2023 Ongoing Lineup Thread

[Bemorewins]

Just now, DirtyBird said:

You really think there is a reason for Vavra to be on the team if Cowser is promoted?

He may have a bench role to be a left handed pinch hitter? O'hearn can go and he can stay as the last bench guy. But I sure would prefer playing the better player in Cowser if we are serious about trying to win.

Other than plate discipline/swing decisions, what does Varva do well? And from my untrained eye, he sure looks overmatched against power stuff up in the zone. 

Varva and Frazier are redundant players. And since Frazier is better and we are paying him 8 million, I say keep him and get a real outfielder to play righties instead of Varva... Oh wait we have some options already at AAA like Cowser.

[Billy F-Face3]

Tomorrow we face a LHP. I'm betting that James McCann is in the lineup as Catcher. And with the way the guys are currently hitting, I'd be considering putting Santander back in the #3 spot just because he's taking a better approach at the plate and being more selective with what he swings at, where as Mountcastle isn't really making the pitcher pitch inside the strike zone. (Mounty seems to be swinging at too many balls outside the zone, and smart pitchers know they can get him out without having to throw anything he can really hit.)

[AnythingO's]

51 minutes ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

Tomorrow we face a LHP. I'm betting that James McCann is in the lineup as Catcher. And with the way the guys are currently hitting, I'd be considering putting Santander back in the #3 spot just because he's taking a better approach at the plate and being more selective with what he swings at, where as Mountcastle isn't really making the pitcher pitch inside the strike zone. (Mounty seems to be swinging at too many balls outside the zone, and smart pitchers know they can get him out without having to throw anything he can really hit.)

I was there tonight and Mounty drilled 2 line drives to RF but right at-ems. He had a 7 pitch AB to single in the 9th, advanced to 3rd on Santander's single, and broke for home to score the winning run. Before his single to advance Mounty, Santander had hit fly balls to all 3 fields. Neither is hitting for average but Mounty's OPS is almost 100 points higher.

[AnythingO's]

8 hours ago, Bemorewins said:

Varva and Frazier are redundant players. And since Frazier is better and we are paying him 8 million, I say keep him and get a real outfielder to play righties instead of Varva... Oh wait we have some options already at AAA like Cowser.

Vavra and Frazier both looked overmatched tonight, and Vavra doesn't look very fleet of foot. He handled a few pretty routine chances but didn't look comfortable in RF to me. The outfielder in AAA who hits lefties and is on the 40 man isn't named Cowser, it's Stowers. If anyone thinks Vavra is the answer, they are asking the wrong question.

[Bemorewins]

15 minutes ago, AnythingO's said:

Vavra and Frazier both looked overmatched tonight, and Vavra doesn't look very fleet of foot. He handled a few pretty routine chances but didn't look comfortable in RF to me. The outfielder in AAA who hits lefties and is on the 40 man isn't named Cowser, it's Stowers. If anyone thinks Vavra is the answer, they are asking the wrong question.

I don’t understand why they prefer Varva over Stowers. 
 

But having said that, Cowser is the much better prospect than Stowers. And he will give you better corner outfield defense and better speed. The issue for both are the strikeouts.

But if they brought up Stowers first to replace Varva that would be fine with me. Varva is such a low ceiling player, who IMO only possesses 1 tool - plate discipline/swing decisions. But against power pitchers who can challenge him up in the zone, he’s pretty much useless.

[RarityFlaherty]

6 hours ago, Bemorewins said:

I don’t understand why they prefer Varva over Stowers. 

It seems pretty obvious to me that the biggest factor is that we highly value plate discipline now. My guess is that we are keeping Vavra up because he has the best plate discipline, a little more versatility, and we want to see if he can stick. Even if he ends up being somewhat of a hole in the lineup, he should at least have pretty good at bats, so that’ll run up the pitch count and wear down pitchers so our better hitters can take advantage. I definitely don’t mind having Vavra in the 9  hole for a little while just to see how he does. 

