The #2 and #5 spots in the lineup...

[SouthsideDon48]

Last night, a lot of people complained about how Ozzie had Beckham bunt twice in yesterday's game. While I am an advocate for using the bunt, I also agree that it's kind of wasting Beckham's bat, so I was thinking of other ways Ozzie can alter the lineup to take advantage of Beckham's bat.

 

First, I really don't think Beckham should be batting #2 if Ozzie is gonna be calling for a bunt a lot. I think the #2 hitter should be someone else so that Beckham can be moved to a different spot in the lineup to take full advantage of his bat.

 

What if we put Teahen in the #2 role, and move Beckham to #5?

 

I know it messes up Ozzie's l,r,l,r thing, but it'd prolly look like this:

 

1. Pierre l

2. Teahen l

3. Quentin r

4. Konerko r

5. Beckham r

6. Kotsay/Jones l/r

7. Rios r

8. Pierzynski l

9. Ramirez r

 

Basically, instead of leading off with a lefty then a righty, the Sox should lead off with 2 lefties so that we can move Beckham to #5 and move Kotsay/Jones one spot down to #6. The Sox already has two lefties in a row with Pierzynski and Teahen in the 7 and 8 spots right now, so I don't see any reason why we can't have two lefties bat in a row in the #1 and 2 spots instead.

 

I guess my point is, if Ozzie wants to have the #2 guy bunt the #1 guy over, it doesn't really have to be someone that's a good batter, just someone that knows how to lay down a bunt to move the batter over, someone like Teahen would fit the bill if he knows how to bunt. I also think it should be Teahen since Pierzynski would be too slow and I don't remember ever seeing him bunt, and it would also waste Rios' and Alexei's bats in the lineup if they were batting #2 and always bunting. So it should be Teahen since we're not expecting much from him anyway, and he would prolly see better pitches in the #2 hole if he has Quentin batting behind him.

[caulfield12]

Teahen struggling as bad as he is...that's not going to work.

 

He's just not a high contact hitter, period. And he's not a particularly strong bunter, either.

 

If the whole idea is to sacrifice our #2 hitter, we really should turn the clocks back to Minoso (err, Vizquel), play him at 3B and let him bunt every time he comes to the plate.

 

 

[ThunderBolt]

I'd like to actually use speed to its advantage and orient our offense around getting on-base and hitting doubles.

Something like:

 

Rios CF

Beckham 2b

Quentin DH

Konerko 1b

Teahen 3b

Jones RF

AJ C

Alexei SS

Pierre LF

[caulfield12]

I'm starting to think that with Rios leading off, we might end up injuring him by running too much with him...not to mention he will probably end up with the third highest home run total on the team, after Quentin/Konerko.

 

Personally, I'd rather keep Rios at 5/6. No matter what we do, there are issues. Batting Beckham leadoff wastes his RBI/gap-to-gap hitting ability, but it still seems better than Pierre if Juan's only going to be putting up a .320-.330 OBP and he's not able to steal at a proficient clip.

 

Teahen shouldn't be anywhere but in the bottom 2-3. At least until he proves he's anything more than a 725-775 OPS hitter.

[ChWRoCk2]

Beckham should definitely not be bunting when Pierre has the speed to potentially beat out ground balls or steal a base if hes on base.

 

I think the lineup is fine, not much you can do when players are not hitting. We do have guys getting on base but still can't move them along.

[bmags]

I think the lineup is fine, not much you can do when players are not hitting.

 

You're of the opinion this will change. Interesting.

[chw42]

Last night, a lot of people complained about how Ozzie had Beckham bunt twice in yesterday's game. While I am an advocate for using the bunt, I also agree that it's kind of wasting Beckham's bat, so I was thinking of other ways Ozzie can alter the lineup to take advantage of Beckham's bat.

 

First, I really don't think Beckham should be batting #2 if Ozzie is gonna be calling for a bunt a lot. I think the #2 hitter should be someone else so that Beckham can be moved to a different spot in the lineup to take full advantage of his bat.

