Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 06, 2003
La Russa's Lineup

Joe Moore didn't like Tony La Russa's lineup yesterday:


Aaron & David--
I was surprised that neither of you mentioned TLR's ridiculous lineup for Saturday's Astros game:

Vina (2B)
Renteria (SS)
Orlando Palmeiro (RF)
Miguel Cairo (LF)
Rolen (3B)
Tino Martinez (1B)
Matheny (C)
Kerry Robinson (CF)
Morris (P)

You probably noticed a couple of interesting things about that lineup. First, Orlando Palmeiro (career OPS .714) was hitting third and Miguel Cairo (career OPS .679!!!) hitting cleanup.

Next, you probably noticed that TLR has a left fielder (Robinson) playing CF, a second baseman (Cairo) playing LF, and a left fielder (Palmeiro) playing RF.

So, in one mesmerizing moment, TLR managed to cheat MattyMo out of a win by putting a sub-sub-standard defense in the outfield, while practically guaranteeing that the Cards wouldn't score more than a single run with his choice of lineup.

I understand that JD Drew is injured. I understand that Marrero, Pujols and Edmonds are hurting. However, the Cards have Monday off--couldn't they have waited 2 more days? Both Pujols and Edmonds eventually made it into the game (AP as a pinch-hitter and Edmonds as a defensive replacement in the 9th inning), so they obviously were available. Hell, Eduardo Perez is a hack in the OF, but at least he can swing the lumber.

How about this, from ESPN's GAMELOG:
(Bottom of the sixth inning in a scoreless game)
>>Tim Redding pitches to Edgar Renteria

>> E Renteria doubled to deep right.
>> O Palmeiro sacrificed to third, E Renteria to third.
>> M Cairo grounded out to pitcher.
>> S Rolen flied out to left.

>>0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors
>>Houston 0, St. Louis 0

That's right, after Renteria hit a leadoff double, TLR showed so much confidence in HIS CHOICE of #3 hitter that he sacrificed (no danger of a double play with first base empty). And he was so comfortable with his choice of cleanup hitter that... Well forget the sarcasm: TLR apparently had no confidence in Cairo's ability to get a runner from second home with only one out (assuming Palmeiro couldn't get a hit or advance the runner by any method other than sacrifice bunt).

Plus, TLR pulled Morris after eight innings, although Morris had thrown only 103 pitches and Houston's right-handed murderers row was due up. And who, pray tell, did TLR bring in to face the Astros righties (Bagwell, Kent, Hidalgo, Berkman (switch-hitter))? The one and only 69-year old LEFTHANDER Fassero.

TLR cost Morris a win today, pure and simple. Complete buffoonery. I have no idea why TLR is so revered in baseball circles when the man should be collecting unemployement checks.


There are two question here; why did La Russa go with a weak lineup, and having made that decision, why did he use this batting order? I think the answer to the first question is that Matt Morris was pitching. Remember, La Russa's job is to maximize the number of wins the Cardinals earn during the season. Tony figured his stars needed a day off, so he was going to end up with a day where his offense was going to be bad. The best day to put up a bad offense is when you expect your opponent to have a hard time scoring runs. That's the day your best pitcher throws. And that was yesterday with Matt Morris.

As for the lineup selection, I have to agree with Joe on this one. I would have moved Rolen to third and Martinez to 4th with that arrangement of hitters. I know why La Russa didn't do that. There is this perception that batters like to know where they are hitting, and they don't want to change on a whim. John McNamara was famous for this. Boggs would leadoff for the Red Sox, but when Boggs got a day off, Ed Romero batted first. A better lineup then would have been for Barrett to lead off, move Dwight Evans into the two hole, and everyone behind Evans up a spot, then bat Romero 9th. But the players liked a set lineup, so runs were sacrificed to make everyone happy. I think that's a ludicrious way to run a team. If you can't convince players that a lineup change is best for the team, you shouldn't be managing.

La Russa's star has fallen a lot since he's left Oakland. Yesterday's lineup does nothing to change that.


Posted by David Pinto at 09:49 AM | Fan Rant | TrackBack (0)