Who hits second?
by jramey on Feb 19, 2010 11:04 AM EST
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As we all know, Joe Girardi recently made the statement that Johnson and Curtis will hit either 2nd or 7th. Personally, I don't agree with hitting Curtis 7th, assuming NJ hits second. First off, if Posada hits 5th like we expect him to, then that will put Cano in the six-hole. If Cano and Grand Central are in the 6-7 holes, that leaves a probability of 3 of the next four batters to face a lefty late in the game (Cano - Granderson - Swisher (S) - Gardner). I am in favor of having Granderson hitting second, and Nick Johnson hitting fifth. The reasons? I see Granderson seeing PLENTY of pitches in front of Arod and Teix. Much more than he saw last year. He is surrounded by righties/ switch hitter so there will only be the occasional situational lefty. It is far more likely that he will see a lot more left-handed pitching down in the order. Some of you were saying we need a traditional, high OBP guy for the slot. This year, Johnny Damon posted a .365 OBP. In 2008, Curtis posted a .365 OBP. He won't be on-base as much as Nick, but it will still be Johnny Damonesque numbers with a few more homers and hopefully a higher average. As for Nick Johnson, he put up 62 RBIs between The Nationals and the Florida Marlins. The short porch will help his homerun total as everybody expects. I'm advocating for him to hit fifth. His on base skills will help produce more runs out of the bottom of the lineup. It will take the pressure off Posada to hit fifth, while giving him, Cano, and Swisher a chance to drive in a few more runs. It will also "sandwhich" Johnson, Cano, and Gardner between guys who hit right handed. What do you guys think?
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A lot can....
If Girardi makes a statement and ST hasn’t even got going yet (position players),
It is not etched in stone. The batting order could tchange two, three….times or more before April 4th. I wouldn’t get hung up about 2 LH hiiters in a row, Cano hits lefties almost as good as righties, and I don’t expect GGBG too see much playing time against lefthanders, do you?
I think it will be more "rotational" than last year.
It seemed that every single time Damon was in the lineup, he was batting second. I think if a certain player (Granderson, Johnson, Swisher, even Cano) starts to get hot, Girardi should put him second. As for the “majority” of games, I’d prefer Johnson to have the 2 hole to lose. Sure, Granderson and Damon had similar OBP, but why not put the guy with the career OBP that’s almost 40 points higher in the 2 hole? Ideally, at the bottom of the lineup, we’d be able to go L-S-L-S-L from 5-9. This would mean putting either Granderson or Cano in the 5 hole instead of Posada (something I doubt Girardi will do). Regardless, the only lefty at the bottom with a huge platoon split is Granderson, so I think we can live with 2 out of three hitters being lefty. Regardless, the makeup of a lineup hardly matters over the course of a full season.
It's all about OBP in the two hole.
And NJ eats OBP sandwiches for breakfast lunch and dinner. Tex will be hitting with a guy on base for 40% of his ABs. That puts an insane amout of pressure on the pitcher to throw Tex good pitches or he’ll be facing Ring Rod with two men on. I’m all for pressuring the pitcher right off the bat. In the first inning of every game the pitcher is looking at throwing close to 20 pitches.
Speed isn’t really a factor at all. Last year Damon only attempted 12 SB in the regular season. That is easily negated by NJ being on base .04% more than JD was.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Feb 19, 2010 11:54 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Duh, my bad.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Feb 20, 2010 11:47 PM EST up reply actions
Nick Johnson bats #2
Brett Gardner has the most runs (meaning times to the toilet)
As for RBI, I thinky its Cano. I think he’ll solidify himself as the #5 dude.
I like Grandy 2nd
I like his speed behind Jeter and he’ll get a ton of good pitches to hit with Tex behind him. His Avg and OBP will skyrocket compared last year.
4% more, btw
by Wraithpk on Feb 19, 2010 10:31 AM PST
I keep telling these boys, watch your decimal points. If this continues, we are going
to start having detentions.
Fuck detention and decimal points for that matter.
We got better shit to argue about.
