Juan Pierre to start tomorrow

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Forgot to mention that earlier. He will make his first start of the season. Torre wouldn’t tell us who he’ll be replacing — it’s possible he hasn’t decided — but he did say JP will play center field and that Manny Ramirez WILL play. That means either Either or Kemp will be sitting. If Ethier sits, Kemp will move to RF. Pierre is hitting .333 (2 for 6) lifetime against Dan Haren, but Kemp is hitting .364 (4 for 11, 1 HR), and Ethier is hitting .467 (7 for 15, 1 HR).

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  • max_power

    There are 3 ground ball outs to second we can count on tomorrow. Just what our struggling offense needs.

    I dont understand Manny batting 3rd either. He bats with 2 outs all the time and gets walked. He should bat 4th. The worst he could do is lead off the second inning and the best he could do is bat with the bases loaded. My lineup would be…

    Furcal
    Ethier
    Kemp
    Manny
    Loney
    Martin
    Hudson
    Blake

  • Buddy

    What’s the big deal about Manny batting 3rd? He batted 3rd for years at Boston. He always enjoyed hitting at that spot so why should anything change? Recent sabermetric studies have shown that it doesn’t really matter where batters hit anyway.

    The biggest travesty is that Juan Pierre is being allowed to hold a baseball bat and sport a glove tomorrow.

  • max_power

    Manny batted 3rd in Boston because they had David Ortiz to bat clean up. Manny is our biggest threat and he should be in a position in the lineup where he can do the most damage. I think he is a waste of an AB when he comes up in the 1st with 2 outs. He should bat 4th. That way if he does bat in the 1st he’s guarenteed to be up with a runner on base unless there is a home run hit and if he doesn’t bat in the first he’ll lead off the second and as we saw in the 6th inning of this game Manny leading off an inning isn’t a bad thing.

  • Buddy

    Read some of Bill James’ baseball abstract. The batting lineup makes one game difference, two if you’re incredibly lucky. Hence, lineups don’t significantly matter. A chimpanzee would do just an equally good job in producing an effective lineup. What matters is having players with strong OBP and OPS.

  • max_power

    Sabermetrics is an incomplete way to analyize baseball…It matters simply because the higher you are in the lineup the more AB’s you are likely to get. So naturally you’d want to let your best players hit higher in the lineup. Our pitcher doesn’t lead off and Manny doesn’t bat 9th for a reason. Also, as we saw with Manny last year where a guy hits has a direct influence on the players around him. SO perhaps it doesn’t matter where players bat in a numerical sense but where players bat in relation to other players it does matter. It’s a part of baseball that can’t be measure with a stat.

  • Buddy

    I agree with you in that “incomplete” respect but sabermetrics does give us another way to understand and appreciate the game strategically. Hence, it can’t be discounted, especially given the recent success of the Red Sox and the economic prudence of the A’s. Most major league teams now do some sort of statistical analysis in evaluating personnel.

    Nevertheless, the Dodger’s challenges aren’t with their lineup; its their lack of quality starting pitching depth. That’s going to be the key question for the season. Hence, the Dodgers should look at the Roy Halliday situation very closely as the trading deadline nears. Toronto will struggle and will have no other option but to put him on the market, especially since he has one year left.

  • GScott

    If complaining about Manny hitting 3rd because he always gets up with two outs is viable, (because you’re assuming everyone else in the lineup is incapable of getting on base) then you must also think that by him hitting 4th he’ll be coming up to lead off an inning all the time as well. Quit complaining, enjoy the game and let Joe do his job. I promise you he has more world series rings than all of us.

  • Buddy

    I don’t think Max_Power and I were “complaining,” just engaging in a constructive and healthy conversation.

  • Marcel

    Toronto would simply ask for too much. Even if our big league regulars are off limits, certainly they’d want a Lindblom + Lambo +, +, + type of package (ala the Teixeira trade that made Texas’ farm system the best in baseball).

  • GScott

    I wasn’t necessarily speaking directly to you two, sorry I didn’t state that. But people who both say the batting order doesn’t matter and who will argue all day that it does both agree on the same principles: 1) the pitcher shouldn’t bat fourth, and 2) there’s no perfect way of doing it. I meant to direct my statement towards the latter group who insist they have a perfect way to fix every situation despite their relatively limited lack of knowledge.

  • crzblue

    Tony!
    Feliz dia de resurrecion! and see you on Monday!
    Emma
    http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/

  • scuzmore

    I think it matters but it can’t be written in stone. When a player is doing well, he should be batting close to others who are currently hitting well. Those who are in slumps should be hitting near the pitcher’s spot. In other words, it should be a constantly changing thing, taking advantage of good streaks and negating the effect of bad streaks. Two negatives to this plan: One, it would not cater to egos which apparently is of some importance, and Two, it does require a manager of some intelligence.