FanPost

Lineups


I keep looking at the lineups we put out and I hate them. They don't make sense to me, and I feel that a consistent and regular lineup would benefit this team a lot. How many quality teams throw out a different lineup daily, the answer is none. So here is my proposal;

1. Chris Young, CF

2. Stephen Drew, SS

3. Justin Upton, RF

4. Mark Reynolds, 3B

5. Chad Tracy, 1B

6. Miguel Montero, C

7. Felipe Lopez, 2B

8. Gerardo Parra, LF

9. Pitcher

Ok, so most of the discrepancy will come right away, with Chris Young leading off. Well, here is my thought, his issue is plate discipline. This will force him to take pitches and possibly start taking more walks. If he is leading off and can stay away from curveballs, he will get fastballs so that there is nobody on base for the middle, which is fairly dangerous. CY can hit fastballs, this would be a way for him to see a few more. Also, he can steal bases from the top of the order which puts immediate pressure on the pitcher. Lopez is not a leadoff hitter, he will not steal bases and is not a good table setter. His .300 average is better used low in the order to clean the bases of the middle guys. I believe in CY, I think he needs to be given a better opportunity to succeed. He is fast, let him use his wheels from the top of the order and let his power be a bonus. Stephen Drew is a great 2 hitter with a little bit of everything on the offensive side, and if CY does not get on, Stephen is the second leadoff man. He can hit for contact, power, and even steal some bags. I envision some double steals from the top 2. The 3 and 4 hitters are pretty predictable. Chad Tracy is a veteran in the 5 spot, who is a professional hitter. This is advantageous to the DBacks in a few ways. First, he can hit for some power and although he is not great with RISP, i trust him more than Montero at this point. In addition, Tracy in the 5 hole allows him to put up good numbers with solid protection and makes him more attractive for a trade. Maybe if we up his stock, teams will have more to offer. Montero makes sense at 6 for me, because he has some pop and is really the only one who fits there of the remaining players. Like I said before, Lopez is a good 7 hitter to clean up the bases from the middle if Tracy and Montero can't do the job. If not he is a .300 hitter who can be used to manufacture a run with Parra and the pitcher after him. Playing some small ball will make him very valuable in the 7 hole. Parra is coming back to earth hard after a good start, so the 8 hole where he fits. He makes sense there more than anyone else, plus the lefties need to be broken up, so Lopez is in front of him. There's my opinion, feel free to post yours.