 

What if we put Teahen in the #2 role, and move Beckham to #5?

 

I know it messes up Ozzie's l,r,l,r thing, but it'd prolly look like this:

 

1. Pierre l

2. Teahen l

3. Quentin r

4. Konerko r

5. Beckham r

6. Kotsay/Jones l/r

7. Rios r

8. Pierzynski l

9. Ramirez r

 

Basically, instead of leading off with a lefty then a righty, the Sox should lead off with 2 lefties so that we can move Beckham to #5 and move Kotsay/Jones one spot down to #6. The Sox already has two lefties in a row with Pierzynski and Teahen in the 7 and 8 spots right now, so I don't see any reason why we can't have two lefties bat in a row in the #1 and 2 spots instead.

 

I guess my point is, if Ozzie wants to have the #2 guy bunt the #1 guy over, it doesn't really have to be someone that's a good batter, just someone that knows how to lay down a bunt to move the batter over, someone like Teahen would fit the bill if he knows how to bunt. I also think it should be Teahen since Pierzynski would be too slow and I don't remember ever seeing him bunt, and it would also waste Rios' and Alexei's bats in the lineup if they were batting #2 and always bunting. So it should be Teahen since we're not expecting much from him anyway, and he would prolly see better pitches in the #2 hole if he has Quentin batting behind him.

 

I'd rather have Teahen bunt than Beckham.

 

[macsandz]

Last night, a lot of people complained about how Ozzie had Beckham bunt twice in yesterday's game. While I am an advocate for using the bunt, I also agree that it's kind of wasting Beckham's bat, so I was thinking of other ways Ozzie can alter the lineup to take advantage of Beckham's bat.

 

First, I really don't think Beckham should be batting #2 if Ozzie is gonna be calling for a bunt a lot. I think the #2 hitter should be someone else so that Beckham can be moved to a different spot in the lineup to take full advantage of his bat.

 

What if we put Teahen in the #2 role, and move Beckham to #5?

 

I know it messes up Ozzie's l,r,l,r thing, but it'd prolly look like this:

 

1. Pierre l

2. Teahen l

3. Quentin r

4. Konerko r

5. Beckham r

6. Kotsay/Jones l/r

7. Rios r

8. Pierzynski l

9. Ramirez r

 

Basically, instead of leading off with a lefty then a righty, the Sox should lead off with 2 lefties so that we can move Beckham to #5 and move Kotsay/Jones one spot down to #6. The Sox already has two lefties in a row with Pierzynski and Teahen in the 7 and 8 spots right now, so I don't see any reason why we can't have two lefties bat in a row in the #1 and 2 spots instead.

 

I guess my point is, if Ozzie wants to have the #2 guy bunt the #1 guy over, it doesn't really have to be someone that's a good batter, just someone that knows how to lay down a bunt to move the batter over, someone like Teahen would fit the bill if he knows how to bunt. I also think it should be Teahen since Pierzynski would be too slow and I don't remember ever seeing him bunt, and it would also waste Rios' and Alexei's bats in the lineup if they were batting #2 and always bunting. So it should be Teahen since we're not expecting much from him anyway, and he would prolly see better pitches in the #2 hole if he has Quentin batting behind him.

 

The lineup is fine.

Bunting is fine.

Bunting with Beckham is fine....BUT...bunting Pierre to 2nd is idiotic.

Bunting him to third with no outs for the heart of the order to drive him in is the way to do it.

 

[bulokis]

Beckham should definitely not be bunting when Pierre has the speed to potentially beat out ground balls or steal a base if hes on base.

 

I think the lineup is fine, not much you can do when players are not hitting. We do have guys getting on base but still can't move them along.

 

I don't like the idea of taking out Beckham's bat by having him bunt. Once should be okay but not twice. Beckham can be a doubles machine. I would feel a lot better having Pierre stealing 2nd base and Beckham scoring him with a double.

