Home » Gameday Open Thread » Game Day Open Thread: May 29 at Milwaukee

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. MikeTomaselli May 30, 2010 at 12:06 am
    As I said in the other thread: Nieve has no business starting this game. Dessens, Valdes, Dickey or Pat Mische would all be better options in my opinion. And then he can't even get a bunt down. That Reyes RBI would have been 2 runs instead. I have no use for pitchers who can't even bunt.

    BTW all say it yet again about Castillo batting second: he is a black hole of suck hitting with RISP. this is why he should not be batting 2nd. If you have a good hitter there then when the lineup turns over Reyes gets better pitches to hit, there is more of a threat to extend rallies, and the possibility of Reyes scoring from first on a double is there. I don't care how wasted he is batting 8th, I just don't like him batting 2nd.

  2. mooshinator May 30, 2010 at 12:22 am
    Hi Mike, I agree to some extent, but what position of the order is he *better* suited for, given that he's got to hit somewhere? If you put him 8th, what do you do with Francoeur? Do you move Francoeur to 7th? Then what do you do with Barajas?

    The best solution I can think of is putting Pagan 2nd, moving Barajas and Francoeur up a spot, and batting Castillo 8th.

    But even that doesn't quite sit right with me. It improves the 1-7 spots, but then it puts a relatively high OBP but very low SLG guy right in front of the pitcher. I hate to waste the OBP in front of the pitcher. I think I'd rather have the "take a chance" guys batting 7th and 8th, and by that I mean guys that make a lot of outs but who come through now and then with doubles and home runs to clean up the bases after the 1-6 guys. Guys like Francoeur and Barajas.

    So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't like Castillo batting 2nd, either, but the other options don't seem much better…

  3. MikeTomaselli May 30, 2010 at 12:33 am
    I see what you are saying. However since I can't get my hands on actual statistics (trust me I tried) think about this: what batting order position gets more chances with runners on base, 2nd or 8th? The answer is 2nd. If Castillo is either going to bat 2nd or 8th (and I am limiting it to those two for the sake of the argument) then why put him 2nd where he is less effective? He simply is not an RBI threat. It's not because he can't hit .300, he just does not get RBI, or extra base hits. I think he can put together great at bats and draw a big walk or get a big hit, but not with runners on. Thus I think if you are stuck with Castillo in your lineup you must bat him 8th. He can get on base and get bunted over by the pitcher. That is useful. More useful than being useless with runners on.
  4. MikeTomaselli May 30, 2010 at 12:35 am
    Whoops, not sure what happened but I did not respond directly to your reply.

    Might as well say it though: Ollie Perez is your plan B!? Joke Jerry, this is a really bad joke.

  5. Ben May 30, 2010 at 12:38 am
    so I just tuned into the game…
    in the 3rd, 7-3. with OLI pitching?
    jeez, what the hell happened?
  6. mooshinator May 30, 2010 at 1:02 am
    I'm really curious to see the statistics on that because if that's true then I think I agree with you completely. However, my intuition says that the 8th spot bats with more runners on base because the three spots that bat prior to the 2nd spot are 8th, 9th, and 1st, whereas the three spots that bat prior to the 8th spot are 5th, 6th, and 7th. It seems to me that the 5-7 spots get on base more than the 8-1 spots, but I can't find any statistics to back that up. It's just my sense of things.

    I do agree though, that Castillo should bat in the spot that has *less* chances with runners on base. So I think we agree in principle, we just can't find the statistics to back it up. 🙂

    How about this, though… Castillo batting 1st? Hmm…

  7. MikeTomaselli May 30, 2010 at 1:14 am
    I've suggested that before on here. I actually think that is ideal.

    2 major pros are: Castillo is the Mets most pure OPB hitter and the leadoff hitter's primary responsibility is to get on base. And the second is that he gets less at bats with runners on there.

    The major con is: Reyes is best in the leadoff position as we have all seen. Personally I think Reyes would be great batting 2nd, but that is not the argument here.

  8. mooshinator May 30, 2010 at 1:24 am
    Yeah I agree, and I think the pros outweigh the cons. Nobody has tried Reyes as #2 so for all we know he might be awesome hitting #2. The more I think about it, the more I like it. Castillo #1, Reyes #2…

    Jeez, Jerry has tried every other lineup imaginable, how the heck has he not tried this idea?

  9. metstoday May 30, 2010 at 3:42 am
    Ugly, long game. Glad it's over. Painful.