, Raul Ibanez fifth, Edgar Martinez sixth and John Olerud seventh.
Now, that is a radical change from years past, and actually provides a pretty interesting look:
CF Winn
3B Spiezio
RF Ichiro
2B Boone
LF Ibanez
DH Edgar
1B Olerud
SS Aurilia
C Davis
Don't expect to see this lineup too often during the regular season, but watch this Spring to see if Melvin runs out something like it.
Meanwhile, in the very same newspaper, the Mariner Notes section mentions that Bob Melvin may try tinkering with his lineup by hitting someone other than the catcher in the No. 9 slot in order to have a speedy hitter take advantage of Ichiro's ability to hit to the right side. They propose moving Winn to the 9 spot, and then Rich Aurilia or Scott Spiezio would bat in the No. 2 hole.
"If we can get a catcher to be a bit more productive, we could hit them higher in the lineup and have someone else hit ninth in front of Ichiro," Melvin said. "With Ichiro hitting all those grounders to the right side, we could take advantage of that, and someone who can run a bit could go around to third base."
This lineup might look like:
RF Ichiro
3B Spiezio
DH Edgar
2B Boone
LF Ibanez
1B Olerud
C Davis
SS Aurilia
CF Winn
Meanwhile, Edgar and The Boone remind us that wherever they bat, you have to check your bats before you use them.
And, thanks to Larry Larues article above, the quote of the day comes from Ryan Franklin, when asked if the 2-year contract he signed this offseason was his first multi-year contract: "No, I had one with my cell phone company, too."
Ya Gotta Love These Guys.
Bob Finnigan writes about the possibility of moving Ichiro to the No. 3 spot in the order. This would have a ripple effect to keep the lefty-righty alternating through the heart of the order and move Bret Boone to fourth, Raul Ibanez fifth, Edgar Martinez sixth and John Olerud seventh.
Now, that is a radical change from years past, and actually provides a pretty interesting look:
CF Winn
3B Spiezio
RF Ichiro
2B Boone
LF Ibanez
DH Edgar
1B Olerud
SS Aurilia
C Davis
Don't expect to see this lineup too often during the regular season, but watch this Spring to see if Melvin runs out something like it.
Meanwhile, in the very same newspaper, the Mariner Notes section mentions that Bob Melvin may try tinkering with his lineup by hitting someone other than the catcher in the No. 9 slot in order to have a speedy hitter take advantage of Ichiro's ability to hit to the right side. They propose moving Winn to the 9 spot, and then Rich Aurilia or Scott Spiezio would bat in the No. 2 hole.
"If we can get a catcher to be a bit more productive, we could hit them higher in the lineup and have someone else hit ninth in front of Ichiro," Melvin said. "With Ichiro hitting all those grounders to the right side, we could take advantage of that, and someone who can run a bit could go around to third base."
This lineup might look like:
RF Ichiro
3B Spiezio
DH Edgar
2B Boone
LF Ibanez
1B Olerud
C Davis
SS Aurilia
CF Winn
Meanwhile, Edgar and The Boone remind us that wherever they bat, you have to check your bats before you use them.
And, thanks to Larry Larues article above, the quote of the day comes from Ryan Franklin, when asked if the 2-year contract he signed this offseason was his first multi-year contract: "No, I had one with my cell phone company, too."
Ya Gotta Love These Guys.