[jphat007]

We need better hitters.

[BigSqwert]

We need better hitters.

 

The Twins lineup looks like murderers row compared to what we're trotting out there. There's going to be a lot of pressure on our pitchers this weekend.

[Reddy]

Beckham is great in the 2 hole.

 

You know who else is great in the 2 hole? Grady Sizemore. He drove in a lot of runs last night because HE was allowed to hit. You know the rest.

 

That is all.

[ChWRoCk2]

You're of the opinion this will change. Interesting.

Lol, lets hope so otherwise a move is necessary.

 

At the least our pitching should keep us in most games.

 

For sure if our hitting woes continue Walker must go, idc that it is not his fault or not. Yeah, that's right I'll be the first to blame him already assuming things continue.

[BigSqwert]

For sure if our hitting woes continue Walker must go, idc that it is not his fault or not. Y

For once I can't blame it on Walker. Look at the lineup. It's terrible.

[bmags]

even when our 2-3-4 produces, that's not enough. They won't do it every night.

[Ranger]

The lineup is fine.

Bunting is fine.

Bunting with Beckham is fine....BUT...bunting Pierre to 2nd is idiotic.

Bunting him to third with no outs for the heart of the order to drive him in is the way to do it.

 

Bunting him over in the 9th inning is fine. I wouldn't have done it in the 7th, though.

[chetkincaid]

LOL I wonder if everyone in the Sox dugout was thinking last night when Ozzie used GB to bunt Pierre over....

[bmags]

Bunting him over in the 9th inning is fine. I wouldn't have done it in the 7th, though.

 

Why can't stealy mcstealerson steal in the ninth and not waste Beckhams AB? He's our best hitter. Instead of getting 3 tries of a big hit with our best hitters...we gave ourselves 2 chances.

[Reddy]

Why can't stealy mcstealerson steal in the ninth and not waste Beckhams AB? He's our best hitter. Instead of getting 3 tries of a big hit with our best hitters...we gave ourselves 2 chances.

exactly

 

I thought that's the reason he was brought in in the first place

[Ranger]

Why can't stealy mcstealerson steal in the ninth and not waste Beckhams AB? He's our best hitter. Instead of getting 3 tries of a big hit with our best hitters...we gave ourselves 2 chances.

 

Because it's fairly large risk in the 9th inning of a tie game. Yes, he's gonna steal bases, but he's not going to do it at a 100% rate. Runner at 2nd with Quentin and Konerko coming up provides a pretty damn good chance to drive in that run.

 

This isn't to say that he won't ever attempt a steal in a similar situation, but it's not going to happen every time.

[Ranger]

Beckham, by the way, is not this team's best hitter just yet. I know we're all excited about watching him develop at this level, but I think we should also reel it in a bit.

[bmags]

Bunting with beckham is like 95% a sure thing to waste an out.

 

Pierre, unfortunately, is only a 30% chance to if he steals.

 

Beckham hits a lot of doubles...and you wasted him for a chance to only put a guy on second. It was a bad move in each inning.

[Reddy]

Beckham, by the way, is not this team's best hitter just yet. I know we're all excited about watching him develop at this level, but I think we should also reel it in a bit.

i would much rather see Beckham up at the plate in a pressure situation than any other guy not named Quentin or Konerko.

[fathom]

Because it's fairly large risk in the 9th inning of a tie game. Yes, he's gonna steal bases, but he's not going to do it at a 100% rate. Runner at 2nd with Quentin and Konerko coming up provides a pretty damn good chance to drive in that run.

 

Konerko and Jones, as Quentin will get intentionally walked nearly every time in that situation.

[fathom]

Beckham, by the way, is not this team's best hitter just yet. I know we're all excited about watching him develop at this level, but I think we should also reel it in a bit.

 

We're not saying he's better than Albert Pujols, but with regards to overall hitting, he's pretty clearly our best. If he's not, then this offense will be even worse.