With the acquisitions of Luke Scott and Carlos Pena, many baseball analysts have ranked the Rays second, just behind the Yankees, in their power rankings for the upcoming season.
As can be expected, the Rays will consider numerous batting orders this year, predicated on the righty vs. lefty pitching match-ups. TBT Rays beat writer, Marc Topkin, put together a possible lineup (below) alternating right-handed and left-handed hitters:
1. LF Desmond Jennings (R)
2. DH Luke Scott (L)
3. 3B Evan Longoria (R)
4. 1B Carlos Peña (L)
5. 2B Ben Zobrist (S)
6. CF B.J. Upton (R)
7. RF Matt Joyce (L)
8. C Jose Molina (R)
9. SS Sean Rodriguez (R) or Reid Brignac (L)
At first, I thought this batting order was a bit off-putting. To be honest, I’d prefer to see Rodriguez bumped up in the batting order. He’s a smart and aggressive base runner, and we all saw what he could add offensively toward the end of last season. Then again, bumping SeanRod up in the order, based solely on his improved numbers at the plate in the last third of 2011, may not necessarily be the wisest decision. Keep in mind too, that the ninth spot is effectively the first in many instances over the span of nine innings.
You’d better believe that JoeMa, and the rest of his saber minded wizards, will obviously change things up based off of righty vs. lefty match ups. Just by looking at the first five hitters in this hypothetical batting order, my word, the Rays are going to be a beast this year!
With all of this in mind, we ask you this, dear reader: What would be your ideal batting order? Feel free to leave your comments below.
Here’s my order:
1. Jennings
2. Upton
3. Zobrist
4. Longoria
5. Pena
6. Scott
7. Joyce
8. Molina
9. S. Rodriguez
Last year, Upton did better in the #2 spot and Longoria did better in the #4 spot. I don’t like Luke Scott in the front of the order really, it’s not really a place for DH like him. I think he’s more effective in the middle part of the lineup (5th or 6th should work).
The Rays Rant- http://yossif.mlblogs.com/
Yossif, I agree. I like how his (Upton) production and numbers spiked after his move to the two spot in September last season. .356/.462 OBP/.644 SLG with five homers, 14 RBIs, eight doubles, 10 walks, and eight stolen bases over the final 23 games of the regular season. I also like the idea of having two speedy gents in Jennings and Upton at the top of the order.
1 Jennings
2 upton
3 Evan
4 pena
5 Scott
6 Ben
7 Matt
8 Molina
9 rymes
9 rymes
I like Rhymes, for sure. I think he’ll, sooner, make a great replacement for Brignac. However, especially when you compare the WARp of Rhymes to that of Rodriguez, I’m not certain if he’d be a step forward or backward at this point. SeanRod has a 1.2 rating (you can expect his over all play to win 1.2 games per year), where as Rhymes has a -0.2. Rhymes certainly has a higher BA. However, RBI wise, they’re projected to be neck and neck. Too, SeanRod is better defensively.
By the by peeps, I like this commenting back and forth thing. Let’s keep the discussion going!
Alright my new order is this
1 Jennings
2 upton
3 Evan
4 pena
5 scott
6 Ben
7 Matt
8 Seanrod
9 Molina
how about that?
That could work. Personally, I like Zobrist in the five hole, Scott in the six hole, and SeanRod in the nine hole, especially if one of the other catchers (Chirinos or Lobaton…whoever makes the cut) is playing that day instead of Molina.