I know Maddon will probably prefer Delmon in the 2 hole, but a healthy Upton has to be at the top of the order. He can be close to a .400 OBP if his problems from last year are straightened out, and we just can not afford to have a .400 OBP guy hitting at the bottom of the order when our meat is at 2, 3, and 4. Dukes talent just kills Gomes and Cantu, so why not stick him in there to start the year. He can also backup all three outfielders when they need a day off.
Rotation
1. Kazmir
2. Shields
3. Seo
4. Fossum
5. Corcoran
Relievers
McClung
Jackson
Mori
Lugo
Miceli
Orvella
By mid season, we place Corcoran and Fossum in the rotation with Niemann and Hammel. Salas and Howell will be able to replace Lugo and Miceli in the bullpen. We also give Brignac, Longoria, Pedroza, Guzman, and Talbot a cup of tea this September.
Again this team is not quite there yet, but this team could compete for 75 wins and if the pitching grows in the minors like it has the last year, 2008 could be a over .500 season.
I like the line-up, but, thing I dont kno about it Upton. The whole world knos what kind of talent he has, but he just hasent shown it. Hes been healthy. he just needs to prove it. The other thing is, i dont like leaving Cantu out of the line-up. Hes a great player and I just think last season was a fluke. I think as a full time healthy player he will have another 2005 season.
I agree with you but like last year injuries are huge.
but maddon likes to put good hitters at the bottom of the line-up to get them on for the top of the line-up. his style of coaching is odd.
but cantu just needs a little rounding out, and possibly some work with the crime dog.
casem2k2 wrote:I like the line-up, but, thing I dont kno about it Upton. The whole world knos what kind of talent he has, but he just hasent shown it. Hes been healthy. he just needs to prove it. The other thing is, i dont like leaving Cantu out of the line-up. Hes a great player and I just think last season was a fluke. I think as a full time healthy player he will have another 2005 season.
If Cantu could turn back into the 2005 version, then he could always play 1B. The more I look at it though, I like the Iwamura-Zobrist double play combination. Both are good with the glove and they could become a solid double play duo. This leaves Upton at third, but maybe Maddon could have him play either 10 feet closer to the batter to make his reactions take over, or maybe even 10 feet in the outfield, to make him to have to hustle after every ball hit to him. Either way I think we need Upton at the top of our order in the future to have a chance in the division against the money teams. If Cantu can beat out Wigginton for the other starting spot, then Wigginton would be a great bat on the bench to fill in several positions on needed off days.
But of course none of this matters if the fans don't show up to support the team this year. Our fans have to show up and root these guys on.
I will be there.
Its just a long drive to make home at night over the bridge.
But I will do what I can to support my team.
First year went to almost all of the games. and the years that followed i went to about half.
Theres nothing like a good upperdeck seat.
Nothing beats love baseball
I like it. I don't think Cantu will rebound, he had one good year and his fall off wasn't just due to injury. I think this puts us in the best possible place defensively as well as offensively.
deerayfan072 wrote:I like it. I don't think Cantu will rebound, he had one good year and his fall off wasn't just due to injury. I think this puts us in the best possible place defensively as well as offensively.
This is probably our best possible defense for this year. The three studs in the outfield can handle things with the best of them in baseball. Iwamura and Zobrist should be better then average in the middle. Navarro should be a plus behind the plate, so that only leaves 3rd and 1st as our problem areas. But I am willing to give away a bit of defense on the corners to gain the offense that those bats should give us.
casem2k2 wrote:I like the line-up, but, thing I dont kno about it Upton. The whole world knos what kind of talent he has, but he just hasent shown it. Hes been healthy. he just needs to prove it. The other thing is, i dont like leaving Cantu out of the line-up. Hes a great player and I just think last season was a fluke. I think as a full time healthy player he will have another 2005 season.
It wasn't a fluke, but there is a reason he played well in 2005 and he had an off year in 2006...
scr wrote:Is this reason (Cantu's production/lack thereof) something you can comment about, or is it best left alone? Could Jonny Gomes have similar issues?
As usual, thanks for your insight.
The only thing i can say is, it's baseball and there was a new rule impemented before last season...... thats all i can say
From the guys i have talked too Gomes is fine and his shoulder was very bad last year and he was trying to play through it and he had a hole in his swing b/c of it. If Gomes' shoulder is healthy he could come back well, i am just not sure if he is healthy
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