Can we please stop batting Gunnar at lead-off?

[Moose Milligan]

1 hour ago, baltfan said:

He hit .243 as the first batter of the game last year. 

…with an aforementioned .826 OPS. 

Hoisting up batting average in this argument isn’t the win you think it is. 

[baltfan]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

…with an aforementioned .826 OPS. 

Hoisting up batting average in this argument isn’t the win you think it is. 

Actually 796 OPS but he was put there when he went on the heater that got him the ROTY  

As I said, it’s a combination of me believing he will be better batting second or third.  He just doesn’t look great leading off games.  It’s a small sample size, but I also backed it up with stats to date.  

[Rbiggs2525]

I don’t love him hitting leadoff either but it boils down to having your best player having as much AB’s as possible. I don’t think it’s his permanent spot but his current spot for this team. 

[emmett16]

2 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Actually 796 OPS but he was put there when he went on the heater that got him the ROTY  

As I said, it’s a combination of me believing he will be better batting second or third.  He just doesn’t look great leading off games.  It’s a small sample size, but I also backed it up with stats to date.  

He’s the best hitter on the team and as such should get the most ABs on the season. 

[spleen1015]

2 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Actually 796 OPS but he was put there when he went on the heater that got him the ROTY  

As I said, it’s a combination of me believing he will be better batting second or third.  He just doesn’t look great leading off games.  It’s a small sample size, but I also backed it up with stats to date.  

Let's pick some nits... He's also OPSing .817 this year. Turrible! Bad!

[baltfan]

10 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

He’s the best hitter on the team and as such should get the most ABs on the season. 

No you bat your best hitter second.  That is what all the analytics say.  And I would love to see him hit second. 

[baltfan]

10 minutes ago, spleen1015 said:

Let's pick some nits... He's also OPSing .817 this year. Turrible! Bad!

https://www.baseball-reference.com/tools/share.fcgi?id=9vlmP
See above for his first at bat when he is the first batter in the game. I don’t like him being the first batter of the game.  He seems like a guy that benefits from seeing guys hit in front of him. Per your own chart he is better batting second or third.  It’s undeniable that when he leads off the game he is generally worse than normal.  

[emmett16]

14 minutes ago, baltfan said:

No you bat your best hitter second.  That is what all the analytics say.  And I would love to see him hit second. 

I like my best hitter getting the most ABs in a season.  Especially one who is one of the fastest in baseball, an incredible baserunner, and an OBP machine.   

[Hallas]

3 hours ago, waroriole said:

Why Mullins and not Adley until Holliday is ready?

Didn't Hyde say something about Rutschman having trouble getting his gear off in time to bat leadoff?

[PeregrineT]

I love how we can pretend its so easy you should just bat guys in order of OPS and there are no other factors.  Im thankful as an organization we dont do that.

[spleen1015]

5 hours ago, PeregrineT said:

I love how we can pretend its so easy you should just bat guys in order of OPS and there are no other factors.  Im thankful as an organization we dont do that.

Someone lacks reading comprehension.

[waroriole]

6 hours ago, Hallas said:

Didn't Hyde say something about Rutschman having trouble getting his gear off in time to bat leadoff?

Oh interesting. I guess that’s a good reason. If Cowser keeps up his hot start, he could be a lead off candidate if Gunnar prefers to move down. 

[Matt Bennett]

Adley is a good OBP guy and is a nice fit for leadoff but Hyde has said Adley has trouble getting to the plate after getting the catcher's gear off. Otherwise it might be Adley #1 and Gunnar #2. It's not a big deal regardless. Adley looks terrible at the plate right now but that will improve. I think I get frustrated watching his AB's because he's able to put the bat on the ball on balls that alot of guys would swing through. And weak contact follows. Still, we are lucky his kind of offensive profile is in the catcher's slot. 

As 2021 becomes more distant, so does Mullins' all-star calibre play. He's been a good player since then, but not someone that needs to be batting leadoff. 

[Tony-OH]

11 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

Holliday will be the guy, it's just a matter of time.

I agree with this. No doubt once he makes his adjustments and starts hitting, he'll be the leadoff guy with everyone moving back one.

The OP is right that right now, Gunnar is not having great PAs to start off games, but it's also been a slow start for him overall.

He'll get it going.

[DrungoHazewood]

12 hours ago, baltfan said:

batting Gunnar lead off.  He is hitting now under .100 leading off the game.  He doesn’t seem to have very good at-bats at the beginning of the game. Some guys don’t hit lead-off well. Holliday will eventually be the guy, but for now maybe try Mullins again. 

Can we please stop making judgments about anything in baseball before Labor Day? And making any kind of tactical or strategic changes based on 12 PAs is pretty much like using a 20-sided dice and some chicken entrails to decide where to invest your life savings.

Also, Henderson's career OPS leading off is .823, which is higher than his overall .810 OPS.