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
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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.
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…
Might as well say it though: Ollie Perez is your plan B!? Joke Jerry, this is a really bad joke.
in the 3rd, 7-3. with OLI pitching?
jeez, what the hell happened?
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…
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.
Jeez, Jerry has tried every other lineup imaginable, how the heck has he not tried this idea?