Pitcher bats 8th

by TradeAndruw on Oct 9, 2008 4:50 PM EDT

I've done it again. After my genius idea of making Rafael Soriano a starter, I've come up with another winner: bat the pitcher 8th (like STL does) and bat Chipper in the leadoff spot. Lightning has struck twice.

He'll effectively be batting 2nd except for the first time through the order, and he'll get more at bats throughout the year. What other teams can boast a .470 OBP leadoff hitter who slugs .574? At this point in his career, he is much better suited to getting on base than mashing 40 HRs.

True, he won't steal much, big deal. He can hit himself into scoring position. The major flaw of this plan is that nobody on the current roster seems particularly proficient at driving him in.

But Bobby would never do it, so it's really a moot point. I wish this team would put much more emphasis on OBP. I hope we can get Brian Giles as part of any Peavy deal with San Diego. He'd just be keeping RF warm until Heyward is ready.

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Talking Chop.

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I'm actually starting to like these

Not the idea, just the comic relief (i’m just joking with you).

I saw the hypothesis behind LaRussa doing this and I have to say the idea is tempting. Although I wouldn’t recommend moving Chipper up to the 2 hole. The thought process is it would theoretically allow more baserunners to get on in front of him (ie the improved OBP with a hitter in the 9 hole instead of a pitcher) thus increasing his RBI chances. The downside (if there is one) is it brings up the pitchers spot sooner in the lineup. Most of them are pretty much sure outs, but then again they’d probably not be as bad as FYF was this year.

by scstrato on Oct 9, 2008 5:01 PM EDT reply actions

the only problem is as u stated Chipper is the guy who drives everyone in, minus BMAC… so if we could have Chipper bat 1st and then again 3rd that might be an idea we could kick around

"We win today, that's two in a row... if we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before..."

by Swo12bv on Oct 9, 2008 7:13 PM EDT reply actions

I like that idea.

I’d love to see Chipper drive himself in.

by Euruproktos on Oct 9, 2008 8:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Ghost runner on second, eh?

by VictorW on Oct 9, 2008 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions

I love video games.

Chipper batting 1st AND 3rd? Why stop there??
I was playing MLB Power Pros, and I made an entire team of nothing but Chipper Joneses. I destroyed the Phillies, Cubs, Mariners and Astros, but Chipper the 2B got injured, Chipper the catcher allowed 13 passed balls, and Chipper the pitcher had an ERA of 27.43. Good thing I had several other Chippers on the bench to fill these holes.

No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.

by royhobbs on Oct 10, 2008 8:33 AM EDT up reply actions