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Slow leadoff hitters
craig44
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Saw a report that maddon is considering using schwarber at leadoff this year because of high obp. Can you think of any other non "traditional" leadoff men? I can remember wade boggs, Brian downing and I think Pete rose was used at leadoff.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
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Slugger Rick Monday used to bat leadoff for the Cubs in the early 1970's. The lineup included the speedy, base-stealing Jose Cardenal.
Cleveland used Carlos Santana in that slot last year.
Batting Schwarber 1st is not very smart. He may get on frequently but then takes away the running game...or threat of. He potentially can "clog" up the bases. Ex. sharp single and he has to stop at 2nd where a speedier runner would be at 3rd. If on 3rd a deep fly ball from the following big guys scores a run. The idea isn't necessarily to get a batter on but try to get him in scoring position. I would bat him 2nd or 3rd instead. If he gets on it lets Bryant concentrate on just hitting as Schwarber is not going to run.
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I would disagree. The whole point IS to get guys on base. I would much much rather have a slow high on base guy than a speedy guy that struggles to get on. Lou Brock for instance, fast but very low obp. Would much rather have a wade boggs type than Brock.
If the player doesn't get on, they will never get into scoring position.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
In Strat-O-Matic I batted Gene Tenace first and then I pinch ran for him with Washington. Life was good
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In Strat-O-Matic, that probably worked OK, but in real life Tenace was no leadoff hitter, regardless of his superhuman OBP. Tenace was great no matter where he hit in the order, but he was really great with 2 outs, or with runners in scoring position. And with 2 outs AND runners in scoring position? One of the greatest of all time. I don't know if his managers actually kept those stats and were aware of it, but he spent most of his career hitting 5th, 6th or 7th - seemingly way too low in the order for a hitter with an OBP as high as Tenace's, but surely it maximized his plate appearances with 2 out, RISP. Probably he hit that low because his managers were idiots who couldn't see past his low batting average, but it's possible that they knew what they were doing.