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2021 Series #10 | Indians @ Royals | May 3-6, 2021

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OK, here's my new lineup. Screw the defense, I'm loading up on bats.

1. Cesar 2B
2. Jose 3B
3. E. Rosario LF
4. La Mole DH
5. Naylor 1B
6. Luplow CF
7. H. Ramirez RF
8. Owen Miller SS
9. Perez/Hedges C

Naylor hits ahead of Luplow because Tito likes to alternate left and right as much as feasible.

The analytics say put your best hitter in the 2-hole. I'm down with that.

AFAIC, Amed's glove doesn't play at short (the Mets agree) and Gimenez's bat doesn't play anywhere except as a defensive replacement and UIF.

Chang is DFA'd. His bat doesn't play anywhere and we're loaded with infielders. Bauers is still on the 26-man because we need somebody who can play first base if Naylor gets hurt or needs a day off and he can also play OF in a pinch. Amed goes to Columbus or gets traded.

I think I might bring Gamel back as the 4th outfielder. He's a career .259/.716 hitter. He's 28 and in his last four seasons his OPS has been between .710-.735 every year. Not eye-popping numbers, but for a fourth outfielder they look pretty good. I thought about Amed as the 4th outfielder but he's never player left or right and barely played center.

Once Daniel Johnson starts raking in Columbus we can switch him out with Gamel.

Thoughts?
 
We need a team of 9 Merrifields then we would never lose even if he doesn't have the batting profile that @CDAV45 wants at certain positions lol
Uhhhhhhh it's not just CDAV45 that profiles bats at certain positions. It's pretty much all of baseball, but that's alright you can use my "angle" as an excuse to have "9 Merrifields". I'm cool with that, but are there 9 Merrifields in the league?

Whatever happens, 1B needs addressed and right now I'd prefer to have Naylor there because there isn't a better option. Tito pretty much has to keep Harold's bat in the lineup I would guess.
 
Who said we should cut Naylor? I never understood the hate. He is 23 years old, he is getting it figured out.
I don't recall anyone saying we should "cut Naylor". I do remember someone saying he has plus plus power and he doesn't. What I said before, and still believe to be true is that Josh is a good hitter with moderate power. A poor man's Michael Brantley was my description and I still think that is accurate.
 
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OK, here's my new lineup. Screw the defense, I'm loading up on bats.

1. Cesar 2B
2. Jose 3B
3. E. Rosario LF
4. La Mole DH
5. Naylor 1B
6. Luplow CF
7. H. Ramirez RF
8. Owen Miller SS
9. Perez/Hedges C

Naylor hits ahead of Luplow because Tito likes to alternate left and right as much as feasible.

The analytics say put your best hitter in the 2-hole. I'm down with that.

AFAIC, Amed's glove doesn't play at short (the Mets agree) and Gimenez's bat doesn't play anywhere except as a defensive replacement and UIF.

Chang is DFA'd. His bat doesn't play anywhere and we're loaded with infielders. Bauers is still on the 26-man because we need somebody who can play first base if Naylor gets hurt or needs a day off and he can also play OF in a pinch. Amed goes to Columbus or gets traded.

I think I might bring Gamel back as the 4th outfielder. He's a career .259/.716 hitter. He's 28 and in his last four seasons his OPS has been between .710-.735 every year. Not eye-popping numbers, but for a fourth outfielder they look pretty good. I thought about Amed as the 4th outfielder but he's never player left or right and barely played center.

Once Daniel Johnson starts raking in Columbus we can switch him out with Gamel.

Thoughts?
Man, I love Miller as much as anyone, but kicking Amed and Gimenez to the curb at the beginning of May seems a bit rushed IMO. You also have Harold in RF. I thought he had a below average arm, am I mistaken? Regardless, his ability to hit the ball could be a huge boost for this team. I'd go with Eddie in LF, Harold in CF, and Jordan in RF until it doesn't work. For a guy that didn't want Naylor at 1B(me) he is our best option there. I still say a good RHH 1B is a need. He could get plenty of AB while Naylor spells all 3 OFers(Luplow moves to CF when Ramirez sits).
 
Uhhhhhhh it's not just CDAV45 that profiles bats at certain positions. It's pretty much all of baseball, but that's alright you can use my "angle" as an excuse to have "9 Merrifields". I'm cool with that, but are there 9 Merrifields in the league?

Whatever happens, 1B needs addressed and right now I'd prefer to have Naylor there because there isn't a better option. Tito pretty much has to keep Harold's bat in the lineup I would guess.

