2023 Ongoing Lineup Thread

[Aristotelian]

Trout has had a pretty good career mostly batting 2nd. With OBP even more of Adley's game I'd say he's even better fit to hit #2, as long as you have a decent 3 and 4 behind him. 

[emmett16]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Tradition is wrong.

Go read The Book.

Adley should be hitting second.

I didn’t start reading the Book until a few weeks ago but when I was a kid I dabbled with Sega World Series Baseball ‘94 and did quite well with Detroit Tigers lineup of:

1. Fielder

2. Tettleton

3. Fryman 

4. Gibson

5. Deer

6. Phillips

7. Trammel

8. Whitaker 

9. Davis 

My pops said I was a fool but in my mind it made all the sense in the world.  I’ll concede Fielder leading off might be off, but he did hit 83 HR for me (for a few seasons lol).  I’d keep full season stats myself  on paper and when it dawned on me the 1 & 2 spots got more ABs, Fielder became  lead off no questions asked.  

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by emmett16

[Billy F-Face3]

I don't subscribe to the idea that just because you get more ABs, that more ABS would translate to more runs scored or wins.... The guy who drives them home gets more bang for the team's buck if there are more runners on base when he does it. The math is simple... a 3 run blast is more points than a 1 or 2 run blast. Any pitcher will tell you they can live with a solo shot home run, but the the 3-run ding-ers kill ya.

I digress. The good thing is that it's a game, and there are different ways to play the game.  (I.E. In Japan practically every other pitcher throws a splitter, but they don't teach the splitter to American pitchers nearly as much out of concerns for injury and wild pitches.)

 

Going back to the Orioles Lineup, I just looked at the individual stats for our hitters against Dylan Cease in 2022. Based on that,  I think a lineup for game 3 vs the White Sox might look good like this...

1. Mullins CF

2 .Rutschman C

3. Mountcastle 1B

4. Santander RF

5. Frazier 2B/RF/DH

6. Hayes LF

7. Henderson 3B

8. Vavra DH/2B/RF

9. Mateo SS

 

 O'Hearn could be a consideration for DH but, he's only got a .091 BA in 11 Plate Appearances vs Dylan Cease. Vavra has only 2 appearances against him, so maybe Vavra has a clean slate to get into the lineup to see if he can get on base. After Santander's good performance in the field yesterday, I don't see a reason to take him off the field. But Hyde has been known to view things as a new day, a new game, so a new strategy so maybe he sticks Frazier or Vavra out there or something like that.

Frazier has a decent success rate against Dylan C. so it makes sense if they bumped him up the order a little bit. Hayes has hit a home run off of him before. BA split is low, but the home run makes a difference. Henderson has no recorded data facing Dylan Cease. I'm waiting for Gunnar to sort things out before putting him back in the 5 hole.  As another board member suggested, he and Santander should be separated in the batting order for the moment.

All that said, I don't think Hyde will see it exactly the same way so slots 5-9 could be a spot or 2 shuffled in the lineup. Hyde will probably revert back to sticking Henderson in the #5 spot like he's been doing and have Frazier at 7. Mateo deserves to be higher, but what he's been doing right now has been working, so why mess with a good thing? I love the fact that Mateo and Mullins get to bat back to back together.

[Billy F-Face3]

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/orioles-vs-white-sox/2023/04/16/718553/preview

[Aristotelian]

Will be interesting to see what Hyde does with Adley today. He ended up catching a couple of innings when Hyde elected to pinch hit for McCann. I think he caught about 3 innings. Does he get another DH day even though it's a RHP? Start Adley but bring in McCann if it's a blowout? 

[spleen1015]

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by spleen1015

[Aristotelian]

I'd give O'Hearn a start at 1B. Give Mouncastle a rest vs tough RHP after rough day yesterday

[Chaka Garcia]

I don’t get why Vavra is still with the team. I would rather replace him with Ortiz when Urias is ready.

[Spy Fox]

5 minutes ago, Chaka Garcia said:

I don’t get why Vavra is still with the team. I would rather replace him with Ortiz when Urias is ready.

I didn't expect them to use Vavra this much as an outfielder, but this is his 5th start in the OF to 0 starts in the infield. I think if they move on from Vavra it'll be for Stowers, not one of the AAA infielders. 

I'm not sure if they prefer Vavra's defense over Stowers', or if they prefer Vavra's OBP skills over Stowers' power skills with the current roster. 

[Aristotelian]

20 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

I didn't expect them to use Vavra this much as an outfielder, but this is his 5th start in the OF to 0 starts in the infield. I think if they move on from Vavra it'll be for Stowers, not one of the AAA infielders. 

I'm not sure if they prefer Vavra's defense over Stowers', or if they prefer Vavra's OBP skills over Stowers' power skills with the current roster. 

Vavra is a utility guy who can play anywhere. He may be master of none but there is value in a jack of all trades type.

I think they want Stowers to be a starter but only if he is actually the best guy. If he displaces someone it's probably Santander or Hays.

Not sure about Ortiz yet but if he comes up to be a bench guy I don't really see the point.

[Spy Fox]

8 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Vavra is a utility guy who can play anywhere. He may be master of none but there is value in a jack of all trades type.

I think they want Stowers to be a starter but only if he is actually the best guy. If he displaces someone it's probably Santander or Hays.

Not sure about Ortiz yet but if he comes up to be a bench guy I don't really see the point.

I'm not convinced they need that utility when they have Frazier who can play 2b/corner OF and O'Hearn who can play 1b/corner OF. 

This is Vavra's 3rd start in the last 4 games against RHP, none of them in the infield. Now I like Vavra and don't mind him being used that way when he's here. But that's basically how I expected them to use Stowers, and I personally would have Stowers here over Vavra as I think he has higher upside for the long term. But oh well, we've basically discussed the Stowers topic to death. I hope Vavra does well, and since they're using him as an OF I think Vavra/O'Hearn makes more sense than Vavra/Stowers did.

[Bahama O's Fan]

I don't think starting Vavra most days is the formula for a winning team.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Orioles lineup for 4/18 @ Nats (Josiah Gray, RHP)

Cedric Mullins, CF (L)
Adley Rutschman, C (S)
Ryan Mountcastle, DH (R)
Anthony Santander, RF (S)
Adam Frazier, 2B (L)
Austin Hays, LF (R)
Gunnar Henderson, 3B (L)
Jorge Mateo, SS (R)
Ryan O'Hearn, 1B (L)

[spleen1015]

Josiah Gray isn't going to know what hit him!

[maybenxtyr]

4 minutes ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

Orioles lineup for 4/18 @ Nats (Josiah Gray, RHP)

Cedric Mullins, CF (L)
Adley Rutschman, C (S)
Ryan Mountcastle, DH (R)
Anthony Santander, RF (S)
Adam Frazier, 2B (L)
Austin Hays, LF (R)
Gunnar Henderson, 3B (L)
Jorge Mateo, SS (R)
Ryan O'Hearn, 1B (L)

That's not a bad looking lineup.  As long as O'Hearn is hitting keep running him out.