Jay Bruce Needs to Bat Cleanup

[No pants Mcgee]

This would be fine if they move Votto up to the 2 spot. Especially true if last years approach continues.

Big fan of this. Hes perfect for a 2 hole hitter. Good OBP, see a lot of pitches, good bat control, the list goes on and on. I think Hamilton and votto hitting 1st and 2nd gives you a lot of options, provided Hamilton gets on base at a decent clip. The only real concern is if he returns to the MVP power numbers he put up a few years ago, but thats a good problem to have.

[ac084c]

Big fan of this. Hes perfect for a 2 hole hitter. Good OBP, see a lot of pitches, good bat control, the list goes on and on. I think Hamilton and votto hitting 1st and 2nd gives you a lot of options, provided Hamilton gets on base at a decent clip. The only real concern is if he returns to the MVP power numbers he put up a few years ago, but thats a good problem to have.

Who's going to bat 3rd? Ludwick?

[No pants Mcgee]

Who's going to bat 3rd? Ludwick?

i agree you don't have a perfect 3 hole hitter if you move votto, but you dont have an ideal 2 hitter either if you dont. Personally i wouldn't be against moving Bruce up to 3rd. The big question in my mind in this scenario is BP. Hes likely to hit somewhere 2-4 if we like it or not.

[ac084c]

i agree you don't have a perfect 3 hole hitter if you move votto, but you dont have an ideal 2 hitter either if you dont. Personally i wouldn't be against moving Bruce up to 3rd. The big question in my mind in this scenario is BP. Hes likely to hit somewhere 2-4 if we like it or not.

I think it's a moot point of Hamilton gets on base at a 350-360 clip from the leadoff spot.

However, I think that's pretty unlikely.

[villain612]

Back to the thread topic.

B Ham, Joey, BP, JB, Ludwick, if Joey is going to be great at OBP, I would put him in the 2 hole

My overall point is that if you put Jay Bruce batting directly behind Votto all the time, then Votto's production numbers won't mirror that of a 2 hole hitter.

[SweetLou1990]

Ok, I'm not looking for the best numbers at the 2 hole, but the best line up. I posted my guess , the statnics can run the numbers, but my vote is the same as posted, with Votto 2 and BP #3.

[Red Hot Stove]

I also hope Bruce bats cleanup. I know Dusty was reluctant to have Votto and Bruce back to back with them both being lefties, but hopefully Price will be different.

[bullseye]

Bruce needs to make better contact if he is going to be a 4 hole hitter. That is where your RBI man needs to be and it is hard being successful when you strike out 200 times a season. Would rather have ludwig there.

[No pants Mcgee]

Bruce needs to make better contact if he is going to be a 4 hole hitter. That is where your RBI man needs to be and it is hard being successful when you strike out 200 times a season. Would rather have ludwig there.

I too would like to see less strike outs, but keep in mind Jay Bruce for his career Ks about 24% of the time. Ludwick about 22%. Not a huge difference.

[BluegrassRedleg]

BP in the 3 hole depends on being able to avoid month-long slumps like we saw last season, but I like everything else about that lineup.

[Ron Delancey]

I'm a huge fan of batting Bruce in the 4 hole with the current team we have. I would love for us to go out and find a true cleanup hitter, but that doesn't look like its happening.