Merrifield by his hitting profile only qualifies at 2B, SS, CF and C if he had at least average defense there, he doesn't qualify anywhere else by profiles since he doesn't hit for enough power...honestly though I was just messing with ya since I didn't see ya anywhere in here lol
 
Miller isn't playing SS outside of a bunch of injuries honestly. I am not saying he won't ever get any innings there, but that won't be his position... We will see him at 1B before SS this season...
 
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I'm amazed we are scoring as much as we are with 5 regular batters(Hernandez/Rosario/Perez/Bauers/Giminez) batting below .200.
 
I'm amazed we are scoring as much as we are with 5 regular batters(Hernandez/Rosario/Perez/Bauers/Giminez) batting below .200.

Hernandez has a OBP of .313, not out of this world, but he has the most walks on the team. He has been affective at the plate and his batting average would return to its norm.

Perez hasnt been good, but his production behind the plate working with our pitchers means you cant do anything about his bat, he is needed.

Giminez needs time, but sucks he has struggled

Ahmed is being played for his bat, so this is concerning.

Fuck Bauers, not sure he needs anymore bats to prove he can go rot in the alternative site.
 
Man, I love Miller as much as anyone, but kicking Amed and Gimenez to the curb at the beginning of May seems a bit rushed IMO. You also have Harold in RF. I thought he had a below average arm, am I mistaken? Regardless, his ability to hit the ball could be a huge boost for this team. I'd go with Eddie in LF, Harold in CF, and Jordan in RF until it doesn't work. For a guy that didn't want Naylor at 1B(me) he is our best option there. I still say a good RHH 1B is a need. He could get plenty of AB while Naylor spells all 3 OFers(Luplow moves to CF when Ramirez sits).
I'm OK with Harold in center and Luplow in right. The Miami writer said his defense is awful but he has excellent straight line speed so maybe he can make all the routine plays and outrun some bad jumps. I'm just not OK with a centerfielder who can't hit .200 like Zimmer, Mercado, and (so far) Gamel and Amed.

Another option is Luplow in center, Franmil in right, and Harold at DH.

I suppose we should give Gimenez and Amed more time. Gimenez hit .263/.732 last year in 118 AB's. I'm happy with that from a shortstop who consistently makes the routine plays. Amed hit .287/.755 in 655 AB's in 2019. I'd be happy with that from our centerfielder if his defense was OK.
 
I see that so many of us are still focused on power...instead of paying attention to what really matters.

This team is 5th in the AL in HR.
3rd in Triples.
7th in Doubles
4th in XBHs.

Plenty of power there, huh?

But we are 13th in Runs.

Perhaps some fans have a disconnect?

We are 13th in BA and 12th in OBP.

On the face of those numbers alone, we don't have a power problem. We have a contact/approach problem. But those numbers are deceiving. We are fourth in BB% and 7th in K%.

We not only do not have a power problem, we do not have a contact/approach problem.

So, what is the problem? Sheer, dumb, bad luck.

We rank 1st in hard hit %, and 3rd in soft hit %.

And dead last in BABIP.

If you look at all the things our batters are doing well...and spitballing a little...we should probably be top five in runs.

That would put us in an enviable position in the standings.
 
When you're hitting .212 in 350 games in the Minors, you're just never going to be of any value are you?

Will Benson drafted 14th overall in 2016 and not even on the top 30 prospects list for the Tribe.
 
I see that so many of us are still focused on power...instead of paying attention to what really matters.

This team is 5th in the AL in HR.
3rd in Triples.
7th in Doubles
4th in XBHs.

Plenty of power there, huh?

But we are 13th in Runs.

Perhaps some fans have a disconnect?

We are 13th in BA and 12th in OBP.

On the face of those numbers alone, we don't have a power problem. We have a contact/approach problem. But those numbers are deceiving. We are fourth in BB% and 7th in K%.

We not only do not have a power problem, we do not have a contact/approach problem.

So, what is the problem? Sheer, dumb, bad luck.

We rank 1st in hard hit %, and 3rd in soft hit %.

And dead last in BABIP.

If you look at all the things our batters are doing well...and spitballing a little...we should probably be top five in runs.

That would put us in an enviable position in the standings.
Why would you use the raw total of runs scored, instead of runs per game?

I can't think of a single reason besides either laziness or being intentionally misleading.

For what it's worth, we're at 4.11 runs per game, which would put us 17th in MLB and 10th in the AL. The league average is 4.33.
 
Why would you use the raw total of runs scored, instead of runs per game?

I can't think of a single reason besides either laziness or being intentionally misleading.

For what it's worth, we're at 4.11 runs per game, which would put us 17th in MLB and 10th in the AL. The league average is 4.33.
Why does it matter? He pointed out we aren't scoring runs despite the good power numbers. You used a different stat to show the same thing.
 

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