raddy wrote:The tone of the game was set in the first inning by the nbr 2 men in both lineups
LoDuca can handle the bat got the man over and they drew blood first
Cards nbr 2 man power/k hit into a DP--Pujols comes and a lines a double with 2 outs and nobody on.
Who ever made out the lineup has to take a lot of the blame IMO
What makes me wish Wainwright was starting vrs the Mets tomorrow night.
How would you change the lineup?
I would put Duncan in one of the power spots--probablly 5th and put Kennedy in the 2 hole at first because of his LH bat and speed
I would certainly put Pujols in the 4th spot --Rolen 3 --Edmonds 6th --Molina 7th and Skip/Taguchi in the 8 slot.
That actually sounds like a pretty good lineup. At this point its all the DP's that are killing the team. Any time you think they might get something going by putting the leadoff guy on the next AB is a DP.
It is a reasonable lineup, but too much attention is being given to lineup construction. It makes very little difference, there is no magic ordering that makes a big difference one way or another. You could throw names into a hat and not do that much worse than a carefully constructed lineup. Probably more important than the power hitter here, contact hitter there approach is to make sure you don't have a block of hitter prone to bad platton splits. i.e. hitting Edmonds/Duncan together isn't good, because late in the game they can bring a LOOGY in and have him pitch to 2 hitters in a row with the platoon advantage.
People who have studied lineup construction will tell you #2 and #4 are where you want your best hitters OPS wise. Many managers, starting with our very own TLR, figured out on their own without computer simulations that having a thumper at #2 is a good idea. Take a look around the league and see the #2 hitters being used this year, the Larry Bowa type hitters aren't there.
Last night, and almost every night in every game, the batting order didn't matter. As far as LoDuca bunting Reyes over, they did us a favor. With that lineup if they want to play for 1 that's fine by me.
Well Jim , I would agree with you if the Cardinals were playing in the Amer League but in the Nat. League the lineups mean a great deal IMO
I disagre with you on the #2 hitters other managers use in the Nationa League --with the exception of Dunn--Cinn all the other manager do not use Power/K men in the #2 slot
S.D--Giles -LH puts bat on ball --doesn't K
SF--Visquel--Power?
Uggla--speed---puts bat on ball
Wash--Castro --same
LA--Martin--Power?
Milw--Hardy--Power?
Pitts--Wilson--good 2 hitter --goes to RF --few Ks
Houston--Burke--speed--goes to all fields
Mets--LoDuca--saw what he can do--put the bat on ball--go to RF--few Ks
Ariz--Jackson--Power?
Colo--Martin--Power.
Pitcher hitting in the Nat. League makes a big difference in how a Mgr makes out a lineup IMO
Over the past 10-20 years, there has been a general trend away from the just put in play types hitting 2nd. Managers more and more want guys that can get on base as opposed to pushing a guy along.
A couple of things struck me about last night (one was my wife when Pujols hit that weak @$$ $h!t in the eighth).
Kip looked really good for his first outing. He struggled at times, but overall looked very promising. I was impressed.
Our bats are very quiet and I have to believe that in a few weeks or a month even that will not be the case.
I was encouraged to see Rolen hit that solo shot. I have always maintained that when Rolen hits we win. Remember '04 (except for the post season).
I think things will turn around. I would like to see a better outfield than what we have now. And all in all struggling is good for the team. When they finally get it together it will be because of hard work and not just luck. Oh well, just my two cents no one asked for.
jim wrote:Over the past 10-20 years, there has been a general trend away from the just put in play types hitting 2nd. Managers more and more want guys that can get on base as opposed to pushing a guy along.
The trend appears to be 2 clubs in the Nat League to me
Anytime with a man on 2nd nobody out and the batter moves a man to 3rd they are doing their job .
He was clearly nervous last night, at least in the beginning. Once he settles in, the control shouldn't be a factor on most nights. There's still a lot to prove, but his start had some very encouraging signs.
jim wrote:Over the past 10-20 years, there has been a general trend away from the just put in play types hitting 2nd. Managers more and more want guys that can get on base as opposed to pushing a guy along.
The trend appears to be 2 clubs in the Nat League to me
Anytime with a man on 2nd nobody out and the batter moves a man to 3rd they are doing their job .
I played for a guy 25 years ago who did his playing 35 years before that - so "old school" would be an appropriate term. He told us in no uncertain terms that we had better get that guy to 3rd in that situation. He *said* he didn't care how we did it, but what I *learned* the hard way was he very much care how we did it. If we were bunting on our own up there all the time to get the job done, well you weren't going to be playing. What he *wanted* was a basehit to the right side, what kept him from blowing a gasket was a ground out to the right side to advance the runner. He really didn't want you to give an out up, he really didn't want some lame attempt at hitting the ball to the right side. He wanted you to get a pitch that you could drive to the right side, because he was looking for crooked numbers.
Getting the guy to 3rd is the consolation prize, getting on base + getting him to 3rd is the real payoff. Obviously situation dictates that, late and close a bunt may very well be appropriate. But I like the Earl Weaver style, play for the crooked numbers early.
Last edited by jim on April 4 07, 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
