April 13, 2009

One Week Down...Will the Lineup Stay?

I am getting more and more irritated that Soriano is batting lead-off. He's off to a great start but it's affecting everything. But it could be argued that he is giving up valuable RBI's and affecting the rest of the lineup by insisting on leading off. It's no secret that the Cubs were hampered by a non-balanced right handed lineup in the playoffs in the last two years, but this is not the way to fix it. These guys are professionals and should be able to hit pitching from either arm, I know it's an advantage and helps when relievers come into play but at what cost? Since Soriano is a righty and leading off we go to Fuke because he is left at second, Lee because he is right at third, Bradley at cleanup because he is left and Ramirez at 5 because he is right. Bradley is batting horrible right now and you are taking your most consistant hitter who averages over 100 RBI's and moving him to 5? I know it's early and it doesn't seem to be affecting Rami right now, but what happens when Fuke forgets how to hit a curve ball again? I think Lou will look into moving Bradley to second but that still leaves things a mess. By insisting on keeping Soriano at 1 and rotating the Leftys and the Rightys you are throwing out the baby with the bath water. Sometimes I think Lou needs to open his mind a bit and not try to force things. The lineup get shuffled from time to time but I don't like it starting this way. I am still happy with the start but I think things could be improved on. Gregg as a closer is a BIG mistake. I would have rather given a multi-year deal to Kerry than that. I hope that they will be addressing this issue. Give Marmol the ball and find a quality set-up man and move on already.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just for the record, here would be my lineup card.

1. Theriot. (Reed Johnson when subbing)
He gets the ball in play, seldom strikes out. I prefer contact guys at the top.
2. Fukedome. I would rather put Milton here but the 2 spot traditionally sees more fastballs to avoid getting in trouble with 3 and 4. Bradley may just have to move here later in the season.
3. Soriano. Would be setting up for Ramirez and would help curtail his strikouts because he would be seeing some better pitches with runners in scoring position.
4. Ramirez. Where he absolutely belongs. Get his 100 every year.
5. Bradley. Ease into it, still in the power zone. Later for Fuke.
6. Lee. Less pressure, he's not the same Lee from 4 years ago and needs to be represented in the lineup that way. Only moved behind Bradley to move up a lefty.
7. Soto
8. Fontenot
9. Pitcher

I know this looks a little off, just trust me.

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more on Ramirez needing to be moved up from fifth. He is losing at least 50 plate appearances by not hitting third. Lee is definitely not the hitter he used to be, though this week he seems to be a bit stronger.

I am okay with Soriano at the top, I just think that we need to worry less about the right lefty thing. Put Ramirez third and Lee fourth. In a late inning situation, bring Hoffpauir off the bench to hit for Lee if we need to switch things around.