Millar is not a cleanup hitter

[tywright]

I'd go with the following line up....

Roberts

Jones

Markakis

Huff

Scott

Mora

Millar

Hernandez

Hernandez

Is it beyond dumb to have 3 LH hitting in a row?

Hell, we might as well just put Jones cleanup right now. He's the only righty hitting worth a damn.

[Why Not?]

This again?

Scott's #'s vs. LHP last season:

59 AB, .271 AVG, .358 OBP, .492 SLG, .850 OPS

Scott's minor league #'s vs. LHP

2006 (101 ABs)

.337 AVG, .418 OBP, .683 SLG, 1.101 OPS

http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/pl/...RouPCLb06.html

2005 (113 AB)

.319 AVG, .394 OBP, .655 SLG, 1.049 OPS

http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/pl/...RouPCLb05.html

He can hit LHP as he's proven it in the minors and majors.

Links aren't working for me.

Do you really consider Scott's so-so numbers in about 120 AB vs. LHP as proving anything? The only thing it proves to me is that managers don't want him batting vs. lefties.

Opposing pitchers would be more likely to go with a LOOGY matchup with Markakis/Scott 3-4 because Millar is a better hitter vs. LHP. If Millar 5th and Scott 6th gets us better platoon matchups than the opposite order, it's worth keeping it that way.

Scott: MLB career vs. LHP .250/.364/.406

Millar: MLB career vs. LHP .279/.366/.445

[Frobby]

Ok sure the sample size is small, but hitting .229 after 83 ABs is not that far off of his .254 BA last year in 476 ABs. Plus he hit .234 in the 2nd half last year in 256 ABs.

The issue is Millar doesn't hit for average anymore and his OBP is hurting as well. He had an OBP of .338 in the 2nd half, which was done from .395 in the 1st half.

The fact is Millar shouldn't be the cleanup hitter.

And he hit .236 with RISP last year.

Millar is a pretty streaky player. In 2006 his 2nd half was better than his first half; last year it was the other way around. No matter how it happens, when this year is over I'd bet on him having an OBP of .350 or better, as he has every year but one in his career, and an OPS over .750, as he has every year of his career. He could fall off the table, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Now, a player with a .750-.800 OPS is not your ideal cleanup hitter, to be sure. But I don't think it matters much. Trembley doesn't like batting 2 lefties in a row in the middle of the lineup, and I can understand why, even if the players' overall splits aren't that drastic.

Now , if it gets to be late May and Millar is still significantly under his career numbers, at that point I'd expect Trembley to move Millar down several notches.

One last thing - one year RISP numbers are almost worthless. Over the course of his career, Millar's RISP numbers are nearly identical to his overall numbers, as is true of most players.

[JTrea81]

Another game, another situation with the bases loaded and Millar fails to get a run home. When is Trembley going to move this guy down in the lineup? He's the worst cleanup hitter in baseball...

[Oriole4Life]

He is so damn impatient. He swung, first pitch with the bases loaded in the 9th and the game tied, at a down and away slider. What the hell? And he's a veteran. I like his character, I hate his game.

[blueberryale77]

Millar is really pressing right now, getting away from the patience that is usually his best quality as a hitter. Trembley is putting too much pressure on him by having him in there and hitting cleanup every single day. The man desperately needs a day off to get his head on straight, not to mention because he's 36 years old and faded badly in the second half last year.

[glorydays]

Another game, another situation with the bases loaded and Millar fails to get a run home. When is Trembley going to move this guy down in the lineup? He's the worst cleanup hitter in baseball...

Are you sure your not Mike Preston in disguise? If you start blaming Boller or Billick for our loses I'll know it's Mike!

[PoorMike]

Millar is really pressing right now, getting away from the patience that is usually his best quality as a hitter. Trembley is putting too much pressure on him by having him in there and hitting cleanup every single day. The man desperately needs a day off to get his head on straight, not to mention because he's 36 years old and faded badly in the second half last year.

I think it's more than that. As long as the pitcher can command the outside part of the plate, Millar will get himself out. When Mora ran to second on the wild pitch, I was actually hoping he'd stay at first....knowing that they would then walk Nick to get to him.

[LookitsPuck]

I'm not going to add much in here, other than the obvious "Millar should not be batting 4th." But why does Trembley keep trotting him out there? I think it's an extremely poor lineup management.

*Awaits my bandwagon of haters*

[PoorMike]

I'm not going to add much in here, other than the obvious "Millar should not be batting 4th." But why does Trembley keep trotting him out there? I think it's an extremely poor lineup management.

*Awaits my bandwagon of haters*

DT doesn't have anyone else that can play instead of him. As far as just moving him down, he doesn't want 3 leftys in a row at 3-4-5.

[LookitsPuck]

DT doesn't have anyone else that can play instead of him. As far as just moving him down, he doesn't want 3 leftys in a row at 3-4-5.

Bat him higher up, or lower down. Something like this:

Roberts

Mora

Markakis

Scott

Millar

Huff

Jones

R. Hernandez

L. Hernandez

or

Roberts

Millar

Markakis

Scott

Mora

Huff

Jones

R. Hernandez

L. Hernandez

[blueberryale77]

DT doesn't have anyone else that can play instead of him. As far as just moving him down, he doesn't want 3 leftys in a row at 3-4-5.

Every time Payton gets a start, someone has to sit. Some of the time Scott can DH, Huff play 1B, and Millar sit. Or Quiroz could get a start with Ramon DHing and Huff playing first (or even Ramon playing first). When Moore was here, he got a start in place of Roberts, who is 6 years younger than Millar and a much better player (and was red hot up until that day off) and plays a position Moore can't really play, but he never got a start at first. There are a million options to give Millar a rest. It is ludicrous that not even one of them has been used yet.

[El Gordo]

My problem with Millar isn't that he's not a #4 hitter. No one on this team is. My problem is his obstinacy with being a dead pull hitter. He's totally capable of going the other way. If he did he would raise his BA, his OBP, and his RBI's.

[longflyball]

RISP numbers are meaningless. If a .315.40/120 hitter were on the roster and Millar was batting 4th, I would share the outrage. But there's not. So it doesn't really matter.

[PoorMike]

Every time Payton gets a start, someone has to sit. Some of the time Scott can DH, Huff play 1B, and Millar sit. Or Quiroz could get a start with Ramon DHing and Huff playing first (or even Ramon playing first). When Moore was here, he got a start in place of Roberts, who is 6 years younger than Millar and a much better player (and was red hot up until that day off) and plays a position Moore can't really play, but he never got a start at first. There are a million options to give Millar a rest. It is ludicrous that not even one of them has been used yet.

I should have qualified my post by saying that these are probably DT's reasons. I think Millar is killing us in the 4 hole.