I wish I were an Oscar Myer wiener.I farted in the bathtub and the bubbles messaged my pee pee.There was an old man from cass whose balls were made of brass he'd clang them together in stormy weather and lightning shot out of his ass.
by cashman bashman on Feb 19, 2010 6:10 PM EST reply actions
Sorry mister or miss Gatsby
That was not meant to insult.After I read it I realized I really sound like a prick.If you would like,you can help me find my tupaey.If I don’t find it soon i’m going to have to have fire Girardi tatooed on my head really big.Or maybe a pic of Jesus Cervelli Christ whiping Pedroia with his hickory stick.
I wish I were an Oscar Myer wiener.I farted in the bathtub and the bubbles messaged my pee pee.There was an old man from cass whose balls were made of brass he'd clang them together in stormy weather and lightning shot out of his ass.
by cashman bashman on Feb 20, 2010 12:12 AM EST up reply actions
No problem..
There was no offense taken, now about those &*^%, words, you have two detentions young man with Mr. Gatsby.
by Great Gatsby on Feb 21, 2010 8:43 AM EST up reply actions
They are going to have to pitch to NJ
so he can’t walk his way aboard everytime like he did when he hit clean-up for Florida.
Section 203 Row 15 Seat 1
This is really not an issue
Cashman signed Nick Johnson specifically because of his ability to get on base out of the 2 spot. He’s going to hit 2nd. A better question would be who hits 2nd once NJ goes on the DL.
by Let's Talk About Tex Baby on Feb 19, 2010 7:18 PM EST reply actions
Cuz last year we had Johnny Damon
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
and Curtis's numbers are similar to Damon's if he can get them back to normal
Section 203 Row 15 Seat 1
Granderson has more pop but a lower OBP
Last year Damon had a .365 OBP with 24 HR (hitting at Yankee Stadium)
Granderson had a .327 OBP and 30 HR (not hitting at Yankee Stadium)
So you can expect Granderson’s power numbers to improve, but probably not his OBP (I would expect Granderson to do a lot of swinging for the fences).
As such, I think he’s better off batting 5-7 and trying to knock in some runs than he is table-setting.
Guys like Johnson and Swisher (.426 and .371 OBP respectively) do a better job of getting on base for A-Rod, Tex, Granderson, and Posada.
I know he’s fast, and the conventional wisdom says put him at the top of the lineup so he can steal bases and put pressure on the defense. But if there’s 1 out and Granderson’s on 1st with Tex and A-Rod coming up, there’s no way Girardi sends him and risks taking an AB with a runner on for both Tex and A-Rod. Johnny Damon only had 12 steals last year.
If he’s batting in front of Posada and Cano on the other hand, he’s much more likely to get a green light to steal.
This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons.
by Lord Duggan on Feb 20, 2010 10:19 PM EST up reply actions
Klong is working with him to level out his swing away form a dead pull hitter.
It’s true he won’t steal as many bases, but he will see PLENTY of pitches to hit in fear of Teixarod coming up next.
Section 203 Row 15 Seat 1
Me.
I could bat second and we’d still score 900 runs on the season.
by Leviticus6688 on Feb 19, 2010 10:26 PM EST up reply actions
Can you
hit lefties? I say that with a hint of sarcasm. No, a lot of sarcasm. All I keep reading is Granderson shouldn’t hit 2nd cuz he can’t hit lefties. He’ll be best in the 2 slot. He’ll get tons of good pitches to hit.
Anyone will get pitches to hit batting in front of Teix.
Granderson was horrible against lefties last year, but that was due in large part to bad luck, a huge gap in his platoon BABIP. He is a much better hitter against righties, but his split last season wasn’t as big as it probably will be in real life.
Oh, and I can hit the occasional lefty….maybe. I bat righty, so I at least have that going for me.
by Leviticus6688 on Feb 21, 2010 10:19 PM EST up reply actions
Johnny be good...
Go Johnny go go, go johnny go go, Johnny be good…Johnny Rivers song?
(You are going have to be old enough…)
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