Who should be the O's leadoff hitter?

[wildcard]

Who should be the O's leadoff hitter?   Hays?   Alberto? Williams?

What say you?

[oriole]

Seems as though it’s Hays’ job to lose. I have high hopes he holds onto it. Alberto is a good option vs lefties but if Hays is doing well I wouldn’t push it. 

[Enjoy Terror]

Williams won’t hit enough to lead off, but having him hit from the 9-spot would really benefit the 9-1-2 section of the lineup.

[tntoriole]

Austin Hays will leadoff...in April 2021.,

[wildcard]

I think that whichever one of these three has the best OBP should lead off at that time.   That way the leadoff hitter is on base to be driven in.   It does not have to be the same player all the time.

[Aristotelian]

Hays had a .373 OBP in limited time last year. His job to lose. At some point he will slump and we will see Alberto, Urias/Velazquez, Iglesias, Santander etc. None of these guys is a "prototypical leadoff hitter."

[Moose Milligan]

What burns off first?  The coronavirus or the topics that wildcard can create a thread with?

[Philip]

Is Nate Mclouth available?

[Philip]

By the way, anything that keeps baseball chat going(and I’d like to point out that my wife just told me to forget about baseball… And yet I am still married to her) is fine by me!

[LA2]

About that debate, it seemed to me that neither candidate displayed much faith in OBP--they were both swinging for the fences. The main difference is that one promised a big first inning from a lineup filled with free-agent boppers while the other fights to change the rules enough to encourage historically huge late-inning comebacks by journeymen and teenage prospects.

Little did the latter know that the ex-commish had Ford-Frickin' aligned the whole league against him. They even accused him of a bias toward Cuban players and fans of Dennis Martinez.

[DrungoHazewood]

9 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

Hays had a .373 OBP in limited time last year. His job to lose. At some point he will slump and we will see Alberto, Urias/Velazquez, Iglesias, Santander etc. None of these guys is a "prototypical leadoff hitter."

And a .327 career OBP in the minors.  His career high for walks in a calendar year is 25.  He basically has Adam Jones' plate discipline. 

But we don't have much else available.

[HarlowFan]

How about DJ Stewart? His injury now has more time and rest to heal, making him likely for the opening day roster.

[TommyPickles]

I like Hanser Alberto for leadoff.

He bat lead off in 48 games last season.  In those games he hit .349/.364/.472/.836.   That's a better AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS than his season totals.  I feel like he'd bring more confidence and experience to this spot than Hays or Mason Williams.  Plus, I feel like Hays has (potentially) more pop and could bat a little lower in the order. 

[Philip]

2 hours ago, HarlowFan said:

How about DJ Stewart? His injury now has more time and rest to heal, making him likely for the opening day roster.

I’d prefer he show an ability to hit at the major league level first.

[HarlowFan]

I think the Os don't have any ideal leadoff hitters on their roster. DJ Stewart has shown the ability to take a walk, a little power, and some speed. I also think he has shown the ability to hit at the ML level as much as Austin Hays, who IMO should be lower in the lineup (like 5th or 6th). Aberto could be a good second or third hitter.