Time for a lineup change

[longshot7]

I have Thome 3rd, Dye 4th, and Konerko 5th in MLB 2K6, but then again, Thome has 97 hrs in my current season.

[Felix]

I have Thome 3rd, Dye 4th, and Konerko 5th in MLB 2K6, but then again, Thome has 97 hrs in my current season.

Is Jerry Owens' your starting CFer?

[VAfan]

Well, since I have been advocating Dye hitting in the #3 hole since before the season started, needless to say I agree.

 

But I wouldn't hit Thome 4th. I think I'd hit him 5th. There are a few reasons for this.

 

First, the LOOGY problem won't really be defeated with Dye alone in the #3 hole, since during a lot of threats, they could just intentionally walk Dye to have the LOOGY pitch to Thome.

 

Second, while Thome is certainly better than Konerko, I think Paulie is really most comfortable in the #4 hole.

 

Third, since Thome is going to hit the most HRs, it helps having him come up more often with men on base. Both Dye and Konerko have much better OBPs than Pods or Iguchi (and way better than Uribe/Anderson). Hitting 5th, Thome is more likely to have 3-run homers.

 

With Thome hitting 5th, this also means Joe Crede should move up from 7th to 6th, with AJ sliding back a slot. This puts our 4 best hitters together for a change.

 

As for the comment about the late season change, it certainly worked last year. Dye didn't hit 3rd until our 16-1 streak to end the season. Given our tenuous hold on the playoffs, I'd say we can't wait until the end of the year this time to make a similar move.

[witesoxfan]

Is Jerry Owens' your starting CFer?

 

pwned

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

It seems more likely that the offense is capable of scoring more runs with tweaks to the lineup against righties and lefties than the pitching staff is capable of returning to the kind of success they had last year.

 

The pitching staff is tired. I have seen no mention of the World Baseball Classic or the extra innings the pitching staff absorbed last year through the playoffs in this thread.

 

Balta's idea is sound. Dye is certainly a classic #3 hitter (power,avg., speed), Konerko could bat 4th against lefties and Thome against righties. Same with Pyrzynski and Crede. Flip-flop them in the lineup depending on the lefty/righty matchup. Even getting Iguchi out of the 2 hole might be reasonable against lefties.

 

Our hitters are having good years . It's time to maximize their strengths. The pitching staff is now what it is. Buerhle returning to form is really the only thing we can reasonably expect from the pitching staff because he has had a history of success.

Edited August 8, 2006 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[fathom]

This team needs someone at the top of the order that can give them a spark. Our 3-4-5 is awesome...but far too often they're having to produce the offense for this entire team all by themselves.

[Milkman delivers]

This team needs someone at the top of the order that can give them a spark. Our 3-4-5 is awesome...but far too often they're having to produce the offense for this entire team all by themselves.

 

BUT PODS IS THE SPARK! WE WIN WHEN HE GETS HITS!1