2011 Lineups Thread

[example1]

Put down your lineups. One vs RHP, one vs LHP. Explain if necessary. I'm curious what people think. Have at it.

[example1]

vs. RHP

 

Ellsbury-CF

Crawford-LF

Gonzalez-1B

Youkilis-3B

Ortiz-DH

Pedroia-2B

Drew-RF

Lowrie-SS

Saltalamacchia-C

 

vs. LHP

 

Ellsbury-CF

Pedroia-2B

Gonzalez-1B/DH

Youkilis-DH/1B

Crawford-LF

*Cameron-RF

Lowrie-3B

Varitek-C

Scutaro-SS

 

*Cameron can rotate throughout the year vs. LHP. He should play against just about every LHP, giving Drew, Ellsbury and Crawford occasional days off.

[Dipre]

Three lefties in a row would be a late-inning matchup dream. Pedroia hitting 7th is also a waste. He's a better hitter than Ellsbury, and better from a matchup standpoint as well.

 

I'll post my thoughts on the ideal lineups in a bit.

[example1]

Three lefties in a row would be a late-inning matchup dream. Pedroia hitting 7th is also a waste. He's a better hitter than Ellsbury, and better from a matchup standpoint as well.

 

I'll post my thoughts on the ideal lineups in a bit.

 

The sensible parts of me has Ellsbury batting at the bottom of the order, but the hopeful part of me wants him leading off.

[italstallianion]

I figure he'd start off at the bottom until he catches a hot streak and then he'd go right to the top.

[Dipre]

The sensible parts of me has Ellsbury batting at the bottom of the order' date=' but the hopeful part of me wants him leading off.[/quote']

 

If it gets Pedey out of the two-spot, not thanks.

 

I'm going to try something different, just for the sake of discussion.

 

Vs. RHP:

 

Crawford

Pedroia

Gonzales

Youkilis

Ortiz

Lowrie

Drew

Salty

Ellsbury

 

You only have two lefties in a row, and only when the lineup turns over. Having Ellsbury on base with Crawford up next then the meat of the lineup should be a scary thought for any pitcher. Hitting Lowrie with his on-base skills creates more opportunities for the bottom of the lineup and lengthens it.

 

Vs. LHP:

 

Crawford

Pedroia

Gonzales

Youk

Cameron (who could be subbed for in a crucial late-inning junction)

Varitek

Drew

Lowrie

Ellsbury

 

Both lineups could probably use some tinkering.

[bsox0407]

RHP

Ellsbury

Pedroia

Crawford

Gonzo

Youk

Ortiz

Drew

Scutaro

Salty

 

LHP

Ells

Pedroia

Gonzo

Youk

Crawford

Cameron

Drew

Scutaro

Varitek

 

I think that More times than Not you have to start Papi against Lefties Anyway but having a good mix of Lefties Vs. Righties is always good.

[Dipre]

Hey Chris, i know you have a boner for Crawford and all, but with Youkilis, Ortiz and Gonzales there is no way to justify hitting him either third or fifth.

 

His main attribute is speed, hence he should be in a spot where he helps score runs, not drive them in.

 

The only reason he hit third in TB last year is because Ben Zobrist (unsurprisingly to everyone in the universe except Kilo and Doiji) regressed massively and Carlos Pena disappeared, forcing them to put Crawford in the three spot with Longo cleaning up.

[Palodios]

Didn't Francona mention Ellsbury leading off as highly likely?

[Keeper]

RHP:

Crawford

Pedroia

Gonzalez

Youk

Ortiz

Drew

Lowrie

Salty

Ellsbury

 

LHP:

Pedroia

Crawford

Youk

Gonzalez

Lowrie

Cameron

Drew

Varitek

Ellsbury

[BSN07]

Vs RHP

Ellsbury

Pedroia

Agon

Youk

Crawford

Scutaro/Lowrie

Ortiz

Drew

Salty

 

Vs LHP(top tier)

Ellsbury

Pedroia

Agon

Youk

Crawford

Cameron

Drew

Scutaro/Lowrie

Tek

 

Vs middle tier LHP they can leave Ortiz at DH and Cameron can grab some AB's for one of the 3 LHH OF's.

 

My reasoning behind this lineup is that I believe it's like stacking 2 top of the lineups into one. Crawford, Scutaro/Lowrie, Ortiz, Drew is better then some teams actual 1-4. The opposing SP would never get a break. Crawford doesn't have to lead off and get's to hit in the middle of the order. Ortiz bats 7th, but he probably won't mind all the RBI opportunities Crawford and Lowrie/Scutaro should provide. Overall any lineup that has JD Drew hitting 8th is a beast.

