News: The Miami Herald reports that Hanley Ramirez will likely bat third in the lineup in 2009. Ramirez told two reporters Saturday that he expects to be batting third this season. "I've got to change my approach now," Ramirez said. "Me, [Dan] Uggla and [Jorge] Cantu, we've got to drive in runs." Assuming Ramirez drops to third in the order, Cameron Maybin would become the leading candidate to hit leadoff, with Emilio Bonifacio considered another possibility for that spot.
Analysis: Ramirez has previously batted third, but the results haven't been great. Ramirez hit 33 home runs last season, but just two -- along with a measly four RBI -- in 56 at-bats in the third spot. And he hit just .239 with runners in scoring position last season. Ramirez attributes the drop-off not to undo pressure that he placed on himself, but to how pitchers threw to him differently. Hitting in a run-producing spot in the lineup should obviously lead to more RBI, but also less steals and possibly runs scored. If he takes a different approach at the plate, it could also lead to more strikeouts and a lower batting average as he attempts to drive in runs as opposed to getting on base. Don't fret too much, though, as Ramirez will still be an elite Fantasy option. The dynamics of his production may just change a bit.
First Reyes, now Hanley? This is changing up the dynamic of a couple of first-rounders quite a bit. Anyone want to update their projections?
"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others." — Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
News: The Miami Herald reports that Hanley Ramirez will likely bat third in the lineup in 2009. Ramirez told two reporters Saturday that he expects to be batting third this season. "I've got to change my approach now," Ramirez said. "Me, [Dan] Uggla and [Jorge] Cantu, we've got to drive in runs." Assuming Ramirez drops to third in the order, Cameron Maybin would become the leading candidate to hit leadoff, with Emilio Bonifacio considered another possibility for that spot.
Analysis: Ramirez has previously batted third, but the results haven't been great. Ramirez hit 33 home runs last season, but just two -- along with a measly four RBI -- in 56 at-bats in the third spot. And he hit just .239 with runners in scoring position last season. Ramirez attributes the drop-off not to undo pressure that he placed on himself, but to how pitchers threw to him differently. Hitting in a run-producing spot in the lineup should obviously lead to more RBI, but also less steals and possibly runs scored. If he takes a different approach at the plate, it could also lead to more strikeouts and a lower batting average as he attempts to drive in runs as opposed to getting on base. Don't fret too much, though, as Ramirez will still be an elite Fantasy option. The dynamics of his production may just change a bit.
First Reyes, now Hanley? This is changing up the dynamic of a couple of first-rounders quite a bit. Anyone want to update their projections?
30-30 but now with 100 RBI's. Gotta love it. I dont think we were gonna see 50 SB's from him again anyway.
Last edited by SignGuy on Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If Reyes is bumped to 2nd or 3rd his value drops a bit. If Hanley gets bumped to 3rd, his value goes up. And since he's the #1 pick already, you can't really adjust his draft position.
pokerplaya wrote:If Reyes is bumped to 2nd or 3rd his value drops a bit. If Hanley gets bumped to 3rd, his value goes up. And since he's the #1 pick already, you can't really adjust his draft position.
LOL, my thoughts exactly
Yoda wrote:I'd rather see him hit leadoff but his power could be more useful in the 3rd spot. Who is going to lead off?
If I recall right, Hanley struggled hitting in the three-hole last season and he was on pace for approaching 40/40 at the time before finally hitting leadoff again. Whatever the case, his value shouldn't change much if he hits 3rd. He might not score 120+ runs but that could be offset with a 20-30 RBI spike.
Not sure who's leading off, but maybe Maybin is given a chance to hit in either the leadoff or two-hole, I suppose.
I'm fine with the move, but my first thought was that Ramirez' steals would take a huge hit.
I don't know if that'll be the case, though. Compare his career stats hitting leadoff as opposed to third.
Leadoff: 375 games, 113 steals-- 1 steal per 3.32 games Third: 55 games, 14 steals-- 1 steal per 3.93 games
It's a small sample size, and his steals DID go down hitting third, but I don't think it'll be that significant. Given that he'll now have more RBI chances and better protection, I think this is a decent move.
If Maybin bats lead-off and Hanley third, I think this boosts Maybin's value considerably (assuming he can handle this role of course).
Maybin showed a strong walk rate in AA .277 AVG/.375 OBP, so he could be a possible 10/30-40 guy if he sticks at the top.
...Boston papers now and then suffer a sharp flurry of arithmetic on this score; indeed, for Williams to have distributed all his hits so they did nobody else any good would constitute a feat of placement unparalleled in the annals of selfishness. -Updike
Birds on the Bat wrote:I'm fine with the move, but my first thought was that Ramirez' steals would take a huge hit.
I don't know if that'll be the case, though. Compare his career stats hitting leadoff as opposed to third.
Leadoff: 375 games, 113 steals-- 1 steal per 3.32 games Third: 55 games, 14 steals-- 1 steal per 3.93 games
It's a small sample size, and his steals DID go down hitting third, but I don't think it'll be that significant. Given that he'll now have more RBI chances and better protection, I think this is a decent move.
Yea i dont think hitting third will kill his SB total too much. As i said earlier he wasn't likely to steal 50 from the leadoff spot again anyway and guys like Beltran, Wright, Holliday, Rios, Arod etc have posted good SB totals from the 3-hole. I think he is still good for 30 swipes.
Don't know how it will impact his SBs, but a definite boost to his R+RBI totals. The average leadoff hitter gets about 175 R+RBI in the NL, mostly because of the poor rbi totals hitting behind the pitcher. The average #3 hitter gets about 200 R+RBI.
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by duckbillgates » Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:15 pm 
