With Alex Rodriguez out until at least the beginning of May, the Yankees are going to be forced to change their lineup accordingly. Pete Abe speculates that Hideki Matsui may be the one to fill the hole at cleanup:
Matsui is probably done as an outfielder, at least on any regular basis. But if his knees allow it, he will be a presence in the middle of the lineup.
Girardi said this afternoon that he is inclined to leave Mark Teixeira hitting third even when A-Rod is out. That could mean Matsui bats cleanup.
I think that the following lineup is the Yankees best bet, as it balances the righties and lefties well and keeps Jeter out of the 2 hole, hopefully warding off the multitude of double plays that come with his reduced speed and increased tendency to hit ground balls.
Jeter R
Damon L
Teixeira S
Matsui L
Posada S
Swisher S
Cano L
Ransom R
Gardner L
What do you think? Would you try something else?
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8 Responses to Matsui Batting Cleanup?
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TIQ IQ
Thank Mo, I thought I was the one of a very few. Jeter is not the player he was (almost a perfect #2 hitter), age catches up to all of us…as Moose did, so should Jeter. Moose adapted to age last year, great players adapt on the move. Stats show Jeter as a better lead-off then Johnny, if he is a team 1st player (very few stars are) he will make the move easy for Joe G., and take the move with grace and acceptance.
The idea of batting Brett in the 9th spot is etched in stone (fast guy before the lead-off man), I like him on base when Jeter comes up…he can steal a base to stay out of the DP.
I like Jeter but, age is age…one must adapt & improvise with age or go down in flames.
Matsui is the right guy for the 4th spot, on a lot of teams he would be the 4th hitter anyhow.
Of course, health trumps everything. I wonder what they would do if Matsui couldnt go? Probably move Posada and Swisher up and stick Nady in at 6.
I’m not sure if this would work out but; Swisher at #3 and Tex at #4 or visa verse? I like Swishers’ OBP and power but, would it translate well for #3 or #4…any thoughts? Without A-Rod and Matsui or Posada…we are in big trouble folks!
Yeah, I think that would work as well. If they lose anothe hitter, they really need Cano and Swish to bounce back. Otherwise, that would be a below average lineup.
I’d love to see the Yankees play Damon in CF with Nady and Swisher at the corners while Ransom is in the lineup. However, that probably won’t happen. Swisher hitting third with Tex 4th and Matsui 5th would work for me.
Everytime I say this, I get shown numbers that suggest the loss of defense outweighs the gain of offense that you get when substituting Nady for Gardner.
I can see that. Maybe that was with A-Rod driving the offense, though. Also, they could put Swisher in CF and I believe he’d be a better defensive option than Damon.
Love Jeter hitting first! I think you need to platoon the 2 hole and the 8 hole when Arod comes back.
Against righties
Jeter
Damon
Teixeira
Arod
Cano
Posada
Matsui
Swisher
Gardner
Against Lefties
Jeter
Swisher
Teixeira
Arod
Cano
Posada
Matsui
Nady
Gardner
With Arod out for a month just move everyone up but for Gardner and slot Ransom/Leone in the 8 hole.