Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 25, 2008
Batting Ninth

Ned Yost is thinking of batting the pitcher eighth and Jason Kendall ninth:

But one of the most interesting of possible orders would have Ryan Braun batting second, a pitcher batting eighth and catcher Jason Kendall batting ninth. This idea isn't set yet, and it may not ever be used. It is just one of a flurry of ideas whizzing around inside the skipper's head. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has done this some during the last few seasons.

Yost's reasoning is that he wants Braun to have more plate apperances, but still be able to have guys on in front of him. So with Kendall's ability to see pitches and get on base, it would essentially translate to Braun still batting third while racking up about 40 more plate appearances, as stats show. In this lineup, Prince Fielder would bat third in the order, but it would be like having him in the clean-up slot.

Notice that Kendall batting ninth is what's suggested by the Lineup Analysis Tool, although that tool puts Fielder second. Nice to see Yost thinking outside the box.

Thanks to Tom Goyne for the link.


Posted by David Pinto at 07:59 AM | Strategy | TrackBack (0)
Comments

This would be a very good move seeing as, even though we are trained to think a power-hitter batting second is "wrong", it would be better than having Kendall hit there.

Posted by: Eric J. Seidman at February 25, 2008 10:21 AM

Yost's reasoning is that he wants Braun to have more plate apperances

Given Kendall's numbers last year, a second benefit would seem to be that it gives him less plate appearances. Of course, if he reverts to having a .350+ OBP, they might want him coming up more often.

Posted by: M. Scott Eiland at February 26, 2008 12:37 PM
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