The Indians like to bat Grady Sizemore in the leadoff spot. Well, they don't like it. They love it. For good reason. Sizemore gets on base a lot, drives in runs, runs well and is a pretty good leadoff hitter.
Too, Eric Wedge seems to really stick with some convictions.
But this year Sizemore is struggling and striking out too much for a leadoff hitter. He'll get back on track, but Anthony Castrovince of Indians.com brings up the unthinkable: Moving Sizemore down in the order.
"Sizemore hasn't been much of a leadoff hitter in 2009 — to the point where manager Eric Wedge is actually considering the bold move of bumping Sizemore down," Castrovince writes.
This for the Indians would be a veritable sea change. But it might be time to try it. Before it's done, though, one must know who moves to the leadoff spot. It's like firing a coach or manager; it's never wise to do it unless you have a good, firm idea of who replaces said coach or manager.
Let's compare these two stat lines:
Player A: 41 hits, 15 walks, 25Ks, .318 BA, .386 OBP, .797 OPS
Player B: 33 hits, 18 walks, 39Ks, .228 BA, .311 OBP, .718 OPS
Player A's numbers come in 34 games played and 129 at-bats, Player B's in 34 games and 145 at-bats.
Obviously Player B is Sizemore. (Don't you love this ridiculous tactic, to list people in some obscure name, like nobody can figure out on their own who they are? Sheesh. Next time I do something like that put a beehive in my drawers.)
Player A is Asdrubal Cabrera, who is striking out less and getting on base more than Sizemore. So the likely candidate to move up to leadoff would be Cabrera. It would be a big step because he's never done it in the Majors, but he sure seems like the most likely candidate and the Indians aren't exactly rampaging through the AL with Sizemore struggling in the leadoff spot.
The question then becomes where to hit Sizemore. Third seems logical, except for the batting average. But there's reason to think Sizemore will see more pitches to hit in the third spot than leadoff. Victor Martinez is having an outstanding season (.385 BA, 1.098 OPS). Hitting Martinez behind Sizemore would finally give Sizemore some protection in the lineup. Nobody is going to want to avoid pitching to Sizemore to pitch to Martinez.
The Indians want to get something going. They touted the Aaron Laffey move as a creative one that helped.
Seems to me this might be more creative – and perhaps more helpful.
I'd try it.
I was going to try and come up with a line up and where to plug Grady in, but with this roster, there are too many "what ifs", it would be like a choose-your-own-adventure book: "If the Indians are playing a lefty, and Shoppach is catching, and Victor is at 1B, and the DH is Garko, and we're resting DeRosa, so Carroll is in at 3rd…" Oh I have a headache now.
What could it hurt? Seriously, just do it this weekend and see what happens. What's the worst that could happen?
I agree with this, but the only problem that comes to mind is…
Does this waste Grady's speed on the bases? You're not going to want him stealing a whole lot with a chance of getting caught and taking the bat out of Victor's hands. Not to mention if he opens 1st and teams start to walk/pitch around Victor since with Hafner on the DL there's little protection for him in the lineup.
It seems pretty obvious to me. Another "creative" move would be to permanantly play your best infielder at shortstop. This team has nothing to really hang its hat on–pitching, hitting or fielding, it's average across the board.
How about something even more creative? For example, Hafner and his wife can claim he never took steroids because of a hereditary condition arising out of a history of heart disease on his stepfather's side of the family. Sort of Pronk's ode to Roger Clemens. This will be as productive, if not more productive, than simply moving some guy in the batting order.
By the way, is it just me, or does anybody else absolutely despite the DH? I've always hated it, it takes all the strategy out of a baseball game. It also allows stiffs like Hafner to have a career. I've often wondered how Wedge would manage if he was in the National League, if he's better suited for the National League or if he would be in over his head.
yeah, the indians are real geniuses.
the d.h. sucks. wedge wouldn't last a season in the n.l.
dwhit: I agree with the concern with Grady's speed on the bases, but when have the Indians really utilized that? They never run, they're never as aggressive as they could be. They did give it a shot that one time a couple weeks ago and Grady got picked off, so they backed off that.
Why do we want Grady running? He has been caught stealing the same number of times he has been successful.