[AnythingO's]

Vavra is batting .190, OPS .482 and just had a 2 pitch AB last night resulting in a DP. When Det went to a leftie they subbed McKenna for him. Vavra is not a good defensive 2B, had some good results at 3B in ST, but has no business in RF at all except in emergency. So much for versatility. He is redundant with Urias who is a better hitter and the reigning GG at 3B who is basically a Util IF because of Gunnar. We are playing a man short every day Vavra is on the roster. Imagine an actual RF that can hit lefties in that spot.

Edited April 22, 2023 by AnythingO's
typo

[waroriole]

I’m not sure why Mountcastle continues to play every day, and put up a .233 OBP, and bat 3rd. Why is O’Hearn on the team if he’s not going to play 1B against RHP?

[spleen1015]

5 minutes ago, AnythingO's said:

Vavra is batting .190, OPS .482 and just had a 2 pitch AB last night resulting in a DP. When Det went to a leftie they subbed McKenna for him. Vavra is not a good defensive 2B, had some good results at 3B in ST, but has no business in RF at all except in emergency. So much for versatility. He is redundant with Urias who is a better hitter and the reigning GG at 3B who is basically a Util IF because of Gunnar. We are playing a man short every day Vavra is on the roster. Imagine an actual RF that can hit lefties in that spot.

It's hard to see why they've kept Vavra in the majors if all he's going to do is play RF here and there. Stowers serves the same purpose and as everyone keeps pointing out, he's likely got the better bat.

[RZNJ]

52 minutes ago, spleen1015 said:

It's hard to see why they've kept Vavra in the majors if all he's going to do is play RF here and there. Stowers serves the same purpose and as everyone keeps pointing out, he's likely got the better bat.

I think the feeling was that Vavra was the better pure hitter and would have better AB's than Stowers, especially with sporadic playing time.   Vavra has not performed so I think his spot might be in jeopardy but I doubt it's Stowers who takes his place.

[waroriole]

9 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I think the feeling was that Vavra was the better pure hitter and would have better AB's than Stowers, especially with sporadic playing time.   Vavra has not performed so I think his spot might be in jeopardy but I doubt it's Stowers who takes his place.

Westburg has been playing OF more often. There’s obviously more of a need for a RH bat in that role. I’m assuming we see him once he heats up a bit. 

[sportsfan8703]

14 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I think the feeling was that Vavra was the better pure hitter and would have better AB's than Stowers, especially with sporadic playing time.   Vavra has not performed so I think his spot might be in jeopardy but I doubt it's Stowers who takes his place.

I agree and I think that was the thinking, but now there is a role to be had for Stowers to play 3 times a week versus RHP. That’s not a bad way to crack into the bigs. 

[RZNJ]

6 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I agree and I think that was the thinking, but now there is a role to be had for Stowers to play 3 times a week versus RHP. That’s not a bad way to crack into the bigs. 

I think O'Hearn will pick up any AB's that Vavra would have had.    I don't think you're going to see Stowers right away but honestly I don't know who would replace Vavra.   Maybe Ortiz.   Maybe Westburg.

[spleen1015]

2 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I think O'Hearn will pick up any AB's that Vavra would have had.    I don't think you're going to see Stowers right away but honestly I don't know who would replace Vavra.   Maybe Ortiz.   Maybe Westburg.

With this FO, you never know but there's already a logjam at MIF. It would need to be someone who can play OF.

I don't want anyone to get hurt, but Mateo going on the DL had the potential to get some things moving maybe. Ortiz comes up, plays great, forcing them to make some decisions. Maybe a trade gets made.

[RarityFlaherty]

If Westburg looks good enough in the outfield, he’d probably be ideal to bring up as a utility guy. Seems like he’ll be able to hit pretty well and provide solid defense wherever he may be needed. I feel like I’ve also heard good things about his locker room presence and leadership.