Can someone explain why Kemp is batting 8th?

[mweir145]

Yeah, good point... Arod was so bad at that point he shouldn't have been in the lineup.

What!?

ARod had a .914 OPS in 2006, which ranked 3rd on the team behind Giambi and Abreu. Sure he was 1 for 11 in the first 3 games of that series, but you can't honestly believe that was a legitimate reason to move one of the greatest hitters of all time to 8th in the order? Right?

Boy, you're easy.

I had a feeling, but how am I supposed to know it was a joke? You do have a history of saying and believing ridiculous things (ex. that Manny Ramirez actually decided to strike out on purpose in a game to prove a point).

[Zito is God]

He probably should be hitting somewhere around 5 or 6, but at this point in his career he couldn't bat leadoff. K's way to much...

I will never understand this argument. Out of every player in your lineup a K in the leadoff spot hurts the least. I know in the long run it hurts your AVG which hurts your OBP but the bottom line is mostly you want a high OBP, K rate isn't even a minor concern in the equation.

Agreed, Sizemore seemed to do just fine with a high K rate in the leadoff spot.

[Snakes Gould]

He probably should be hitting somewhere around 5 or 6, but at this point in his career he couldn't bat leadoff. K's way to much...

I will never understand this argument. Out of every player in your lineup a K in the leadoff spot hurts the least. I know in the long run it hurts your AVG which hurts your OBP but the bottom line is mostly you want a high OBP, K rate isn't even a minor concern in the equation.

while i dont see the K hurting any more than any other position, how does a k hurt the least? i would say a K hurts the least when there are men on base, taking away the opportunity of a DP. but then, the flipside is that runners cant be moved up, so i guess it evens out.

[HOOTIE]

Torre was probably working on his next book, and meant to write a 3, not 8?

[Polar Bear]

crushed another HR tonight and stole a base. He did strike out with the bases loaded though...

I have no clue why this guy is batting behind Martin. You want your better hitters to get more ABs through the year. Kemp should be batting at least 5. he batted 6 tonight...I think.

[battles]

crushed another HR tonight and stole a base. He did strike out with the bases loaded though...

I have no clue why this guy is batting behind Martin. You want your better hitters to get more ABs through the year. Kemp should be batting at least 5. he batted 6 tonight...I think.

yeah it was nice to see him hit another HR so soon and steal a base. wish he didn't strike out in the 1st inning with the bases loaded though. with ethier struggling a bit, i hope torre starts considering batting kemp toward the start of that lineup.

[The Artful Dodger]

crushed another HR tonight and stole a base. He did strike out with the bases loaded though...

I have no clue why this guy is batting behind Martin. You want your better hitters to get more ABs through the year. Kemp should be batting at least 5. he batted 6 tonight...I think.

yeah it was nice to see him hit another HR so soon and steal a base. wish he didn't strike out in the 1st inning with the bases loaded though. with ethier struggling a bit, i hope torre starts considering batting kemp toward the start of that lineup.

Kemp hit 5th last week, but even though Torre isn't likely to switch up his lineup, he'll probably be at the bottom of the order. He is heating back up over the last several games though and so, hopefully he's moved up the order soon.

[hett2333]

He probably should be hitting somewhere around 5 or 6, but at this point in his career he couldn't bat leadoff. K's way to much...

I will never understand this argument. Out of every player in your lineup a K in the leadoff spot hurts the least. I know in the long run it hurts your AVG which hurts your OBP but the bottom line is mostly you want a high OBP, K rate isn't even a minor concern in the equation.

Agreed, Sizemore seemed to do just fine with a high K rate in the leadoff spot.

Come on now, two completely different hitters this point in their careers. Kemp is much more of a free swinger than Sizemore.

[Bloody Sox]

What!?
ARod had a .914 OPS in 2006, which ranked 3rd on the team behind Giambi and Abreu. Sure he was 1 for 11 in the first 3 games of that series, but you can't honestly believe that was a legitimate reason to move one of the greatest hitters of all time to 8th in the order? Right?

Boy, you're easy.

I had a feeling, but how am I supposed to know it was a joke? You do have a history of saying and believing ridiculous things (ex. that Manny Ramirez actually decided to strike out on purpose in a game to prove a point).

Just as you have a history of misquoting/mis-characterizing things. For at least the fifth time, I said that some blogger brought up the idea that Manny MIGHT have struck out on purpose in that particular instance, and I defended the idea that it was POSSIBLE. Given the 300 or so whacky things Manny did in his tenure in Boston and the fact that he refused to pinch hit on multiple occasions and that this event was in the middle of one of his shoot-his-way-out-of-town episodes, I do believe that it is POSSIBLE. Not definite, not absolute, not certainty - but possible. That you think it is IMPOSSIBLE in the face of all other evidence of Manny's buffoonery is what is ridiculous.

[And please don't insert your "you stupid Boston fans just love to trash guys on their way out of town, even if they single-handedly won you two World Series" line here... the two things have nothing to do with each other. Most Boston fans universally agree that Manny was/is an incredible hitter who was instrumental in helping the Red Sox win two titles - but he is a friggin' whack job.]

Sorry for taking this thread so far off topic.

[Polar Bear]

crushed another HR tonight and stole a base. He did strike out with the bases loaded though...

I have no clue why this guy is batting behind Martin. You want your better hitters to get more ABs through the year. Kemp should be batting at least 5. he batted 6 tonight...I think.

yeah it was nice to see him hit another HR so soon and steal a base. wish he didn't strike out in the 1st inning with the bases loaded though. with ethier struggling a bit, i hope torre starts considering batting kemp toward the start of that lineup.

Kemp hit 5th last week, but even though Torre isn't likely to switch up his lineup, he'll probably be at the bottom of the order. He is heating back up over the last several games though and so, hopefully he's moved up the order soon.

I guess it is purely selfish fantasy logic that wants him to move up in the order. At the end of the day the Dodgers are still cruising and the batting order doesn't seem to be hurting them much. I would still move Martin down though.