Schafer's Spot in the lineup

by gopherbroke on Apr 6, 2009 11:22 AM EDT Comment 17 comments

Joe Morgan talked about this last night seemingly every time that Schafer, or Johnson came to bat last night, and it seems to me that it would make sense.

Morgan seemed to think that it was essentially a foregone conclusion that Schafer will bat leadoff at some point this year. So the question is how long until we see him there, and where does that put Kelly, Yunel etc...I though Schafer had a great AB in each of his first 2 trips. He took some pitches, got fastballs to hit and put good swings on them. I do however agree that it was a good move to let him get his feet wet before putting the pressure of leading off on the kid.

Thoughts on the lineup going forward...

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Move KJ Down

When Schafer is ready, I think the move will help Kelly Johnson because he has never looked comfortable batting first. I think the order will look like this:

Schafer
Escobar
Jones
McCann
Anderson
Francouer
Johnson
Kotchman (great defense last night, but he looked rough at the plate)

on McCann’s off day

Schafer
Escobar
Jones
Anderson (he may not hit a lot of homers, but he can drive in runs)
Francouer
Johnson
Ross (I would switch him and Kotchman if we are facing a righty)
Kotchman

by gutisking on Apr 6, 2009 11:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

No Doubt

Schafer’s a top-of-the-order hitter for sure. I’d say a couple weeks at most before he’s leading off, but that’s just a guess. Just enough time to let him get comfortable without the pressure of leading off, but not enough time to get used to hitting in the bottom of the order.

KJ is really more of a #5-6 hitter anyway, just hitting #1 for lack of someone better siuted for the role. I’m sure that’s where he will end up, with maybe the LF combo hitting 8?

by tchoup on Apr 6, 2009 12:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If the season rolls along the way I expect it to, this is what I’d like to see the order look like…assuming of course, no injuries/trades/releases

Schafer
Escobar
Jones
McCann
Francoeur
Johnson
Anderson
Kotchman

SWAGGA LIKE...Jordan!?
President, CEO, and chairman of the Brandon Jones fan club

by bigjoe on Apr 6, 2009 12:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

DAMN looking at the line up makes me realize just how bad we need a righty in the line up.

by That a boy on Apr 6, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the entire NL East is chock full of Lefties. It is weird for sure.

by yondaime4 on Apr 6, 2009 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think expecting anything better than .260/.335/.415 or so out of Schafer is premature, so I don’t think he’ll bat leadoff any time soon.

by 17843 on Apr 6, 2009 12:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

why 260?

by acie4mvp on Apr 6, 2009 7:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

because thats the kind of hitter he is profiled at… he will strike out a fair amount… he knows how to take wlks, but still

in the future he could hit around 280-290 but not in his rookie year

Heyward,Hanson,and Shaffer r ready now!! Why do you think they havent signed the "right handed bat"?

by fatazfoot on Jan 7, 2009 8:59 PM EST

by Swo12bv on Apr 6, 2009 8:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

we have options

don’t forget about Diaz vs. lefties. could also put Prado or Norton at first against southpaws.

by mwchipper on Apr 6, 2009 4:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sabermetric lineup

Optimize the Lineup by The Book. Here’s an example of it.

If you don’t want to read those, I’ll try to give you all the cliff notes below. The lineup we’ll end up with will never happen (Chipper won’t be hitting 3rd), but it’ll be fun to look at.

Braves hitters from best to worst:
Chipper, McCann, Johnson, Escobar, Anderson/Diaz, Francoeur, Kotchman, Schafer

After Escobar is a bit of a question mark. Will Kotchman start walking again? How good is Logan Schafer? What kind of hitter is FYF now? How much will platooning help Anderson’s numbers?

The two best hitters should hit 2nd and 4th so that’s Chipper and McCann. Chipper is an OBP machine so let’s put him 2nd and Heap 4th. Basically the reason that these two spots are more important than the 3rd spot is because number 3 has too many situations with 2 out and nobody on.

Kelly and Yunel will fight over the leadoff and 5th spot. Yunel is a groundball machine and Kelly has more pop so it’s advantageous to have Yunel leading off with Kelly batting 5th. Johnson may be able to get on base at a slightly higher rate than Yunel, but the groundball machine would not look good in the 5 hole and Kelly’s pop helps you more there, even if you’re losing some OBP.

The 3rd slot should go to the next best hitter so do you think the Anderson/Diaz platoon will be better or Francoeur? I really don’t know. And, heck, if you think Schafer is ready to bust out passed those two then he should be here (or in the 5th or 1st slot if you think he’s better than Kelly/Yunel). For now I’ll go the safe route and pick Anderson/Diaz. Or I guess if you think Frenchy is better than Diaz, you can put him there on days when Diaz is hitting.

FYF follows up the platoon, then Kotchman, the pitcher, and with Schafer in the 9 hole to turn it over the top of the order. So this is what we’re looking at:

Yunel
Chipper
Anderson/Diaz
McCann
Kelly
Francoeur
Kotchman
Pitcher
Schafer

by VictorW on Apr 6, 2009 4:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks…been waiting for someone on BTB to do that.

by Smoltz's Beard on Apr 6, 2009 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was waiting too

If you want something done…

by VictorW on Apr 6, 2009 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

...wait until VictorW does it?

Penis

by justincredubil02 on Apr 6, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

bingo

With those who don't give a damn about baseball, I can only sympathize. I do not resent them. I am even willing to concede that many of them are physically clean, good to their mothers and in favor of world peace. But while the game is on, I can't think of anything to say to them.

by Smoltz's Beard on Apr 6, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And since this thread about Schafer

If you think he hits better than Kotchman, but worse than FYF and Anderson, put Schafer 7th and Kotchman 9th.

If you think Schafer hits as well as Anderson/Diaz and Francoeur, you could slot him 3rd or 6th. The only problem with this is that you have 3 lefties in a row (Schafer, Heap, Kelly) so you’re probably better off keeping him 7th.

Now, if you think Schafer is real good and ready to break out, things get really interesting. Did you drink the Kool-Aid and you think he’ll hit .270/.350/.450? I hate double play so I’m big on keeping Yunel leadoff, but we can do the following lineup if you think Schafer is ready to bust out:

Schafer/Kelly, Chipper,Anderson/Diaz, McCann, Kelly/Schafer, Escobar, Francoeur, Pitcher, Kotchman

Keeping Yunel out of the double play spots (2, 3, 4, 5) and adequately breaking up the lefties (no KJ, Heap, Schafer in a row). Wow I wish we had more right handed hitters.

by VictorW on Apr 6, 2009 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So do the Phillies

Especially after their righties in the 9th dominated Gonzales…then he dominated their lefties.

Penis

by justincredubil02 on Apr 6, 2009 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think that if we’re not batting him leadoff to allow him to see some pitches, get some exposure etc. then it would make more sense to swap him and kotchman. I read somewhere about having him in the 8 spot means that he sees some pretty bad pitches on account of the pitcher being up next. Admittedly it must have been a confidence boost for him to be intentionally walked in his first game, but while leaving him here for a couple of games can do this by letting him see some easier pitches, i don’t think its worth leaving him there for long. We don’t necessarily need to put him into leadoff, but i think moving him from the 8 spot will expose him a bit more to major league pressure and pitching than leaving him there would

by Bream to the plate, and he is... on Apr 7, 2009 3:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs