February 21, 201214 yr Author With that kind of regression he'd probably get sent down to the minors... Anyway, I actually think that Boni will produce closer numbers to last season than he did before then...
February 21, 201214 yr What I would do that would certainly not be done Reyes Hanley Lomo Stanton Gaby Buck Infante Pitcher Bonifacio f*** giving Infante or Bonifacio among the most PA. Give them to our big 4. And still puts Bonifacio's speed ahead of the big hitters. This is the key. The Marlins won't think like this though. It would appear one of those two is going to have to get among the top 3 in PA. Which wouldn't be a problem if Face de la Boner pulls off a .360 OBP, but I find it unlikely unless he takes yet another step forward in his game. If he doesn't, I would rather not have his baserunning be the excuse to get him more PA than Infante.
February 21, 201214 yr Author I think the case for hitting Infante second is that he's very good at handling the bat and moving runners over (which is generally considered important for a second place hitter). Last season he had the best success rate in sacrifice bunts in the whole entire league among players with 15+ attempts going 17 for 17. Only other player with a perfect percentage in 15+ attempts was Livan Hernandez (15 for 15). By the way, Bonifacio had the third most bunt hits (16) and a perfect sacrifice bunt percentage (11 for 11).
February 21, 201214 yr What I would do that would certainly not be done Reyes Hanley Lomo Stanton Gaby Buck Infante Pitcher Bonifacio f*** giving Infante or Bonifacio among the most PA. Give them to our big 4. And still puts Bonifacio's speed ahead of the big hitters. Well, I love this.
February 21, 201214 yr I think the case for hitting Infante second is that he's very good at handling the bat and moving runners over (which is generally considered important for a second place hitter). Last season he had the best success rate in sacrifice bunts in the whole entire league among players with 15+ attempts going 17 for 17. Only other player with a perfect percentage in 15+ attempts was Livan Hernandez (15 for 15). By the way, Bonifacio had the third most bunt hits (16) and a perfect sacrifice bunt percentage (11 for 11). That thinking about the 2nd spot, and about moving runners over, is outdated. You seem to be curious about sabermetrics and the like, so you should look for some articles about lineup theory; I think they'll really change how you look at things. Fangraphs has some great stuff, but I'm sure there are other, better sites that can be recommended.
February 21, 201214 yr Hitting Bonifacio ninth especially makes sense in games when Zambrano is pitching.
February 21, 201214 yr Author I think the case for hitting Infante second is that he's very good at handling the bat and moving runners over (which is generally considered important for a second place hitter). Last season he had the best success rate in sacrifice bunts in the whole entire league among players with 15+ attempts going 17 for 17. Only other player with a perfect percentage in 15+ attempts was Livan Hernandez (15 for 15). By the way, Bonifacio had the third most bunt hits (16) and a perfect sacrifice bunt percentage (11 for 11). That thinking about the 2nd spot, and about moving runners over, is outdated. Just because the idea of having a number 2 hitter who could set things up for the power hitters after them is "outdated" doesn't mean it's wrong. I think the idea behind having someone with power hit 2nd is that pitchers are generally most worried about the 3-4 hitters and are therefore trying to get an easy out through the #2 hitters. As a result #2 hitters are seeing a lot of good pitches to hit & managers are thinking that instead of making the other team pay by hitting singles let's try going for the long ball. I think it's a nice way of thinking but you don't want to sacrifice the rest of your lineup in order to get power out of the 2 spot. You want your power hitters to hit with as many people on base as possible & maybe I'm wrong but I think the 3-4 hitters generally get to hit with more runners on base than #2 hitters. So basically, if you have a deep enough lineup to put someone who could hit 20-30 HR's hitting 2nd & still have a lot of pop over the rest of the lineup then I don't see a problem with doing that-but otherwise, I think the smartest thing to do would be to put a basic "table setter" type of guy hitting 2nd so that the big bats could make the other team pay when it counts the most.
February 21, 201214 yr I think the case for hitting Infante second is that he's very good at handling the bat and moving runners over (which is generally considered important for a second place hitter). Last season he had the best success rate in sacrifice bunts in the whole entire league among players with 15+ attempts going 17 for 17. Only other player with a perfect percentage in 15+ attempts was Livan Hernandez (15 for 15). By the way, Bonifacio had the third most bunt hits (16) and a perfect sacrifice bunt percentage (11 for 11). That thinking about the 2nd spot, and about moving runners over, is outdated. Just because the idea of having a number 2 hitter who could set things up for the power hitters after them is "outdated" doesn't mean it's wrong. I think the idea behind having someone with power hit 2nd is that pitchers are generally most worried about the 3-4 hitters and are therefore trying to get an easy out through the #2 hitters. As a result #2 hitters are seeing a lot of good pitches to hit & managers are thinking that instead of making the other team pay by hitting singles let's try going for the long ball. I think it's a nice way of thinking but you don't want to sacrifice the rest of your lineup in order to get power out of the 2 spot. You want your power hitters to hit with as many people on base as possible & maybe I'm wrong but I think the 3-4 hitters generally get to hit with more runners on base than #2 hitters. So basically, if you have a deep enough lineup to put someone who could hit 20-30 HR's hitting 2nd & still have a lot of pop over the rest of the lineup then I don't see a problem with doing that-but otherwise, I think the smartest thing to do would be to put a basic "table setter" type of guy hitting 2nd so that the big bats could make the other team pay when it counts the most. Problem with bunting is that you're giving away an out for no reason. Early in games, there's no reason to do that. You should really only be "table-setting" when you're playing for one run to win the game late.
