I was thinking about my just-completed poll last night when the pregame took a call or an e-mail or something saying Anderson Hernandez was a better choice in the leadoff spot than Cristian Guzman.
Been there, done that, no thanks. Hernandez has proven pretty effective batting eighth, much moreso than he did as the leadoff hitter.
The poll got 48 responses. Guzman was the leadoff choice in 25. Elijah Dukes and Justin Maxwell got 11 votes each. Hernandez got one.
I was always a proponent of Dukes-Guzman as the first two but Johnson has worked so well in the second slot that I don't want to see that changed (until he's injured or traded). I'd still love to see what Dukes can do up top. If he learns some discipline on the bases, it could be interesting. He has the speed, and there's nothing wrong with a little power out of your leadoff hitter. But where does Guzman fit further down the lineup? Is he a 5 or 6 hitter?
I'm OK with leaving well enough alone for now. Of the many issues on that team, batting order isn't one of them.
Anyone who wants to earn major points can do me a favor and snag an XL t-shirt today. Not sure what the weather is up that way or if they'll draw enough to give away all the shirts. My plan was to try and get up there but an actual paying gig is getting in the way. I'd owe you forever.
LET'S GO CAPS Update: A friend just sent this - Nats record on days the Caps win a playoff game: 4-2. Record on other days: 2-15.
4 comments:
And what, exactly, are you doing to do with an XL shirt? Gift it?
I kid. I kid.
I saw that comment/email about Hernandez in the leadoff spot. Yeah, um....no. That's just dumb at this point.
I kinda like the idea of Dukes closer to the top, but unless you move Johnson down (dumb), leadoff is the only spot he would play. And I wouldn't do that until he proves he's not a complete knucklhead on the bases.
Then again, we'll be mathematically elimiated from the playoff race in 5....4....3...2..., so why not give it a shot? Can't hurt anything.
Just a two observations.
1) Cintron can't get on base.
2) Kensing can't get anyone out.
On paper, the Nats are not that bad. They rank 8th in the National League and are above league average in many categories. I used this ESPN site to get the figures:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/statistics
Not including yesterday's game, they had a .271 average and were scoring an average of 4.84 runs per game. That dropped with yesterday's game.
Unfortunately, they lead in another category - errors. The bright side to that, if there is one, is that St. Louis is not far behind them in that category. Just a thought.
Dave P.
Anonymous, I made a comment about this last week. Yes, we get on base a lot, but we don't score runs! Yes, errors kill us, but not hitting with runners on base is killing us. 1st innings against the LA was a great, but not isolated example. Having a pitcher who can throw a strike would help.
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