[Dipre]

Crawford career SLG%: .444, but let's him in one of the main spots to bring runs in in the lineup.

 

I have an idea.....why not just hit him cleanup and have three lineups on top of each other instead of two? <_>

[mvp 78]

RHP

 

Ellsbury

Pedroia

Crawford

Gonzalez

Youk

Papi

Scutaro

Drew

Salty

 

LHP

Ellsbury

Pedroia

Crawford

Gonzalez

Youk

Lowrie

Drew

Cameron

Tek

[Boomtown87]

RHP:

 

Ellsbury

Pedroia

Crawford

Gonzalez

Youkilis

Ortiz

Lowrie

Drew

Saltalamacchia

 

LHP:

 

Ellsbury

Pedroia

Crawford

Gonzalez

Youkilis

Ortiz

Lowrie

Cameron

Saltalamacchia

 

Cameron/Drew platoon. Tito likes to have a steady line-up, even though he had about 100 different ones last year.

[BSN07]

Crawford career SLG%: .444, but let's him in one of the main spots to bring runs in in the lineup.

 

I have an idea.....why not just hit him cleanup and have three lineups on top of each other instead of two? <_>

 

Sure why not? He batted .359/.400/.538 with RISP last year.

[Plumpamania]

Vs RHP and LHP:

 

1. Crawford

2. Pedroia

3. Gonzalez

4. Youkilis

5. Ortiz

6. Drew

7. Saltalamacchia

8. Lowrie

9. Ellsbury (Cameron vs LHP)

[Dipre]

Sure why not? He batted .359/.400/.538 with RISP last year.

 

"Last year" being the operative word. Career .830 OPS with RISP.

 

Not even close to A-Gon's .994, Youk's .989 or Ortiz' .933, who seem like the obvious candidates to hit 3rd, 4th and fifth.

 

You also have Crawford hitting 5th against lefties.....with his .697 career OPS against them.

 

The best way to maximize Crawford's offensive potential is to have him hit first or second (and near Ellsbury) so they can create havoc in the basepaths.

[Plumpamania]

Pedroia is the closest thing to a pure #2 hitter next to Jeter in the game. Ellsbury should be hitting 9th.

[WhiskeyBreath]

RHP

 

Crawford

Pedroia

Gonzalez

Youk

Ortiz

Drew

Lowrie

Salty

Ellsbury

 

LHP

 

Crawford

Pedroia

Gonzalez

Youk

Cameron

Lowrie

Drew

Salty

Ellsbury

[sandiegosoxfan]

Four principles:

 

1. Spread out the speedsters.

2. Conceive of the lineup as having a lead-off man batting first and one batting fifth

3. Platoon everyone who has significant drop-off in production against the other-hand pitcher--even switch-hitters.

4. Altertnate l-r hitters through your top 5 hitters who won't be pinch-hit for against reliever.

 

Averages are career unless last year seemed more indicative of the future decline--eg, Papi and Drew.

 

Against right-handers

 

Ellsbury .285

Pedroia .309

Gonzalez .295

Youkilis .292

Crawford .308

Scutaro .273

Ortiz .294

Drew .277

Saltimachia .273

 

• Team average is .290

 

• Crawford hitting 5th 1. serves as a second lead-off man which

2. makes the relatively weaker hitters at the bottom of the order more dangerous

3. opens up the possibility of a hit-and-run or a sacrifice bunt with Scutaro or a sac fly for Ortiz

4. Doesn't waste a stolen base or an extra base advancement by having 3rd or 4th hitter clear the bases with a double or homer

5. complicates the shift against Ortiz.

 

Against left-handers

 

Ellsbury .285

Pedroia .294

Gonzalez .262 (.337 in 2010)

Youkilis .299

Crawford .272

Lowrie (SS) .324

MacDonald (DH) .296

Cameron (RF) .272

Varitek .231

 

• Team average is .282

[Dipre]

Neither batting average nor the double lineup theory should be used to construct a major league lineup. You hit Crawford fifth, you essentially take the bat away from whoever's in front of him in a key situation.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Vs RHP

 

Ellsbury - CF

Pedroia - 2B

Crawford - LF

Gonzalez - 1B

Youkilis - 3B

Ortiz - DH

Lowrie - SS

Salty - C

Drew - RF

 

Hitting Crawford 3rd is the best of both worlds. He's got speed and pop. If he's on base, he is taking the focus off the hitter, which means there's a higher chance that Gonzo, Youk, or Ortiz gets one served up to him. If the pitcher chooses to focus on the hitter, Crawford is in scoring position immediately. I like Lowrie better than Scutaro at SS, he was crushing last year and had an OPS over .900. Drew will be a great 9 hole hitter as he has a very solid OBP (typically anywhere from .370 to .410 in 8 of the last 9 seasons).