February 21, 201214 yr Author I think the case for hitting Infante second is that he's very good at handling the bat and moving runners over (which is generally considered important for a second place hitter). Last season he had the best success rate in sacrifice bunts in the whole entire league among players with 15+ attempts going 17 for 17. Only other player with a perfect percentage in 15+ attempts was Livan Hernandez (15 for 15). By the way, Bonifacio had the third most bunt hits (16) and a perfect sacrifice bunt percentage (11 for 11). That thinking about the 2nd spot, and about moving runners over, is outdated. Just because the idea of having a number 2 hitter who could set things up for the power hitters after them is "outdated" doesn't mean it's wrong. I think the idea behind having someone with power hit 2nd is that pitchers are generally most worried about the 3-4 hitters and are therefore trying to get an easy out through the #2 hitters. As a result #2 hitters are seeing a lot of good pitches to hit & managers are thinking that instead of making the other team pay by hitting singles let's try going for the long ball. I think it's a nice way of thinking but you don't want to sacrifice the rest of your lineup in order to get power out of the 2 spot. You want your power hitters to hit with as many people on base as possible & maybe I'm wrong but I think the 3-4 hitters generally get to hit with more runners on base than #2 hitters. So basically, if you have a deep enough lineup to put someone who could hit 20-30 HR's hitting 2nd & still have a lot of pop over the rest of the lineup then I don't see a problem with doing that-but otherwise, I think the smartest thing to do would be to put a basic "table setter" type of guy hitting 2nd so that the big bats could make the other team pay when it counts the most. Problem with bunting is that you're giving away an out for no reason. Early in games, there's no reason to do that. You should really only be "table-setting" when you're playing for one run to win the game late. I agree that a #2 hitter shouldn't be bunting/giving up an out unless the game is close at the end. The idea that a #2 hitter should be someone who could "handle the bat" etc. was during the "dead ball era" (1900-1919) when games were often decided by 1 run. What I'm saying is that a #2 should ideally be someone who, like a leadoff hitter, could avoid outs (meaning get on base) in addition avoiding double plays. Now if you have a stacked lineup with tons of power then you could go ahead and put someone with power in that spot-but if you have to sacrifice power somewhere in your 4-6 spots to put a power hitter in the 2nd spot then I don't think it's a good idea.
February 21, 201214 yr Outdated was a euphemism for "wrong." Moving runners over isn't helpful, even to the extent that some players may be better than others at it, even that's even the case. Many people still think it's a good idea, but it's just much more important that the #2 not make outs/be worthy of the extra ABs.
February 21, 201214 yr I would write this lineup every day: 1) Boni 2) Infante 3) Reyes 4) H2R 5) Stanton 6) LoMo 7) Gaby 8) Buck I think we need to give Reyes more AB's with runners on base. However, it will be preposterous to hit Gaby leadoff...
February 21, 201214 yr I'm not agreeing with line-up at all, except for Hanley and Bonifacio's spots, personally. But, to each their own.
February 21, 201214 yr That's a pretty sh*tty lineup (no offense). You are giving what are perhaps the two worst hitters on the team the most ABs and they could easily average below a .330 OBP between them, which is not the best to have at the top of the lineup.
February 22, 201214 yr How about this? Can Sánchez become a Nick Johnson style number two hitter? 1. Reyes 2. Sánchez 3. Hanley 4. Stanton
February 22, 201214 yr How about this? Can Sánchez become a Nick Johnson style number two hitter? 1. Reyes 2. Sánchez 3. Hanley 4. Stanton He'll never have Johnson's awesome plate discipline, but something like that makes sense if Bonifacio really struggles getting on base.
February 22, 201214 yr How about this? Can Sánchez become a Nick Johnson style number two hitter? 1. Reyes 2. Sánchez 3. Hanley 4. Stanton He'll never have Johnson's awesome plate discipline, but something like that makes sense if Bonifacio really struggles getting on base. Man, how I would love to have a healthy Nick Johnson in any lineup. That guy was a beautiful hitter with an even more beautiful mustache.
February 22, 201214 yr Nick Johnson might be my favorite Marlin over the past couple of seasons. I was really upset to see that guy go, but he just can't stay healthy.
February 22, 201214 yr Nick Johnson might be my favorite Marlin over the past couple of seasons. I was really upset to see that guy go, but he just can't stay healthy. Talk about winning a trade, though. Getting that guy for Aaron Thompson? That was a bad draft pick, but the trade itself was very lopsided in favor of the Marlins.
February 22, 201214 yr The Marlins got the better end of it I guess, but Johnson was hurt for a lot of that stint with the Marlins. He was also going to walk at the end of the season anyway so the Nats didn't really have much bargaining power.
February 22, 201214 yr Author He had a .477 OBP in his 35 games with the fish...Pretty amazing how he manages to get on base so often. Terrific #2 type hitter.
February 22, 201214 yr He had a .477 OBP in his 35 games with the fish...Pretty amazing how he manages to get on base so often. Terrific #2 type hitter. He's not good at moving runners over, though.
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