Opening Day Lineup

[Kalapse]

Who are we facing opening day, pitcher that is.

It's likely to be Jake Westbrook.

[Real]

Why would you DH Jones instead of DHing TCQ and put Jones in RF? I'd assume he'd be the better defensive player in RF, assuming his arm is still above average

[ScottyDo]

Why would you DH Jones instead of DHing TCQ and put Jones in RF? I'd assume he'd be the better defensive player in RF, assuming his arm is still above average

I don't know Quentin well enough to provide a psychological profile or anything, but it's been mentioned here before that Quentin may not be well suited to a DH role. The worry is that he will beat himself up mentally (and physically?) for 30 minutes between at-bats.

[Kalapse]

I don't know Quentin well enough to provide a psychological profile or anything, but it's been mentioned here before that Quentin may not be well suited to a DH role. The worry is that he will beat himself up mentally (and physically?) for 30 minutes between at-bats.

Lets also not forget that Andruw Jones is 33 years old, has been in the league for 14 seasons and has made 3 trips to the DL over the past 2 years including one that was supposedly responsible for the .165/.292/.298/.589 line he put up over his final ~150 PA of last season. He's also played less than 700 innings in the outfield over the past 2 years (only 148 INN last year). Perhaps it's best to ease him back into the outfield if he's still capable of being a good defender at this point in his career.

[joeynach]

Lets also not forget that Andruw Jones is 33 years old, has been in the league for 14 seasons and has made 3 trips to the DL over the past 2 years including one that was supposedly responsible for the .165/.292/.298/.589 line he put up over his final ~150 PA of last season. He's also played less than 700 innings in the outfield over the past 2 years (only 148 INN last year). Perhaps it's best to ease him back into the outfield if he's still capable of being a good defender at this point in his career.

 

Agreed. Let the younger, hungrier player play the OF

[The Ginger Kid]

It's likely to be Jake Westbrook.

wonder if it will be another less than 2 hour opener

[longshot7]

Probably nothing too suprising here but this is what I am told the lineup would look like if opening day were today:

 

Pierre - LF

Beckham - 2b

Quentin - RF

Konerko - 1b

Rios - CF

AJ - C

Jones - DH

Teahan - 3b

Ramirez - SS

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but teaHEN. Thank you.

[SockMe]

nothing to surprising and im not gonna lie, I really like that lineup and think they can do some things!

[TitoMB345]

I don't know. It's got potential, but it still seems to be lacking one more bat (not gonna say it). This lineup looks a hell of a lot better to me if Quentin were coming off his '08 campaign, so it comes down to him. High ceiling if he returns (in some way) to his old form, and pretty lackluster if he pulls a post-injury '09.

[witesoxfan]

I don't know. It's got potential, but it still seems to be lacking one more bat (not gonna say it). This lineup looks a hell of a lot better to me if Quentin were coming off his '08 campaign, so it comes down to him. High ceiling if he returns (in some way) to his old form, and pretty lackluster if he pulls a post-injury '09.

 

I really hate doing the "what if" game but if Quentin hypothetically only puts up like .250 25 .800, it's entirely possible for the rest of the lineup to make that up. Beckham could be an .850+ OPS bat this season, Konerko should be anywhere from .800-.875, Rios should be around .775-.800, but could realistically put up .850, AJ will probably put up .750, Teahen should put up around .750, and Ramirez should be around that .750 too. As you mentioned, it's lacking one real big bat, but there's a lot of depth in that lineup. I didn't include Pierre, Kotsay, or Jones because both Pierre and Kotsay are low ceiling players, and Jones seems to be boom or bust.

 

I do agree that a huge year from Quentin will help make a lot of these question marks a hell of a lot easier to deal with.

[TitoMB345]

I really hate doing the "what if" game but if Quentin hypothetically only puts up like .250 25 .800, it's entirely possible for the rest of the lineup to make that up. Beckham could be an .850+ OPS bat this season, Konerko should be anywhere from .800-.875, Rios should be around .775-.800, but could realistically put up .850, AJ will probably put up .750, Teahen should put up around .750, and Ramirez should be around that .750 too. As you mentioned, it's lacking one real big bat, but there's a lot of depth in that lineup. I didn't include Pierre, Kotsay, or Jones because both Pierre and Kotsay are low ceiling players, and Jones seems to be boom or bust.

 

I do agree that a huge year from Quentin will help make a lot of these question marks a hell of a lot easier to deal with.

How many games do you think a lineup like that is going to win? It seems reasonable, and I agree that we could survive with a .250 25 .800 from Q, but I'm not sure this is division winning material.

[sircaffey]

It's possible that we may not have 1 hitter finish with an OBP over .350. We need 2008 Quentin back or else this lineup is going to suck.

[flavum]

Konerko was over .350 OBP last year. He could again. I think Beckham will, too.

[witesoxfan]

How many games do you think a lineup like that is going to win? It seems reasonable, and I agree that we could survive with a .250 25 .800 from Q, but I'm not sure this is division winning material.

 

It's hard to predict something like that. The 05 Sox only had two guys with an OPS above .800 who played a significant amount of time (Thomas put up .905, but only over 124 PA's). That team could honestly win a lot of games, but so much of it depends on the pitching. If the Sox get around 800 innings of 3.50 ERA from the top 4 starters in the rotation, it's probably going to win a lot of games. If injuries or struggles occur, it might get ugly.

 

I do believe that a good expectation for the front 4 is a 3.50 combined ERA (311 ER between the 4, or about 78 ER a piece over 200 innings). I think they could possibly combined for a 3.25 (289 ER) or even 3.00 ERA (267 ER).

 

When all is said and done, there are a lot of specific areas which could make or break this team, but I would say the two most important areas are the middle of the order and the rotation.