Our lineup

[a700hitter]

The manager makes out the line up card. If he doesn't have that much authority, then he is little more than an overpaid figurehead. Suit up a bobblehead doll and call it the manger if he can't make out the lineup card. He should be dropping Ells to the bottom and moving everyne up a slot so Ortiz always gets a hack in the first inning.

 

Hopefully Middlebrooks is getting things figured out. We need him to be a force in the middle of the lineip if they want to compete for a playoff spot. Napoli is a wrecking ball but too inconsistent.

[BSN07]

I made my lineup off of who is hot right now. I decided to go out of the box instead of suggesting something slightly different then what had already been posted. Your guys are killing my creative juices haha

 

QUOTE]

 

They never have changed their lineup according to who is hot and cold. That seems to be a FO policy unaffected by who is manager. Which is why Ellsbury will probably stay at leadoff.

 

Nobody really knows who dictates field policy-- the FO or the manager--in Boston, because the media doesn't talk about it. I suspect it's the FO more than the manager which sets the lineup, and even controls pitch limits, reliever rotations, etc.

 

I know they haven't, it's the one I made up as a fan bsing with some guys on a message board

[BSN07]

The manager makes out the line up card. If he doesn't have that much authority, then he is little more than an overpaid figurehead. Suit up a bobblehead doll and call it the manger if he can't make out the lineup card. He should be dropping Ells to the bottom and moving everyne up a slot so Ortiz always gets a hack in the first inning.

 

Hopefully Middlebrooks is getting things figured out. We need him to be a force in the middle of the lineip if they want to compete for a playoff spot. Napoli is a wrecking ball but too inconsistent.

 

WMB has looked better recently.

[SoxFanForsyth]

 

I know they haven't, it's the one I made up as a fan bsing with some guys on a message board

 

This post hurt the Quote fuction's feelings.

[Dojji]

 

This post hurt the Quote fuction's feelings.

 

Yes it did.

[BSN07]

haha ya that went wonky somehwere

[redsoxfan3]

WMB has looked better recently.

 

To give him credit, the double last night was awesome. Middlebrooks does have eight hits in the last seven games, so that is a big improvement he has had over having only 23 in the first 32 games. Not to mention, if you take out that 4 for 5 game against Toronto, it looks that much worse.

 

The problem here is not lack of power. 18 of his 31 hits this season are extra base hits. His problem is getting walks and striking out too much. Last year he had the same problem. He has only 6 walks this season and has struck out 45 times. That is horrible. It reminds me a lot of Adam Dunn's performance this year. They both hit for power, but strike out way too much.

 

If you take a look at our best player in terms of batting average, Pedroia has struck out 23 times, but has also walked 25 times. His plate discipline needs to drastically improve over the course of his career if he wants to really be successful in the long-term. I know this is only his second year in the majors and he can still work on improving his plate discipline. He has always struck out way more than he has walked, in the minor leagues as well.

 

He has the potential to hit for a good average, it just seems that pitchers are pitching to his weaknesses and he still hasn't figured it out. He still has a long career ahead of him, which is the good thing.

[jung]

Swings at too many bad pitches. Not sure his walks will pick up more than his K's reduce or when pitchers start to fear him. K's will reduce when he stops swinging at so many bad pitches. Since virtually all of those pitches are low and away all of that will reduce when he cuts down his strike zone (instead of trying to expand his strike zone). To reach his full potential WMB needs to forget the outer third exists except for purposes of protecting the plate. If the Sox try to pursue a path toward making WMB a ML spray hitter they are dumber than a bag full of doorknobs.