 

Vs LHP

 

Ellsbury - CF

Pedroia - 2B

Crawford - LF

Gonzalez - 1B

Youkilis - 3B

Ortiz - DH

Lowrie - SS

Salty - C

Cam - RF

 

Same basic principles. Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Crawford are all big run scorers who do NOT need to hit lower in the line up and get their stolen base opportunities (Ells and CC specifically) reduced because they are hitting behind slower runners. Crawford basically puts us in a position to have two number 2 hitters, which extends our line up and gives us much better scoring opportunities.

[sandiegosoxfan]

Dipre, I'm new at this. Can you say more about the second point in your last post?

[SoxFanForsyth]

Crawford is not going to hit first. He's always made it known that he doesn't want to hit first, and Francona made it clear that he felt the best line up he could put together has Ellsbury hitting first.

 

In the event that Ellsbury needs to work back up to that leadoff spot (I don't foresee this happening, but if he starts slow and Francona wants to take the pressure off of him), I would imagine the line up going Pedey - Crawford - Gonzo.

 

For anyone who is worried about the L-R-L-R-L-R rotation through the line up, I'm pretty sure that if our biggest weakness in our line up is going L-L with Crawford and Gonzo, we're going to be just fine.

[Palodios]

Crawford is not going to hit first. He's always made it known that he doesn't want to hit first..

 

Watch the Carl Crawford to Boston press conference. Not only is it highly enjoyable, but Crwaford explicitly calls that a myth, and says he will hit wherever Francona wants him.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Watch the Carl Crawford to Boston press conference. Not only is it highly enjoyable' date=' but Crwaford explicitly calls that a myth, and says he will hit wherever Francona wants him.[/quote']

 

He signed a 142 million contract. Damn right he'll hit wherever Francona wants him lol.

[SoxFanForsyth]

Watch the Carl Crawford to Boston press conference. Not only is it highly enjoyable' date=' but Crwaford explicitly calls that a myth, and says he will hit wherever Francona wants him.[/quote']

 

Yeah I saw that he said that, but he was being politically correct. He may not make a huge deal of it, but he's not going to perform very well hitting leadoff if his mentality is that he doesn't want to hit leadoff, whether he's public about it or not.

 

He hasn't hit leadoff since 2007, and even then, he only had 28 AB's that season and hit .250. He's a much better 2nd or 3rd slot hitter. Last year in the 3 hole, he hit .323/.364/.526/.890, so he was getting on base more and increased his average significantly (in the 2 hole, he hit .299/.353/.480/.833.

 

I think, after the improvements he showed last year, it would be a mistake not to start him off in the 3 hole and get him, Pedroia, and Ellsbury in front of our big boppers. Ells Pedey and CC could combine for 100+ SB and 340 runs next year.

[bsox0407]

"Last year" being the operative word. Career .830 OPS with RISP.

 

Not even close to A-Gon's .994, Youk's .989 or Ortiz' .933, who seem like the obvious candidates to hit 3rd, 4th and fifth.

 

You also have Crawford hitting 5th against lefties.....with his .697 career OPS against them.

 

The best way to maximize Crawford's offensive potential is to have him hit first or second (and near Ellsbury) so they can create havoc in the basepaths.

 

Crawford already has said he doesnt like hitting leadoff. Francona Has already said that Ells is the leadoff hitter. So if you put Crawford two. Where are you gonna put Pedey.

[Palodios]

Yeah I saw that he said that' date=' but he was being politically correct. He may not make a huge deal of it, but he's not going to perform very well hitting leadoff if his mentality is that he doesn't want to hit leadoff, whether he's public about it or not. [/quote']

 

I think its very possible that he simply didn't want to lead-off in Tampa. If I were him, I would want to be as close to Evan Longoria and Pena in that pitiful lineup as possible. Especially pursuing a big FA contract, getting as many RBIs and runs was in his best interest. Now, he doesn't need to play for himself, and he's on a monster team with 5+ guys that can drive him him, so it makes more sense for him to bat leadoff now. I don't think the FO would have paid that kind of money on him if he wasn't going to be a team player.

[sandiegosoxfan]

Is anyone else worried that Lowrie has such a poor track record batting left-handed?