Poll: Hanley should (and will) go back to leadoff spot

[Bosy Billups]

He seems just not as dangerous in the 3 hole. And Florida has no quality leadoff batters as Maybin is too raw.

I think they'll make the switch in a month, and he goes back to 30/30 with less rbis.

[Ender]

They should not move him back but baseball managers tend to make bad choices in general so maybe he does move back.

[keeks137]

I don't know, I can go both ways on this.

There's not a ton of protection on that team when he's sitting in the 3 hole. Or at least I don't think there will be, as I'm not sold on Cantu doing this all year. If you put him back in leadoff, at least you might be more worried about picthing around him.

Then again, I've always liked having a little speed out of your 3 hitter. Should the top (and/or bottom) of the lineup fail to get anything done, at least your 3 hitter (if he gets on) has the option to steal and get into scoring position for the big boys coming up.

With that lineup, I've got to come down on the side of leadoff, especially if Cantu keeps producing and Uggla does what he's done the past couple of seasons.

[screwball1234]

He should stay batting 3rd, to much power upside to waste him in the leadoff spot

[bigwords]

Power is only wasted from the 3rd spot if batters #1 and #2 in the lineup get on base. Bonifacio sports an OBP under .300 and now the Marlins are flirting with Maybin in the #2 hole.

If that's the case, you might as well put Hanley in the leadoff spot and get the benefit of some extra at bats throughout the season. I also suspect that having Hanley on base will disrupt the pitcher on the mound and may cause some better batting behind him in the order.

On the other hand, I also think that everybody is overlooking the fact that Hanley has gotten caught stealing 4 times out of 7 attempts. This comes after a year where SB success rate dropped to just 74%.

From a purely stats perspective, forgetting fantasy baseball, it seems like the smart move is to bat Hanley in the leadoff spot and not have him attempt steals as much. That'll probably be hard for some of you to stomach.

[screwball1234]

Well this a fantasy baseball forum so why would anyone outside of a Marlins fan give crap about him hitting leadoff. He's a power hitter he belongs in the middle of the lineup.

[bravelaker]

2 hrs 2 rbis today and thats probably what he would have gotten hitting leadoff. For the record im fine with him hitting 3rd he wont run as much but I believe he belongs there.

[The Mighty Trow]

i do believe he is better suited to hitting third in the lineup (growing pains aside). you could easily make a case for him batting leadoff, too -- just look at soriano.

what i'm most concerend about is his terrible SB%. What gives?

[The Mighty Trow]

Potential good news:

They're calling up Chris Coghlan from AAA, who apparently has been playing well. Dave says it best:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.ph ... n-promoted

[screwball1234]

Another HR last night

for the week he is hitting .500 with a 1.091 SLG% looks like he'll be ok hitting 3rd