An unorthodox, perhaps heretical, way to get Mancini ML at-bats

[FanSince88]

Platoon him with CD at first base.  

WITH the provision that CD will enter the game in the late innings either as a defensive replacement (if we're ahead) or a pinch hitter (if we're behind or tied, and he could pinch hit for Mancini, Rickard/Tavarez, Caleb, Castillo, or even Schoop or Hardy if they are slumping).  If you played your cards right, you could still probably find a way to get CD 500 plate appearances this way.  And give Mancini a solid 250-300 ABs.  

There's other advantages here, too, besides a novel way to give Mancini work

1) Never, ever needing to give Trumbo a glove if you don't want to.  

2) Chris Davis gets some extra rest, which I think would help him. 

3) If Mancini can beat CD's .711 2016 OPS against lefties, and especially if he can beat CD's .737 career OPS vs LHP mark, it's a big improvement on offense against lefty starters in a lefty-heavy division.  

The disadvantages are

1) Not being able to keep Tavarez and Rickard on the roster (unless you really want to tempt fate and send Flash to AAA).  

2) Probable drop-off in first base defense against lefty starters.  Though of course you could surely sub in CD as a defensive replacement maybe even as early as the 7th if you have a lead.  

3) Maybe CD gets a bit grumpy about having to spend a little bit of time on the bench.  But I don't see him that way and if you spin it like "look, we're not penalizing you, we're putting your talents to the best available use, and you'll get lots of pinch hit opportunities in high leverage late inning situations", I think he'd be fine with it.  

 

[Can_of_corn]

How would your plan keep Trumbo out of the outfield?  If anything taking Tavarez or Rickard off the roster would increase the odds of Trumbo putting on a glove.

Trumbo is actually pretty decent at first base.

[FanSince88]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

How would your plan keep Trumbo out of the outfield?  If anything taking Tavarez or Rickard off the roster would increase the odds of Trumbo putting on a glove.

Trumbo is actually pretty decent at first base.

Letting Kim be your everyday LF would keep Trumbo out of the OF.  Tavarez/Rickard play RF.  

You could start Trumbo at 1B and Mancini at DH as part of this plan, too.  

[FlipTheBird]

2 minutes ago, FanSince88 said:

Letting Kim be your everyday LF would keep Trumbo out of the OF.  Tavarez/Rickard play RF.  

You could start Trumbo at 1B and Mancini at DH as part of this plan, too.  

It's a novel idea, but a lot of this is based on the assumption that Mancini is actually going to continue to hit ML-caliber lefty pitching. I hope he has a big spring, too, but everyone's really fired up about 14 at bats at the end of last September.

[Spy Fox]

Davis has a career .769 OPS against left handed starting pitchers. It's not a sure thing Mancini would match or beat that. I could see it happening sometimes if Davis has a major clunker year or is banged up, but otherwise I think the big money man stays in there every day.

As mentioned, I think the bigger question for Mancini's role on the team is how much Buck decides to trust Kim against LHPs.

[FlipTheBird]

3 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

Davis has a career .769 OPS against left handed starting pitchers. It's not a sure thing Mancini would match or beat that. I could see it happening sometimes if Davis has a major clunker year or is banged up, but otherwise I think the big money man stays in there every day.

As mentioned, I think the bigger question for Mancini's role on the team is how much Buck decides to trust Kim against LHPs.

I would imagine that the O's will try to get Kim and Mancini both as many at bats as they can this spring against lefties.

[weams]

12 minutes ago, FanSince88 said:

Letting Kim be your everyday LF would keep Trumbo out of the OF.  Tavarez/Rickard play RF.  

You could start Trumbo at 1B and Mancini at DH as part of this plan, too.  

Can Kim hit a MLB lefty?

[FlipTheBird]

Just now, weams said:

Can Kim hit a MLB lefty?

Well, he hasn't yet... (0/18).

[weams]

Just now, FlipTheBird said:

I would imagine that the O's will try to get Kim and Mancini both as many at bats as they can this spring against lefties.

Mancini hits lefties well at every level that he has played at. That is his specialty.

[FlipTheBird]

2 minutes ago, weams said:

Mancini hits lefties well at every level that he has played at. That is his specialty.

He hits them better than he hits righties, yes, but aside from his breakout year in 2015 he hasn't completely mashed lefties at any particular stop. He's still an unknown quantity at the MLB level.

[oriolediehard]

34 minutes ago, FanSince88 said:

Platoon him with CD at first base.  

WITH the provision that CD will enter the game in the late innings either as a defensive replacement (if we're ahead) or a pinch hitter (if we're behind or tied, and he could pinch hit for Mancini, Rickard/Tavarez, Caleb, Castillo, or even Schoop or Hardy if they are slumping).  If you played your cards right, you could still probably find a way to get CD 500 plate appearances this way.  And give Mancini a solid 250-300 ABs.  

There's other advantages here, too, besides a novel way to give Mancini work

1) Never, ever needing to give Trumbo a glove if you don't want to.  

2) Chris Davis gets some extra rest, which I think would help him. 

3) If Mancini can beat CD's .711 2016 OPS against lefties, and especially if he can beat CD's .737 career OPS vs LHP mark, it's a big improvement on offense against lefty starters in a lefty-heavy division.  

The disadvantages are

1) Not being able to keep Tavarez and Rickard on the roster (unless you really want to tempt fate and send Flash to AAA).  

2) Probable drop-off in first base defense against lefty starters.  Though of course you could surely sub in CD as a defensive replacement maybe even as early as the 7th if you have a lead.  

3) Maybe CD gets a bit grumpy about having to spend a little bit of time on the bench.  But I don't see him that way and if you spin it like "look, we're not penalizing you, we're putting your talents to the best available use, and you'll get lots of pinch hit opportunities in high leverage late inning situations", I think he'd be fine with it.  

 

How about give CD in RF sometimes, Mancini at 1B / Trumbo at DH or vice versa with CD in RF?

[FanSince88]

46 minutes ago, oriolediehard said:

How about give CD in RF sometimes, Mancini at 1B / Trumbo at DH or vice versa with CD in RF?

I suppose it depends on whether you think CD is a a better defensive outfielder than than Kim.  

[FanSince88]

1 minute ago, FanSince88 said:

I suppose it depends on whether you think CD is a a better defensive outfielder than than Kim.  

 

50 minutes ago, oriolediehard said:

How about give CD in RF sometimes, Mancini at 1B / Trumbo at DH or vice versa with CD in RF?

I would think that Davis and Kim are probably equivalent in their outfield defense.  

Offensively, despite his struggles in a microscopic 2016 sample size, I would at least give Kim a shot to see if he can do better than Davis' .737 career OPS vs LHP.  Just as I would with Mancini.  If it becomes clear that Kim or Mancini aren't cutting it against major league lefties, you can always put Davis back in the lineup vs LHP.  

[FanSince88]

1 hour ago, FlipTheBird said:

It's a novel idea, but a lot of this is based on the assumption that Mancini is actually going to continue to hit ML-caliber lefty pitching. I hope he has a big spring, too, but everyone's really fired up about 14 at bats at the end of last September.

Totally valid point, and clearly much of this would depend on how Mancini looks this spring, without a doubt.  

[Sanfran327]

I'm much more optimistic than most when it comes to Chris Davis, but I think he's going to have a major bounce-back campaign this year. For whatever reason, people don't seem to want to buy his hand injury as a legitimate reason for his (somewhat) underwhelming 2016. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.