Diaz

by clemsonfan on Apr 7, 2008 2:50 PM EDT

So my buddy and I were watching the game yesterday and we got to talking. With the way Matt is playing do you think Bobby has considered moving him up into the 5 hole?? Dont get me wrong im not bashing Jeff or Brian I just think that with the way he has been playing he could help take the pressure off the younger guys. Just thought I would see what you guys thought about it.

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Why?

So far both Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur have outhit him. both have more power and while i do think Diaz is a more consistent threat for average he hasn't done anything this season that he has done in the past to make Bobby consider moving him up. If bobby hasn't done it before now, I don't expect it to happen barring large slumps or injury to the players in front of him. Also Bobby tinkers with his lineups so you'll probably see it at some point, but not permanently and he is always slow on the permanent changes in lineup when it concerns his stars. He gives them ample opportunity to recover (see Andruw Jones circa 1996-2007).

team stats

by yondaime4 on Apr 7, 2008 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

Diaz ...

in the seven spot, i think, is great very simply because it gives us a professional hitter down there and pitchers can't pitch around everybody. franc and mccann are just too special and potentially too explosive to pull the bat out of their hands in the meat of the order. right now, it's an uptown problem. we're gonna score a lot of runs this year. on the andruw note, now batting .130-something and was 0-4 with 3 k's yesterday. not our problem anymore.

by finchy on Apr 7, 2008 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree

If Diaz, McCann, and Francoeur hit like they did last year, Diaz makes much more sense as a #5 hitter as he has a better OBP and better SLG. And you could play the situational game just as well with Diaz - R, McCann - L, Francoeur - R, Kotsay - L.

Now, Francoeur and McCann could both breakout and vastly improve on last season's solid numbers and Diaz could collapse, but it makes no sense to bat Diaz behind Francoeur and McCann if he posts better statistics.

2007:
Francoeur - .338/.444
McCann - .320/.452
Diaz - .368/.497

If those stats were repeated this year and they batted in that order, we'd likely punt about 10 runs over the course of a season. Seems pretty senseless to do that.

by 17843 on Apr 7, 2008 5:52 PM EDT reply actions

diaz

I like him in the seventh hole, sixth when McCann is on the bench. Hell, I'm not even horribly offended by the idea of moving Kotsay up in the lineup, he's a great sparkplug. Wow, our lineup is STACKED.

by bigjoe on Apr 7, 2008 7:16 PM EDT reply actions

Its a great....

to even be able to have this discussion. We have got an AL type lineup and I cant wait for them to realy get rolling! On a side note Tommy looks GREAT tonight!!!

by clemsonfan on Apr 7, 2008 10:00 PM EDT reply actions

Really. I LIKE our lineup. Where is the weakness? I think we are improved since we no longer have Andruw's 130 Ks in there anymore (and Tex will easily make up his 30 HRs...).

I am just glad Diaz is staying in the lineup. I thought after last year he deserves to be the full-time LF. He can straight up put the bat on the ball.

17843 has a good point, but I don't expect Diaz as the every day LF to repeat those number (but I hope he does). I think he will probably stay in the 7th or 8th spot. But, who knows?

by jug on Apr 7, 2008 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions