Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Opening day batting order

gunnarthor

By gunnarthor
in Minnesota Twins Talk

Recommended Posts

gunnarthor MVP

gunnarthor

Old-Timey Member
Posted
  • Author
Posted

I don't hate it.  If Dozier and Grossman can get on base, it looks good although Grossman might end up part of a platoon eventually - but he deserves a shot, I suppose.  The bottom three makes a pretty tough bottom of the order.  Mauer isn't the hitter he was but he should be able to get on base for Sano.

 

 

gunnarthor MVP

gunnarthor

Old-Timey Member
Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

Is Castro going to play vs lefties, or is this a "game 1" thing?

I imagine Castro will probably catch 120 games and Giminez gets 40.  So he's probably more of an everyday guy rather than a platoon guy.  But it's just a guess.

gunnarthor MVP

gunnarthor

Old-Timey Member
Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

GROSSMAN at DH? Is this some sort of a sick joke!?  Is Gardy managin' again? BYTO board would roll in their graves over this lineup choice!

Grossman hit lefties really well last year - a .418 OBP (.350 OBP for his career).  So if he can continue to harm lefties, the two spot is pretty good.

Taildragger8791 First Round Pick

Taildragger8791

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

 

I like it, but I would switch Castro and Rosario.

 

I could go either way. I kind of like the idea of Polanco/Kepler/Rosario hitting in front of Dozier. It's almost like having another (poor man's) top-of-the-order going into a second clean-up hitter (Dozier). There are some good baserunners in that group, if they can get on base that is.

Seth Stohs GOAT

Seth Stohs

Site Manager
Posted
Posted

 

Is Castro going to play vs lefties, or is this a "game 1" thing?

 

I think it's a Game 1 thing, and I have no problem with that. There's something special about Opening Day.

 

I think the lineup is fine with the caveat that I assume against most lefties they won't have all four lefties in the lineup... 

DrNeau First Round Pick

DrNeau

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

This team is willfully making poor decisions. Makes perfect sense to hit the 42 HR / 99 RBI guy in leadoff, while your cleanup guy is 11 HR / 49 RBI, right? Name one other team in this universe that would do that. 

Otto von Ballpark All-Star

Otto von Ballpark

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

 

I imagine Castro will probably catch 120 games and Giminez gets 40.  So he's probably more of an everyday guy rather than a platoon guy.  But it's just a guess.

Well, they faced a RH starter last year 116 times, and a LH starter 46, so that could still be a platoon arrangement.

 

But, it's probably hard to platoon catchers. Day game after a night game won't necessarily be a different handed starting pitcher.  But hopefully the Twins look ahead and try to do this as much as possible -- for their careers, Castro and Gimenez both have a .200+ OPS platoon penalty.

Taildragger8791 First Round Pick

Taildragger8791

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

 

Leaving behind both Park and Vargas leads to lineups like this.  Ridiculous.  

 

Yeah, I'm a little underwhelmed by the power in the middle of this lineup. After Dozier the only real power is Sano and who knows when he'll ever put rubber to the road with his strikeouts. Hopefully the 40% rate in spring training was just another number that doesn't matter...

DaveW All-Star

DaveW

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

I think it's a Game 1 thing, and I have no problem with that. There's something special about Opening Day.

 

I think the lineup is fine with the caveat that I assume against most lefties they won't have all four lefties in the lineup...

Good thing games in april don't count as much as games in Septe....oh

 

Castro is a much better choice then Giminez regardless though.

DaveW All-Star

DaveW

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

Leaving behind both Park and Vargas leads to lineups like this. Ridiculous.

Yeah. Park should be batting cleanup.

mtillma Prep Ball

mtillma

Provisional Member
Posted
Posted

I like it. This has front office influence written all over it. Having Grossman bat second against lefties provides a good OBP guy at the top of the lineup. I also like Mauer batting between Buxton and Sano, more so verse Righties, to provide another OBP guy and take professional at bats and a completely different look for the pitcher than Buxton and Sano. I would maybe switch Castro and Kepler but not a huge problem with it and I like using Polanco at 7 to break up the lefties. At least it shows innovation and some more modern thinking, progress.

Otto von Ballpark All-Star

Otto von Ballpark

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

 

The only question I have is with Castro hitting 6. Poor numbers vs. LHP and Duffy is tough against LH. Seems like 8 would be a better spot for him today.

But, our best power hitter is batting leadoff, so we need better hitters in the 7-8-9 spots to get on base for him! Thus, we need to bat our worst hitter 6th.

ThejacKmp FCL Twins

ThejacKmp

Provisional Member
Posted
Posted

 

This team is willfully making poor decisions. Makes perfect sense to hit the 42 HR / 99 RBI guy in leadoff, while your cleanup guy is 11 HR / 49 RBI, right? Name one other team in this universe that would do that. 

 

There is decent baseball science that says put your best players at the top cuz they hit more. Not saying it's definitive but this isn't total idiocy.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
The Twins Daily Caretaker Fund
The Twins Daily Caretaker Fund

You all care about this site. The next step is caring for it. We’re asking you to caretake this site so it can remain the premier Twins community on the internet.

Become a Caretaker

  • Member Statistics

    20,448
    Total Members
    48,845
    Most Online
    Eric M
    Newest Member
    Eric M
    Joined
×
×
  • Create New...